The Buddha lived in India in the sixth century BCE. He presented a path that is still relevant to the modern world after reflecting deeply on life and death. It emphasises moderate living, the importance of the consequence of actions, and the possibility of enlightenment.

The historical Buddha was born around 563 BC in India. He lived in a region around the Ganges river, between cities such as Lucknow and Varanasi, extending to the Nepalese border. These days India and Nepal claim the Buddha as an 'Indian' or a 'Nepali', but there was no such thing as India and Nepal back then.

Sixth century BCE India was socially and politically in a time of flux. It was an age of great discussion of philosophy, of the importance of ritual, of the right way to meditate. Many philosophers competed with each other to present the truth. However, the young Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama - was unaware of all of this and he spent his early years as the spoilt and sheltered son of a king. Princely children were trained in archery, horse riding, chariot-driving, fencing, wrestling and handling elephants. At the age of 16 he was married to Yashodara, his cousin.

The traditional account tells how he was kept within palace walls until the age of 29, never experiencing the suffering and pain of the ordinary world. Somehow he developed the feeling, 'Is that all there is?' At one point he decided to look over the palace walls and secretly visit the outside world. He called his charioteer and went for a ride through the park. He came across an old man leaning on a stick, and for the first time learnt the meaning of old age; that it was universal, it happened to everybody, and would one day happen to him. On two more outings he came across a sick person and then a dead person. On his fourth trip out he saw 'a shaven headed man, a recluse, wearing the yellow robe.' He had a very different look to other people, a different air about him, and his charioteer explained to him that this was someone who had gone forth to religious life. At this point the Buddha decided that he would also go forth into religious life.

It may be that the story of the four chariot rides through the park is a dramatic device and that he was aware of these situations more generally. It is certain that these realities of human existence were what compelled him to seek meaning outside of his palace. He describes this existential contemplation in one of the sutras.

'I lived a spoilt, a very spoilt life, monks (in my parents' home). And, monks, in the midst of that happy life the thought came to me, 'Truly, the simple worldling, who is himself subject to old age, is disgusted when he sees an old man. But I too am subject to old age and cannot escape it'. At this thought, monks, all delight in my youth left me.

Truly, the simple worldling, who is himself subject to disease, is disgusted when he sees a sick man. But I too am subject to disease and cannot escape it.' At this thought, monks, all delight in my health left me.

Truly the simple worldling, who is himself subject to death, is disgusted when he sees a dead man. But I too am subject to death and cannot escape it.' At this thought monks, all delight in my life left me.'[1]

Seeking an understanding of these basic conditions of human existence was the Buddha's underlying inspiration for his religious quest. These were the triggers that pushed him forward. Fortunately he lived at a time of great debate, where such questions were alive in society, particularly amongst those leading a monastic or mendicant life

Having reached his turning point the Buddha decided to leave the palace, his lovely wife and his newly born son and become a mendicant. He left on horseback in the middle of the night, rode to the edge of a river, cut off his hair and donned monk's robes.

At that time there were many teachers with philosophical schools amongst the mendicants. These theorists were principally concerned with the consequence of actions and their views were eventually rejected by the Buddha as faulty. Many opposed the idea of moral consequence. Ultimately the idea of karma became a central philosophy of Buddhism, that good or bad actions have good and bad consequences and that one carries the energy or imprints of every action that one performs. But this was not a commonly held view at the time.

Other views that the Buddha would reject included the idea that truth could not be known. Buddhism proposes a knowable truth. He also rejected fasting and austerities as valid religious paths though these were extremely popular.

It is important to know that Buddhism was an innovation. It was a new system. It arose in a context where people were struggling to find methods of emancipation that made sense in terms of beliefs about morality and the absolute. But its central message, of a middle path, of moral consequence, of not going to extremes in terms of austerities and also trying not to harm others, of a wisdom that could be apprehended through the use of meditation but was more than a mere trance state, was new.

After he cut his hair and left the palace he spent six years searching for the truth. Different teachers taught him different techniques. One teacher had perfected a state whereby he could sit under a tree fully conscious and not notice 500 ox carts driving past. The Buddha said of this teaching:

'I thought, 'This teaching does not lead to revulsion, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to knowledge, to awakening, to Nibbana, but only to the Sphere of No-thingness.' So then I had had enough of this teaching, rejected it and turned away.'[2]

Unsatisfied, he undertook severe austerities. In order to force an understanding of his mind he sat with his teeth clenched, tongue pressed against the palate, and attempted to restrain his thinking. The effect however, was of sweating profusely and of realising that while the mind can be subdued, intuition cannot be forced. He tried to hold his breath for as long as possible and achieved headaches, stomach cramps and roaring in the ears. As this practice had not achieved anything, he undertook a near starvation diet, sometimes only eating once a week, sometimes eating cow dung. He nearly starved to death, his hair rotted and fell out, and he could barely stand up.

