While many of the stories of the Buddha’s life are difficult to confirm, they provide us with important Buddhism facts because they tell us about the time in which the Buddha lived, and the religious environment that led to the start of Buddhism.
According to tradition, Siddhartha was given all the comforts of a prince. His father may not have been a king, but he provided everything his son could possibly want. As legend goes, Siddhartha had limited knowledge of spiritual teachings because his father wanted him to be a great king, rather than a great holy man.
It is also said that Siddhartha lived a sheltered life and did not know much suffering. He was married through an arranged marriage at the age of 16 years old. Siddhartha became a father, and continued to live a life of luxury.
When he was 29 years old, as the story goes, the Buddha left his home for the first time to see the world outside his palatial surroundings. During his first visit away from his home, Siddhartha saw an old man. When he asked the driver of his chariot what was wrong with the man, the driver explained that all people get old.
This intrigued the sheltered Siddhartha, who had seen little of the world. He went on more trips outside of his home and is reported to have seen a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic.
For the first time in his life, Siddhartha witnessed suffering. Perhaps it was the shock of seeing all these things that influenced Siddhartha to do what he did next. Siddhartha left his life of luxury, and his family, to pursue the life of an ascetic. After seeing suffering, death, and disease, Siddhartha felt the only way to avoid these was by practicing asceticism.
