Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 B.C.) was a Hindu prince who rejected his wealth and searched for years until he found enlightenment through meditation. The holy man came to be known as Buddha, “one who is awake.”

“You have no cause for anything but gratitude and joy,” he taught.

At twenty-nine, he left his home and his family in search of meaning. Buddhist tradition calls this decision the Great Renunciation. For forty-nine days he sat under the bo tree, the tree of wisdom. Demons tempted him, but he resisted.

As he sat, his knowledge transcended life and death… he reached nirvana, a state of complete peace, free of human limitations. With his enlightenment, Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

“Peace comes from within,” he said. “Do not seek it without.”

Through physical discipline and self-denial, Buddha taught equality and believed that people are the masters of their own fate. “All we are is a result of what we have thought,” he said.

Today there are hundreds of millions of Buddhists in the world. On the full moon of the sixth lunar month, Thai Buddhists celebrate Visakha Puja Day, honoring three anniversaries of Buddha’s life: his birth, enlightenment, and death.

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