What was the spiritual justification for self mortification and inflicting suffering on the body? The Sanskrit word for this sort of action is 'tapas', meaning 'heat', translated as 'austerities'. It is thought that by overcoming desire through austerities one gains great spiritual power and can even rival and compel gods with this power. Desire is also seen as the root cause of ignorance and therefore the basic obstacle to enlightenment. Therefore the blunt instrument of physical suffering is employed to overcome desire as a state of mind.

His companions in this adventure were five ascetics and they stayed in Sarnath, Varanasi. All six agreed that the first to understand the truth (Dharma) should tell the others. However, his health was becoming so bad that the Buddha realised that he could die without becoming enlightened. He remembered effortlessly attaining a trance state as a youth when sitting under a tree at a country festival. He decided that attempting to force understanding through austerities was only creating a different set of problems, and so chose to eat solid food in order to restore his health. A girl called Sujata offered him some sweet milk rice and he regained some strength. He then went for a wash in the Nairanjana River. His five friends were quite appalled to see the Buddha eating and washing and departed, believing that he had fallen from the path.

He walked to Bodhgaya, built a seat under a bodhi tree and commenced serious meditating. He undertook the practice of the Four Stages of Absorption. These are states of mind characterised by detachment; concentration and tranquility; equanimity and mindfulness; and then freedom from joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain. Having attained the fourth state, he turned his mind inwards and remembered his previous lives. He saw his hundred thousand previous existences in many world periods and perceived his name, his family, his life, his death, his next life and so on. This was the first sort of knowledge.

The second kind of knowledge was of karma, and he perceived how beings subsequent lives were dependent upon the actions of their current life.

The third level of knowledge was of suffering and its causes, and the means for the ending of suffering. This knowledge was later to be entitled, 'The Four Noble Truths'. Later on he described his enlightenment experience in these words:

'I recognised this, my mind was free from the influences of sense desire, of becoming and of ignorance. And the knowledge arose in me: 'rebirth for me is destroyed, I have completed the holy life, done is what had to be done, there is no more of being for me!''[3]

This process of enlightenment had come about over a period of nine hours, it was not a lightning flash. It was a gradual process, a profound understanding that developed from one level to the next. It brought with it great clarity and knowledge of the world. It was quite unlike the sort of trance where you could space out and not notice one hundred ox carts going past. The knowledge of the path to the end of suffering was very much about transforming the experience of human life.

After attaining enlightenment he continued to meditate under various trees around Bodhgaya and had discussions with various people. He went back to Varanasi to see his five friends. When they saw him coming in the distance they said to themselves that as he had broken his ascetic rules, they would not give him any respect or rise or greet him. However, as he came closer and they could see his radiance and dignity they spontaneously rose to greet him, prepared a seat, took his bowl and robe and washed his feet.

Understanding the enlightenment of the Buddha requires an imaginative leap. It cannot be summarised in an historical narrative, because it is not something conventional. The idea of enlightenment goes way beyond the conventional, beyond our dualistic experience of subject and object, of time, of life and death. It is an unhistorical experience.

The Buddha presented a path that is still relevant to the modern world after reflecting deeply on life and death. His answers were revolutionary at that time; he did not promote dependence on a particular god, or a new ritual, or a trance state that created obliviousness. The Buddha's path to the end of suffering was one of careful and moderate living, which emphasised such things as right speech, right livelihood and right meditation, and which avoided extremes of either sensuality or austerity.

Another key concept is that our mind in essence is without stain and that negativity - anger, greed and ignorance, are conditions that are not intrinsic to our nature. As the eminent Tibetan lama Thinley Norbu described it:

If we believe that mind is the source of all substantial and non-substantial appearances, we can decide that mind is limitless and believe in our own Buddha nature, which inspires us to practice. Then, by recognizing even just one clear spark of natural awareness, this spark can become the great flame that burns the jungle of dualistic habit's confusion and is the origin of the vast, luminous appearance of the immeasurable sky of enlightenment.

The teachings of Buddhism reveal that mind is the basis of the infinite variations of phenomena, encouraging us to influence our own phenomena, so that we can try to create positive energy through positive intention in order to go beyond our habits and recognize natural awareness.[4]

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[1] Anguttara Nikaya, 3.38, quoted in H.W. Schumann, The Historical Buddha, Arkana, London 1989, p.23
[2] Majjhima Nikaya, 26.16, ibid., p.48.
[3] Ibid., p.55.
[4] Thinley Norbu, White Sail, Shambhala, Boston, 1992, p.31.