The Birthday of Buddha Sakyamuni (March/April)

This Mahayana Buddhist festival celebrates the birth in 563 BCE of the Buddha Siddhartha Gotama, who is often referred to as Sakyamuni, the Sage of the Sakya clan. Sakyamuni attained enlightenment, but chose to devote the rest of his natural life to teach mankind his doctrine. Theravada Buddhists (of Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand) celebrate his birth on the full-moon day of Vesakha.

In Japan images of the Buddha are bathed with an infusion of hydrangea leaves and surrounded with flowers. Processions are held where the priests scatter confetti in the shape of lotus flowers.

The Birth of Prince Siddhartha

On the slopes of the Himalayan mountains, on the borders of India and Nepal, lived a rich young king, Suddhodana, and his beautiful wife, Queen Maya. Life was peaceful and good.

One night Queen Maya dreamed of a handsome white elephant which walked three times round her bed trumpeting as it went. The elephant came to her and entered her side. Next morning the King's wise men told her that the dream foretold that she would give birth to a baby boy who would be someone very special.

Not long before the baby was due, the Queen decided to visit her parents. She set out in her golden carriage, but before they had gone very far, she called to the driver to stop. The horses slowed and the golden carriage came to a halt in a beautiful clearing in the forest. Birds sang, wild animals darted to and fro, flowers bloomed and everything was full of peace. It was here that the baby was born. It was a boy as Queen Maya had learned from the dream and she called him Siddhartha which means' A Wish Come True'.

The King called his wise men and priests together to foretell the baby prince's future. Some said that he could become a great emperor; but others said that he would become a poor and humble monk. The last of the priests to speak told the King that he would indeed become a monk, but a monk who would one day see the real truth of life, that he would show this truth to all men, and that he would become a Buddha. When the prince saw four signs he would leave home to become a monk. The four signs were an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a monk. King Suddhodana wanted his son to become a great emperor not a monk. He was determined to keep all sadness away from Prince Siddhartha. As Siddhartha grew up the King made sure that he never saw sick or old people. Even dying flowers were picked from the royal gardens so that he would not see them. Death was never mentioned. King Suddhodana had three palaces built for his son, one for each season of the year (the hot season, the rainy season, and the cool season). Everything inside the Prince's palace was joy and excitement. The King made sure there were always plenty of people to visit him, plenty of games to play, and plenty of entertainment. He must never get bored, for if he was bored he would want to travel away from the palace and then he would be sure to see the sights he must not see -old age, illness, and death.

Siddhartha's Marriage

Prince Siddhartha reached the age when he was expected to marry. His father , King Suddhodana, announced to all the lands around that a ceremony was to be held at which wonderful gifts would be presented to all the girls who came. This was so that his son, Siddhartha, could see the most beautiful girls and choose one to be his wife. Hundreds of girls arrived at the palace on the day and the presents were given out, but Siddhartha did not take much notice. When all the jewels and golden necklaces and silver brooches had been distributed there arrived at the court a girl called Yasodhara. She was the daughter of one of the King's ministers and had not thought that Siddhartha would want to see her. Her father had persuaded her to attend but she had arrived too late to be given a present. Prince Siddhartha went up to her, took the most valuable ring from his own finger, and slipped it on to hers. The King knew who his son had chosen.

Now it was the custom of the land of King Suddhodana that a man to be married must prove himself the best of all those men who wanted to marry a particular girl. This was done in competitions of sport, shooting arrows, sword fighting, and horse and chariot racing. Even Prince Siddhartha would have to enter such a competition to win Yasodhara a~ his new wife. The King was worried. Although Siddhartha had had plenty of practice, he had only ever played sports and competitions at the palace. The King was anxious in case any of the other men who wanted to win the beautiful Yasodhara might prove to be better than his son. He need not have been concerned. Siddhartha easily beat all who tried to play against him. What was more, when a great bow was brought that had belonged to the King's ancestors, a bow so mighty no-one had ever managed to shoot with it, Siddhartha not only managed to pull it back and fit an arrow, he placed the arrow right in the centre of the target.

With great happiness and rejoicing, people came from all over the land and from countries far away to join in the celebrations at the marriage of Prince Siddhartha and Yasodhara.

When Yasodhara gave birth to a son, Rahula, King Suddhodana was as happy as he could be- Siddhartha would not leave to be a monk now, whether or not he saw the sights of illness, old age, and death. He would not leave his own family behind.

Siddhartha Leaves Home

Siddhartha began to get bored with the life of luxury at the palace. He was curious to see what lay outside its walls. He called Challna, his chariot-driver, to take him out of the palace, into the streets of the town. Suddenly the Prince called Challna to stop. He had seen a man whose hair was white, whose skin was wrinkled, and whose back and legs were bent. Siddhartha had never seen old age before and asked Challna what was the matter with the man. He was shocked to hear that everyone grew old, that his beautiful young wife would grow old, that his baby son would grow old, and that ~e himself would grow old.

On another day Siddhartha asked Challna to take him into the town where he saw a man so weak he could not stand. The man 's face was covered with sores and he cried out in pain. Siddhartha had never seen anyone ill before. He was shocked to learn that anyone could become ill, at any time, and there was very little that could be done about it. Even a prince like Siddhartha could become ill.

On yet another visit to the town Siddhartha saw a group of people unhappy and crying. They were carrying a man. Challna explained that the man being carried was dead, that everyone who is born will die, that all of Siddhartha 's family and friends were sure to die, that Siddhartha himself was bound to die, and that there was certainly nothing that could be done about it. The Prince was so shocked by this that he felt ill and told Challna to take him home immediately.

On the way back to the palace Siddhartha saw a fourth sight that he had never seen before. It was a man with a shaved head wearing a yellow robe. Challna told the Prince that this man was a monk -a man who had given up owning things, who had given up his family and home and friends, and who had set out to find away to end suffering. Siddhartha noticed how peaceful the monk's face looked, how calm he seemed to be.

The life at the palace meant nothing to Siddhartha now. He had seen the four signs the priest had foretold -old age, sickness, death, and a monk. And he could not stop thinking about the sad truth of being alive. He decided that he had led an empty wasteful life so far and that he must try to find peace in the same way as the monk had found peace. One night as the palace lay in sleep Siddhartha called Channa to saddle horses and to ride out of the palace with him. The Prince did not want to say goodbye to his family because they would be sure to stop him from going. But before he left he could not resist one last look at his sleeping wife and baby son. He did not even dare to kiss them for fear of waking them up. He knew he had to begin his journey and quietly he rode out of the palace.

Channa and Siddhartha rode until they reached the River Neranjara. Here the Prince cut off his long princely hair and gave his royal clothes and expensive jewellery to Channa to take back to the King. Channa was to tell the King not to worry and not to be sad, for Siddhartha would return when he had learned the truth he was looking for. Sadly Channa left him.

And so Siddhartha who had been a prince, set off with nothing, with no family or riches, wearing only the robe of a wandering monk. He had nothing and he wanted nothing except to understand the reasons for suffering and unhappiness and how to cure them. It was a journey in search of truth.

Many years later Siddhartha came to understand the suffering of the world and preached his message to everyone. On one occasion he spoke to a group of fire-worshippers :

'The whole world is in flames. What is it that keeps the fire burning? The fire is kept alive by wanting, by hatred and ignorance, by birth, old age and death, by weeping and sorrow, and by grief and despair. So the wise man does not hold on to these things and in this way the causes of suffering are removed from his heart.' (from The Fire Sermon)