We know him better in the West as the Buddha, but his name was Siddhartha Gautama. Like many Hindus of his time he was born into a particular station in life. A Kshatriya (Warrior/Ruler Caste) by birth, Siddhartha was a prince destined to inherit his father’s domain. Or so the king though. He loved his son very much and tried to make young Siddhartha’s life as pleasurable as it could be.
After living a life of luxury and pleasures of all kind for twenty nine years Siddhartha escaped the gilded cage his father built for him and set out on a quest to find peace and enlightenment.
The fabric of human history seems to be stitched with conflicts, wars, and suffering. But interwoven with all that misery have been the lives of visionary men and women who try to understand and even alleviate some of the “evils” of the human condition. Various religions and philosophies sprung up surrounding the teachings of these people; they have been called teachers, prophets, and messiahs, but they are just extraordinary human beings who bothered to care.
Siddhartha was one such man
True, his goal, at least at first, was a selfish one to find enlightenment and personal salvation. But in the end, he became an example and a guide for many generations of other people who want to achieve peace and harmony.
