More than 500 million people worldwide consider themselves Buddhists. This makes Buddhism the fourth largest religion in the world, followed by close to 7% of the global population. It all started with one man, Siddhartha Gautama.
Siddhartha was born into a royal family in Lumbini, which is now located in Nepal, around 563 BCE. Siddhartha's father, the king, aimed to protect him from any form of suffering, including sickness and death. However, Siddhartha's curiosity about his people led him to request a parade from the king in his twenties. Despite his father's efforts to only show him, healthy people, Siddhartha was confronted with death during this parade. It was then that he learned that everyone eventually becomes sick and dies.
After his discovery of suffering, Siddhartha decided to confront it to find a way to help others. He left the palace to face suffering head-on. At one point, he even refused to eat or drink. But he soon realized that going to such an extreme did not provide clarity but only led to more doubts. Therefore, he sought a more balanced lifestyle, resuming eating and bathing.
At 35 years old, after a long period of meditation, he found the answer to the question of suffering and became the Buddha, which means "awakened". Like most spiritual leaders, it's difficult not to empathize with the story of the Buddha. Life is a delicate balance, and the key to managing it is to stay in tune with our senses, avoiding the extremes of suffering and indulgence.
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