The life of Shakyamuni Buddha
Shakyamuni Buddha was born on the full moon day of May (April of Lunar calendar) when His mother, who was Queen Maya, stopped by Lumbini garden on her way from the capital Kapilavastu to Devadaha. He was the prince of the Sakya kingdom, named Siddhartha, the son of king Sudduhodana, and the descendant of Gautama’s family.
From the very early age, he was showing the great compassion towards everyone. Furthermore, with an incomparable wisdom and intelligence, he was able to master all the fields, from martial arts, politics, to literature, philosophy, and arts. With the great heart and wisdom, he was expected to be the greatest king that could bring happiness and peace to all people in the kingdom and even in the area. However, he soon realized that the kinghood could not solve all the miseries of human beings. It could not liberate people from an endless circle of Life and Death. Thus, he wanted to find something greater, something that could bring an eternal liberation and enlightenment for all beings. He became passionate in religions and believed that only in religions and spirituality that he could achieve his ultimate goal.
Kings Sudduhodana soon figured out that his son did not want to be a king anymore. To prevent him from joining the monkhood, king Sudduhodana arranged a marriage for his son with princess Baddakaccana (Yashodara) when he was 16. Yashodara was a wonderful princess. Not only did she deeply understand and respect the concern and passion of Siddhartha, but Yashodara also helped Siddhartha to achieve that goal. By helping Siddhartha in the government management, trade with other countries, and strengthened the intelligence agency, Sakya was in its finest shape so that Siddhartha could peacefully leave the kingdom to find the path that liberated all human beings from sorrows and pain.
At the age of 29, Siddhartha decided to leave the kingdom in the night after his son, Rahula, was born and began his ascetic journey. After learning with many teachers and even practicing extreme asceticism for 6 years, he still did not accomplish his goal. Finally, he chose Mindfulness Meditation. Under the Aswatha tree (Bodhi tree), in the lotus pose, after 49 days and nights, when the morning star just raised in the sky, he finally reached the peak of absolute Enlightenment and Liberation and became Buddha — the Awakened One — at the age of 35.
He then began his journey to teach the Noble Truth and the Sainthood that lead beings to Enlightenment and Liberation just like he did. In the Indian society that was full of hatred, discrimination, and classism, He started the revolution of love, compassion, peace, equality, and indiscrimination. His teaching welcomed all people from different classes and genders, from kings to slaves, from men to women. He said all beings were equal in his teaching and equal in the ability to reach Enlightenment. Thus, countless of people became His students at that time and many of them attained the absolute Enlightenment.
After 45 years of teaching and enlightening many people, He entered Parinirvana, the eternal state of the Enlightened One, and left the world at the age of 80. After his body was cremated, many relics were found, collected, and worshiped by his followers. Many of the relics still remain to the present. Nowadays, after the world went through countless pain, wars, hatred, violence, and conflicts, people started to realize that Buddha’s teachings 2600 years ago are the precious gem of humanity that are capable to promote peace, morality, and happiness across cultures in this world. Thus, in 1999, the United Nations chose the Day of Vesak (commemorate three important milestones in Buddha’s life, Birthday, Enlightenment, and Passing Away) as the UN Day of religious and cultural festival. The celebration has been formally held at the UN Headquarters in New York and its Regional Offices over the world since 2000.
