Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part B

Old Age, Sickness and Death by Akuppa John Widham, via flickr

King Suddhoda was so worried that the brahmans' prediction that his son, Prince Siddhartha, would abandon his royalty and wander as a hermit seeking truth that he cloistered his son in the palace most of his life.

Siddhartha was given access to everything he could possibly desire. The king was so worried his son would want to leave that he brought him all sorts of pleasures to temp him. The king also kept any evidence of pain, unhappiness, or suffering outside of the palace walls.

Because of this Siddhartha had never even seen old age, sickness or death.

One day Siddhartha overhears some people talking about how spring has arrived and the flowers are blooming in the forest. The prince decides he wants to leave the palace and see the beautiful spring flowers. Even though it scares the king he cannot deprive his beloved son what he wants.

To continue his son's protection from the unpleasant aspects of the world, King Suddhoda arranges for all the beggars, elderly people, and sick people to be removed from the roads the prince will travel along.

The gods who are jealous of Siddhartha decide to expose him to some of the unpleasantness his father shielded him from.

The gods create an old man who they send to walk in front of Siddhartha. When Siddhartha sees the man and learns about old age from his charioteer, he is too overcome to continue his outing and returns to the castle.

Eventually, Siddhartha decides to attempt another outing. This time the gods create a sick man to show Siddhartha. Once again Siddhartha is too overwhelmed with fear of sickness to continue his excursion.

Finally, Siddhartha embarks on another attempt to leave the castle, and this time the gods show him a dead man on a stretcher. Again, Siddhartha wants to turn back, but this time the caravan continues on to its destination where Siddhartha's friend had gathered many beautiful women to cheer Siddhartha up.

Bibliography.
The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold Translator Paul C. Blum, Part 9. Source

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