Buddha (c. 463–c. 383 BCE)

Religious leader and founder of the Buddhist tradition

The term Buddha refers to a fully awakened and enlightened being. According to the Buddhist tradition, there have been many such beings, but the term most commonly refers to Siddhartha Gautama, an influential religious leader in ancient Nepal and India. He was born into the ruling and military class, but at about the age of twenty-nine, he left his comfortable palace life on a religious quest to find a way out of suffering. After six years of searching, learning, and meditating, he was transformed by an experience of enlightenment and then spent about forty-five [Page 123]years teaching, advising laypeople, and forming monastic communities in northern India and Nepal. The Buddhist tradition reveres him as the great teacher of wisdom and compassion, the discoverer of the true nature of existence and the way to overcome suffering; in some Buddhist perspectives he is venerated as the manifestation of ultimate reality itself. The entire human community can recognize that Siddhartha Gautama, who became Shakyamuni Buddha, is one of the most influential religious leaders in all of history, the founder of a tradition that has influenced cultures across south, central, and east Asia for centuries and that is practiced by millions of people throughout the world today.

To distinguish him from other Buddhas, Buddhists refer to Siddhartha Gautama after his enlightenment as Shakyamuni Buddha. His personal name, Siddhartha, means “goal attained.” Gautama (spelled “Gotama” in the Pali language of ancient India) was the name of his family; Shakya was the name of his clan. “Muni” literally means “the one who keeps silent” and commonly refers to a sage. Thus Shakyamuni is the sage of the Shakya clan. His father, Suddhodana, is often called a king by the later Buddhist tradition, but he may have been the elected head of a clan.

Like Socrates, Jesus, and Muhammad, Shakyamuni Buddha left behind no writings of his own. The earliest written accounts of his life and teaching come from the Buddhist scriptures written in Pali, composed long after his death, and contain legendary elements, and so it is difficult to be certain of the exact details of his historical life; indeed, even the dates of his life are in dispute. Most American, European, and Indian scholars have traditionally dated his birth about 566 BCE and his death about 486 BCE; Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka and southeast Asia place his birth in 624 and his death in 544 BCE; however, many recent Japanese and Western scholars believe his dates were later, variously from 448 to 368 BCE, or from 463 to 383 BCE. This article will examine his life and teaching as remembered and revered by the later Buddhist tradition.

The Early Life of Siddhartha Gautama

The traditional narrative of the life of Shakyamuni Buddha hinges on a choice between two forms of leadership. As soon as Siddhartha was born, a religious seer named Asita came to see the child and proclaimed to his father, Suddhodana, that the newborn boy would become a very important leader. According to the later Buddhist tradition, however, it was not clear if he would be a great religious teacher or a mighty political and military ruler. Eager to have a powerful heir who would extend the might of the kingdom, Suddhodana resolved to shelter the young Siddhartha from any awareness of suffering, fearing that such knowledge could prompt him to a religious quest. The prince reportedly grew up surrounded by worldly pleasures, unaware of illness, old age, or death. The later Buddhist tradition would see the conditions of his youth as representative of a widespread problem: Humans often block out awareness of suffering because it is unpleasant. For Siddhartha and his [Page 124]followers, this restriction of consciousness is the first and most formidable obstacle to genuine leadership.

A white marble sculpture of the head of Buddha made between 618 and 960 BCE during the Tang Dynasty in China.

Christie's Images/Corbis; used with permission.

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