Buddha's Path To Enlightenment - Thanissaro Bhikku & Nanamoli Bhikku

Siddhartha Gautama, a wealthy ruler of principality in the foothills of the Himalayas was born to be a great teacher and leader; his father received a prophecy of it. One day after deeply contemplating his lifestyle, he decided that being rich, free from suffering and illness was not okay with him and he decided to leave his home and family to live the life of a monk.

           While being a monk Siddhartha engaged in many experiments testing the limits of his mind. He was trying to be awakened from birth. He first learned while with his fellow monks to fully concentrate, to the point of pain. He stopped breathing and clenched his teeth. Next his thoughts turned to food. He wanted to have control over his body and thought by not eating that would happen but all he realized from starving was that his body had no energy to do any physical or mental activities. So instead he tried the opposite and ate very well. This brought him to his best senses; rapture, pleasure, seclusion, direct thoughts, and evaluation. His new body made him alert and mindful. Thoughts came to his mind about his reincarnations (past lives) and about birth and death. At this time his mind was pliable, he realized ignorance to the world was key. Ignorance arose to knowledge and darkness arose to light.
          After part way finding himself and becoming an inspiration, Siddhartha (Buddha) went to Deer Park in Isipatana to a group of 5 monks to teach them his ways of the Dhamma. Practicing and instructing them they became and remained in the supreme goal of the holy life. The monks struggled with seeing why this meditation and ways of the Dhamma was helpful. They asked what superior human state he had reached by living luxuriously, straying from exertion, and backsliding into abundance. He pointed out to them how different he was from whiles ago. They then believed his strange ways and reached the aging-less, illness less, deathless, sorrow-less unexcelled rest from the their yoke (birth).
           After the 5 monks had learned like him, Siddhartha thoughts about pleasures and cravings.  He believed that craving only led to self-torment, too much devotion and pain which is no good. The middle way discovered by him “The Perfect One” avoided this extreme; it gave vision, knowledge, and peace to direct nirvana with one’s self. Suffering became no problem for Buddha. He had officially reached three out of the four noble truths. At his point the monks taught his perfect way to others and that’s how it became the main religion/life style in china and in Asian cultures.
           After reading the life of the Buddha, I felt inspired to become one with myself and take control of my mind and body. I feel Siddhartha Gautama was a hero in his days for reaching such a state of perfection. He truly did take a hero’s journey by leaving his home, conquering many obstacles, and bettering himself through them. While reading this I thought of my own religion and how different it is from the way of the Dhamma but how similar it is in the way of bettering one’s self. I try every day to be better than the day before and Buddha was definitely trying to reach that state of pure bliss and perfection.