A spiritual leader teaches about their religion, helps others, and influences many people. Prince Siddhartha had it all growing up. After all, his father only wanted him to become a king, not a spiritual leader. And so, he was trapped in the palace all his life, surrounded by food, gold, people and the best of the best. This palace was only prince Siddartha’s bird cage made of gold. He wanted to sneak out of the palace.
Something changed in prince Siddhartha after sneaking out of the palace several times. At the age of 29, the first time he snuck out, he saw an old man. He pondered, “Wow, an old sick man. Will I become like this too in the future?” The second time, he saw a sick person. “Will I also become sick in the future and lose my health?” The third time, sadly, he saw a dead person. “Will I too one day become like this?” He realized that no matter what he does, he too will become like these people.
The fourth time he snuck out of the palace, he saw a monk training for peace. Prince Gautama realized that all the riches in the world doesn’t matter. He will become old and sick in the future. So, he left the palace for good, became a monk, trained, and trained, and trained. Training was helpful, but no matter how hard Siddhartha tried, he couldn’t reach enlightenment. Enlightenment is this moment where you ‘wake up’ from your long dream of suffering. Every Buddhist monk trains to ‘wake up.’ For our little Siddhartha here, no matter how hard he tried, nothing woke him up. And so, he gave up. After giving up, he did as he always did. He found somewhere to sit, this time underneath a tree, and meditated. Except this time, he reached enlightenment.
After reaching enlightenment, Siddhartha became a Buddha and started teaching Buddhism in India.
