Guest Author - Samten Tsomo
And so, Siddartha grew up not knowing that not all people lived in such splendor.
At the age of sixteen he married the most beautiful princess in the land, Yasodhara.
Siddartha and Yasodhara lived together happily for many years and when Siddartha was twenty-nine Yasodhara gave birth to a baby boy that they named Rahula.
Shortly after Rahula was born Siddartha was walking outside the palace and he noticed a man who was sick.
Siddartha had never seen a sick man because his father had ordered all sick people to be kept away.
A bit farther along Siddartha came to an old man who was struggling down the street.
Because King Shuddodana had ordered all people banned from the palace when they become old, so Siddartha had never seen an old man.
Siddartha continued on his walk when he saw some people preparing a dead man for his funeral.
Because no funeral had ever taken place within the palace, Siddartha was shocked to learn that people die.
Siddartha was becoming more and more upset about what he had seen when he came upon a monk.
Siddartha asked the monk about the sick man, the old man, and funeral that he had seen.
The monk explained that everyone even if they are a king or the poorest person, will get sick, grow old, and die.
Siddartha then asked the monk how to avoid becoming sick, growing old, and dying.
The monk smiled gently and said that he did not have the answer. He had renounced all worldly pleasures in the hopes of finding that answer.
Siddartha returned to his palaces and thought about all that he had seen and learned that day.
The more Siddartha thought about all that he had learned, the more he was saddened.
And so at the age of twenty-nine, Siddartha left his three palaces and his life of luxury behind and became a monk.
It was in this way that he started his search to end the hardships and suffering that life brings.
Open ended question ideas for the group.
~Do you think you would be willing to give up a life like Siddartha’s?
~How do you think Siddartha felt when he learned that everyone gets sick, grows old and dies?
