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Siddhartha Gautama's Eightfold Path

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Siddhartha Gautama was born around 563 B.C.E and died around 483 B.C.E. Siddhartha Gautama means one who accomplishes his goals. He was born to a king. Going Suddhodana received a prophecy that his son would either become s king or a monk. The king wanted his son to become a king as well so he treated him accordingly. I chose Siddhartha Gautama as my topic because unlike all the other historical figures, his story stood out to me.

After never being able to leave his palace, Siddhartha Gautama wandered about life and wanted to see the world outside the palace walls. He left the palace and while out he came across an old man, a sick man, and a dead man. Seeing this motivated him him to try to understand and stop suffering. Gautama became an ascetic so he could resist all pleasures. Becoming an ascetic …show more content…

He meditated for a month to reach Nirvana, which is the state of where suffering goes away. He started teaching others how to reach Nirvana by understanding the Four Noble Truths and following the Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths are that all life suffers, suffering comes from desiring, and to stop desiring you have to stop desiring, and to stop desiring you have to follow the Eightfold Path . The Eightfold Path is a way of living which includes having the right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Siddhartha Gautama became known as the Buddha, which means “The Enlightened One.”

I do think that Siddhartha Gautama was successful in pursuing his goals because he understood suffering, reached Nirvana, and created a philosophy or religion based on his beliefs that many people still follow today. I consider finding the path of Enlightenment and sharing it with others to be Siddhartha Gautama’s most important contribution. I admire your Siddhartha Gautama because he was determined selfless, and had a lot of spiritual

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