preview

The Historical Biography Of Siddharta Gautama

Decent Essays

The historical biography of Siddharta Gautama is mired with legend and religious influence. Who is Siddharta Gautama? Siddharta Gautama is Buddha. And that is the primary problem; most believe that Buddha is a person, when in fact it is a personal state of religious enlightenment. I hope to correct this major misconception for the reader, with a more accurate account of the life of Siddharta Gautama and in the process explain why the transformation from a normal man in turn became a God. Reliable factual data on the life of Siddhartha Gautama is very scarce. As is common with the founder of a religion, all sorts of legends have grown up around the Siddhartha Gautama’s birth and life story. The true accounts were merged with legendary …show more content…

The possible dates of birth range from 624 to 490 BCE. To narrow or avoid conntinue confusion over Buddha, I will refer to his real name, Siddhartha Gautama, and not his title. Buddhist uses the term Bodhisattva (someone who is on the way to obtaining enlightenment) to refer to Siddhartha before he attained enlightenment, and the word Buddha is used to refer to Siddhartha from the time of his enlightenment. However, according to Buddhist belief anyone can obtain enlightenment and therefore become Buddha. Siddartha Gautama was born in a village called Lumbini, near the modern border between India and Nepal. His father was named Shuddhodana and his mother, Maya. Despite the fact that Suddhodana Gautama is often described as a king (Rajah), it is believed that his status was actually that of a regional leader, similar to a tribe’s chief. The term Rajah has multiple meanings from King to Prince; Chief and dignitary which can cause confusion to westerns on this particular title. The Gautama family did lead a privilege life style regardless of the father’s role; this is agreed by both researchers and followers of Buddha faith. I mention this to demonstrate the constant drifting from fact on Suddartha Gautama. And yet it does have a bases in fact. Siddhartha’s life can be divided into two different stages: the time before his enlightenment and the time after that moment. He married at an early age of

Get Access