Read here about Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, practiced worldwide., visit: http://mocomi.com/gautam-buddha/

1. History for kids
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His parents Shuddhodana and Mayadevi were shattered by the
news and decided to prevent this from happening by keeping a
close watch on him and sheltering him from the outside world.
Gautam Buddha was born to
the king and queen of Ka-
pilavatsu as Prince Siddhartha
around 566 BC. Soon after his
birth an astrologer predicted
that he was destined to live his
life as a saint by abdicating the
throne and giving up all worldly
pleasures.

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At age 16 he was married to Yashodhara, the
beautiful daughter of a nobleman. The king
had hoped that this would be another reason
for him to refuse to leave the palace.
His parents hoped that he
would get used to the luxuries
of the palace and therefore
never give it up. Siddhartha
never left the palace and saw
nothing of the realities of his
kingdom.

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Siddhartha's curiosity grew
with age and one day he asked
his charioteer to take him on a
tour of the city. The first person
they came across was an old
man who seemed weak and
frail. The charioteer explained
that along with age comes
weakness and failing health.
He then came across a sick man who was in great pain,
and finally a procession carrying a dead body to the cre-
mation ground. He was told that everybody would die
one day and leave this world. At the end of the tour, he
chanced upon a sage who appeared calm and serene, and
after inquiring, Siddhartha was told that such men gave
up their worldly possessions in search of inner peace.

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Siddhartha was deeply troubled by his first experience of the out-
side world. Several questions crossed his mind about life and death.
He then decided that in order to get answers to these questions he
would have to leave the palace and give up his palatial life. At the
age of 29, Siddhartha left the palace one night while his wife and son
were asleep. He wandered far and wide, trying different ways to find
the path of truth. He finally reached the city of Bodhgaya and started
meditating under a large fig tree.

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Gautam Buddha
shared his knowl-
edge with 5 sanyasis
who meditated with
him and also
traveled across the
country teaching the
key principles of
Buddhism.
After 49 days of meditation, at the
age of 35, Siddhartha attained en-
lightenment. From that day on he
was known as Buddha or the
'Awakened One'. He was named
after the Bodhi tree under which
he meditated.

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These key principles are known as the Noble Truths. They are: The
world is full of suffering and misery; Desire is the cause for all suf-
fering and misery; Suffering and misery can be abolished by
removing desire. Desire can be overcome by following the Eight
Fold Path. This includes: Right views, right thoughts, right speech,
right action, right livelihood, right efforts, right mindfulness, and
right meditation.
Buddha preached non-
violence, peace and har-
mony. He strongly felt
that people should treat
each other with compas-
sion, forgiveness, and tol-
erance and encouraged
his followers to lead a bal-
anced life. He was always
dressed in saffron robes
and would take only a
begging bowl with him
on his travels.

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Gautam Buddha passed away in 483
BC. Though he lived centuries ago, his
birthday is still celebrated as Buddha
Jayanti in India. The Bodhi tree is still
worshiped as a symbol of Enlighten-
ment even today.
Several Buddhist monuments stand all over India to
this day such as the world renowned Ajanta and
Ellora caves, the Kanheri and Karla caves, as well as
universities at Sanchi and Amaravati.
The End.
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