I. The Birth of the Prince

In 623 B.C., King Suddhodana was 50 years old and Queen Mahamaya was 45 years old. In a peaceful dream the queen saw a white elephant with six tusks enter the right side of her body, and afterwards she conceived. The prince was born on the full-moon day of the second month (Indian calendar) — the same as the full-moon day of the fourth lunar month, 624 B.C. — under the Asoka Tree, in the Lumbini garden of the Kapilavastu country. He was named Siddhartha, surname Sakya; because Sakya is a branch of the Kausala royalty, he was called Kausala Sakya Siddhartha.

II. The Prince's Characteristics

The prince bore 32 marks of a great being and eighty minor signs of beauty. The prophet Asita looked at him and said: "If the prince becomes a king he will be a universal monarch; if he renounces the world he will become a Buddha." Asita felt both joy and sorrow — joy that the prince would become a Buddha, and sorrow that he himself would no longer be alive to see it.

III. The Prince's Life

Seven days after his birth, Queen Mahamaya passed away, and the prince was raised by his aunt Mahapajapati. He was renowned for his intelligence, accomplished in both letters and martial arts, yet always humble and courteous, so that everyone loved him. At the age of 17, after winning every contest, the prince married Princess Yasodhara and had a son named Rahula.

IV. The Prince's Encounters With Life

The prince asked his father's permission to travel and learn about life outside the palace. At the Eastern gate he met an old man with wrinkled skin, a bent back and deaf ears. At the Western gate he met a sick person groaning in pain. At the Southern gate he witnessed a funeral, with relatives wailing in grief. Only then did the prince truly understand the reality of human suffering. At the Northern gate he met a monk; the serene image of the monk awakened in him the will to seek the truth. He understood that only through renunciation and the search for a liberating path could all beings be saved from suffering.

V. The Great Renunciation

One night, after a lavish banquet, while everyone was in deep sleep, the prince took a last look at his wife and son, then with his charioteer Channa rode his horse Kanthaka toward the Southeast. At the Anoma River he cast off his royal robes, cut his hair, and gave his precious sword to Channa to bring back to his father, to show his firm resolve to renounce the world. He left home at the full moon of the second month (Indian calendar), at the age of 19.

VI. Searching For the Truth

First he studied and practiced the religions then current in the country, seeking whether any offered a true path of liberation for all beings.

• 1. The first encounter: He went to Rajagaha city and questioned the saints of the Bạt Già forest, who practiced austerities to become maras or angels. He found this was not a true path of liberation.
• 2. The second encounter: He went to Tỳ-Xá-Lỵ city and questioned Alara Kalama, who practiced concentration of mind to be reborn in the heavens. He found this was still not liberation, and left.
• 3. The third encounter: He questioned Uddaka Ramaputta, who taught that all attachment to form is error and that only receiving the subtle essence brings liberation and rebirth in the heaven of Neither-Perception-nor-Non-Perception. The prince practiced and attained that state, yet saw it was still not true liberation.

VII. The Prince Practiced Asceticism

After three inquiries, the prince knew that none of these was a true path of liberation, and realized he must practice with his own body to find the right way. He went to the Uruvela forest by the Ni Liên (Nairanjana) River and practiced austerities with five companions: Kondanna, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Mahanam and Vapa. For six years he starved himself of food and drink, growing thinner until he was little more than a skeleton. He realized that tormenting the body brought no benefit; one who seeks the truth must develop wisdom to attain enlightenment. So he began to eat and drink normally again, keeping the body as a useful instrument in his search for liberation.

VIII. Enlightenment

The maras, fearing that his enlightenment would awaken all beings, came together to disturb him. He fixed his mind in deep meditation and overcame all their temptations. On the night of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month:

• First watch: He attained the Knowledge of Former Lives (Túc Mạng Minh), seeing clearly the past lives of himself and others.
• Second watch: He attained the Divine Eye (Thiên Nhãn Minh), a complete and all-pervading awakening.
• Third watch: He attained the Knowledge of the Destruction of Defilements (Lậu Tận Minh), eliminating all delusion without beginning.

As the morning star rose, he attained the Supreme Path and became a Buddha with the title Shakyamuni. At that moment the earth trembled, heavenly music praised him, and a rain of flowers fell in offering.

IX. The Buddha Spreads the Dharma

After his enlightenment, the Buddha went to the Deer Park (Isipatana) and taught the Four Noble Truths to the brothers of Kondanna. From that moment the Three Jewels — Buddha, Dharma and Sangha — were complete. He also taught a youth named Yasa. Within three months he had more than 60 disciples. Among the distinguished disciples he taught while spreading the Dharma were:

• Kassapa, the master who worshiped fire, together with his followers.
• King Bimbisara of Magadha.
• Mogallana, foremost in supernatural power.
• Sariputta, foremost in wisdom.
• Nanda, Ananda, Upali and Aniruddha.
• His aunt Mahapajapati, the first woman admitted into the Sangha.
• Subhadda, over 80 years old, the Buddha's last disciple.

The Buddha taught for more than 49 years, guiding countless disciples without distinction of rich or poor, high or low. He traveled and taught during the nine dry months, and during the rainy months stayed in the monastery to practice and guide his disciples.

X. The Buddha Enters Nirvana

On the full-moon day of the second month (Indian calendar), knowing he was about to enter Nirvana, the Buddha went to the country of Kusinara, into the Sala forest, and hung his hammock between two twin Sala trees. He gathered his disciples for a final teaching and exhortation, entrusted the robe and bowl to Kassapa to carry on the Dharma, and then entered Nirvana. He lived to the age of 80.

XI. Conclusion

From his renunciation to his passing, the Buddha's life was a shining example of seeking, practicing and spreading the truth to save beings from the sea of suffering. He resolutely renounced the royal life, entered hardship to seek the way, practiced austerities for more than six years, meditated for 49 days, and attained the fruit of the Path. He then taught the Dharma for more than 49 years.

His presence was no myth. The history of humanity itself has proven that he was a real historical figure.