Page 5 - Understanding Buddhism

ens of guards whose special task was to make sure that young
Siddhartha stayed inside the palace walls at all times. From
infancy to young manhood, therefore, the prince led a shel-
tered life fi lled with creature comforts, laughter, and all manner
of luxuries. He had no inkling of what the outside world was
like. He knew nothing of disease, suffering, and death. Later, as
an old man, he was said to have looked back on his childhood
and teen years and said:

I was delicate, excessively delicate. In my father’s dwell-
ing three lotus ponds were made purposely for me. Blue
lotuses bloomed in one, red in another, and white in the
third. [Day and] night a white parasol was held over me so
that I might not be touched by heat or cold, dust, leaves,
or dew. [I was regularly] entertained by female musicians,
without coming down from the palace.
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The Prince’s Shocking Discovery
Siddhartha’s life of privilege and bliss continued on into his twen-
ties. He married a lovely young princess named Yasodhara, and
they had a son together, whom they named Rahula. The three
continually enjoyed good health and were extremely happy.
This contented existence came to a
sudden halt, however, when Siddhar-
tha was twenty-nine. For years he had “[Day and]
wondered about the world beyond the night a white
palace walls. Finally, his curiosity got the parasol was
better of him. With the aid of a faithful held over
servant, the prince managed to get past
the guards and secretly escaped into me so that I
the countryside. might not be
Less than an hour after gaining his touched by
freedom, the prince found himself in a heat or cold,
rural village and encountered a sight he dust, leaves,
had never before beheld. It was a very 6
old man with a wrinkled face, white hair, or dew.”
and a body emaciated from not having —The Buddha
enough to eat. Siddhartha later recalled

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