Buddhism

Other schools of thought also arose that did not accept the authority of the Vedas and built their own systems. One of them is Buddhism.

About two-and-a-half thousand years ago, a young prince named Siddhārtha Gautama was born in Lumbini (today in Nepal). Scholars disagree about the exact year; in Chapter 4 we took 560 BCE as an approximate date, and for this story the exact year makes no difference.

Siddhārtha grew up living a protected life in the palace. One day, at the age of 29, he asked to be driven through the city in a chariot. For the first time in his life he saw an old man, a sick man and a dead body. He also saw an ascetic (someone who follows a strict discipline to reach a higher consciousness), who looked happy and at peace. Three sights showed him that suffering exists; the fourth showed him that peace is still possible.

After this, Siddhārtha gave up palace life, leaving behind his wife and son. Travelling on foot as an ascetic, meeting other ascetics and scholars, he searched for the root cause of suffering in human life.

After meditating for many days under a pipal tree at Bodh Gaya (today in Bihar), he reached enlightenment. He realised that avidyā (ignorance) and attachment are the source of human suffering, and worked out a way to remove these two causes. Attachment means being bound to someone or something, usually through feeling or habit. Think of it this way: if a street dog runs at you, you step away; if your own pet dog runs at you, you open your arms. The more attached we are, the more we can be hurt.

Siddhārtha became known as the 'Buddha', meaning the 'enlightened' or 'awakened' one. He began teaching what he had realised, including ahimsa, usually translated as 'non-violence' but originally meaning 'non-hurting' or 'non-injuring'. He also insisted on a sincere inner discipline.

In his own words: 'Not by water is one made pure, though many people may bathe here [in sacred rivers]. But one is pure in whom truth and dharma reside. Conquering oneself is greater than conquering a thousand men on the battlefield a thousand times.' The Buddha founded the Sangha, a community of bhikṣhus (monks) and, later, bhikṣhuṇīs (nuns), who gave their lives to practising and spreading his teachings. His influence on India, and on the whole of Asia, was enormous, and can still be felt today.