Taylor du Pont
Multimedia Editor
Over the past few years, I have struggled to accept a religion into my life. I was brought up in a Congregational family, but as the years of my childhood flew by, I began to question my Christian faith. After my best friend was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor when I was in seventh grade, my skeptical religious views turned into agnosticism. When I was a sophomore in highschool, she died, and I became a pessimist, turning to atheism.
When I told my friends that I was going to convert to Buddhism, most of them thought that I had jumped off the deep end. I was tired of living my life like a zombie: emotionless and hopeless. I needed something to hold onto. I needed to make a difference in the world around me and be a part of something that was bigger than myself. In the beginning of June last year, without any warning, I started taking my first steps towards becoming a self converted Buddhist.
“Most of the sorrows of the earth, humans cause for themselves”
Every morning when I scurry into my car to make the daily trek to school, I say hi to Buddha. Buddha literally sits in my car everyday. I know what you’re thinking…I’m crazy! How could Buddha be sitting in my car everyday? Well, I have a bobble head Buddha that is glued to my dashboard. Most teenager’s relationship with Buddha is similar to what mine may seem to be. Many teenagers carry happy Buddhas on key chains or wear jewelry with Buddha’s head on it, but don’t know who Buddha really was, or what his real name is. I was once such a teen, until last June, until I delved deeper into Buddhism and craved to learn more about its founder.
Born in approximately 600 BCE, Siddhartha Gautama, the man that is better known as Buddha, was the son of the king of the Shakya clan of Lumbini (present day Nepal). He lived a life of privilege with as a young man, and rarely saw the world outside of the palace. Coming from a sheltered lifestyle, Siddhartha was disturbed by the suffering he found outside the palace walls, during a series of four chariot rides. On his first trip he encountered an elderly person, on his second trip he encountered a sick person, on his third trip he encountered a dead person and on his fourth trip he encountered monks meditating. Siddhartha found his trip to be both inspirational and eye opening. Soon after his journeys, he became a wandering ascetic, and tried to find a reason and solution to human suffering.
Approximately six years after Siddhartha left the palace, he became the Buddha. Buddha means enlightened one, and Siddhartha was dubbed Buddha because he became enlightened through reaching nirvana through meditation. Siddhartha achieved nirvana through celibacy, moderation, morality and meditation. Buddha laid out the four noble truths (the basis of Buddhism) and the eightfold path (practice of achieving nirvana) after his revelation and experiences.
It’s funny to think that images of Buddha are often found in teen wardrobes, artwork, and sometimes cars (I love my Buddha bobblehead), but that many teens do not know how much of an influence Siddhartha Guatama’s life had on the history of humankind (I didn’t even know how to pronounce his name until last summer).
I find Siddhartha’s life to be very inspiring. Although he lived far before my time, he created a religion that about 6% of the world participates in, according to the U.S. Center for World Mission. Buddha is not a myth or a legend, he was an insightful man, who observed the suffering of the human race, and attempted to put it to an end. He laid out a religion that helps individuals to free themselves from the cycle of human suffering and finally reach nirvana.
do you have a favorite bodhisattva?