The Ascetic & Enlightened Life
Religious Studies A: AQA GCSE Religions, topic 1.1.5
Ascetic and Enlightened life
Siddhartha left his life in order to seek a solution to suffering.
Four sights
- Siddhartha was bored and made four trips out of the palace:
- He came across an old man without teeth and a walking stick.
- He saw a sick person in agony.
- He met a funeral procession carrying a dead body to the river.
- He met a barefoot man with a shaven head and simple robe.
- These are known as the Four Signs or Sights.
Ascetic Life
- Aged 29, Siddartha left the palace in order to find the solution to suffering.
- He lived an ascetic life in the forest for six years.
- He punished his body and followed many teachings but did not find the answers.
- He was nursed back to strength with some rice milk a young girl gave him. He then sat under a large Bodhi tree and began to meditate.
- Under the tree he was tempted by Mara, the demon, but he ignored it and touched the ground with his right hand. Then the earth began to quake.
Enlightenment
- Siddartha meditated until he had reached a state of purity.
- He had three insights in the night known as 'Threefold Knowledge':
- He saw his own previous lives.
- Then he understood the causes of birth and death
- Then he reached omniscience and became aware of the true nature of all things.
- This is when he achieved Enlightenment and became the Buddha (XXVI Buddhavamsa).
After the Enlightenment
- The beginning of the Sangha (community) was marked by the five friends Buddha taught in Sarnath, first teaching the Noble Truths.
- Buddha travelled around India teaching anyone who would listen for 45 years. -'All conditioned things are subject to decay. Attain perfection through diligence'(Digha Nikaya), were his last words.
Test yourself on The Ascetic & Enlightened Life
The Four Signs
Why did Siddattha decide to leave his life in the palace for good?
Which of this statements are true of Buddha's Enlightenment?