Siddhartha Gautama was born in sixth century BC. He is also known as the Buddha, the enlightened one. At the time of his birth India was going through a period of great reform. His father Shudhyodana was chief of Shakya clan. He belonged to the warrior cast called kshatriya. Like all fathers of his time he also wanted his son to follow his footsteps. At the time of his birth one of the saints who had received honor from his father in the past made a prediction. He said either Siddhartha would become a great king or he would become a great saint. To make the first prediction true and the second wrong his father did every thing that he could possibly do.

            He built three palaces for his son, where Siddhartha would spend three different seasons, in splendor and comfort. Siddhartha was not allowed to encounter the world in its true colors. He was married when he was rather young.  When he was sixteen years old he insisted on going out and witnessing the world himself. On this journey he encountered three truths of life that left a lasting impression on him. They also made him think, what life was all about. On this journey he saw an old man, a sick man and a dead body. Though it seems difficult to believe that a sixteen years old boy and had never seen a sick or old person, and had never encountered death, but if this story is true then it also indicates how carefully his father had constructed Siddhartha’s world.

            Apparently these three incidents affected him in a big way. He started thinking about human suffering, meaning of its influence on mankind and method of relief from it. He was disturbed but he stayed in his marriage and in the palace. After birth of his son, he decided that he should leave the world's riches and search answers for the questions that had been bothering him. One day at night when his wife and child were sleeping he left the palace without saying good-bye to his family. He left his worldly possessions behind, and joined few ascetics and started living a life of extreme denial. This almost cost him his health. One day he fainted by the stream; when he revived he realized that self denial is not the way. This also made him realize, that in order to acquire any kind of knowledge one has to first maintain good health, and then only one can pursue the search. To have a sound mind one should also have a sound body. So then onwards he followed the so called middle path. His five ascetic friends who had been with him all along could not understand the change in his perspective and left him in disgust.

            He continued his search and after six years of intense struggle he was enlightened, under the banyan tree in Bodhgaya. Through his enlightenment he understood the grip of sensual pleasure and how to elevate from it. Then he realized the function of discursive mind and how it influences human understanding. Only in the absence of such chatter mind can become unified. Later he understood that when emotions are removed mind becomes serene and tranquil and this understanding brings pure joy. He realized that in the presence of such a joyous state, even if anger and sadness try to penetrate they cannot last for long. This understanding brought tremendous clarity and understanding to his mind.

            The tree under which he achieved enlightenment is now recognized as the Bodhi tree. It is said that he sat under the Bodhi tree for four and a half weeks and did intense meditation which helped him achieve enlightenment. Buddha felt that his five friends should get his teachings first because they were the one who had lost all faith in him. He went to meet his five friends who had left him earlier. He went to Deer Park in Saranath, India and told his friends that he had not gone back to a lavish lifestyle instead he had understood real meaning of life.

            Buddha is known as the single founder of this school of thought. His main concern was human suffering and relief from suffering. Therefore he did not answer metaphysical questions about existence of God and soul. Since such questions were not helpful in the removal of suffering they were not important. After his enlightenment he taught Dharma for rest of his life. He preached for 45 years and died at the age of eighty, in Kushinagar. Before dying  he gave his last teaching in which he told his disciples ‘Atma Dipo Bhava’ which means be a light to thyself.