Introduction

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Welcome to the Enlightened One Storybook! This site tells the story of Siddhartha Gautama, a prince, who renounced his earthly attachments of life and entered a journey towards reaching nirvana. This is better known as the story of how Buddha came to be. The overall story will be an overarching type of story dynamic. It is broken down into sections but are all connected together.

Siddhartha Gautama was a philosopher, mendicant, mediator, spiritual teacher, and religious leader. He ultimately became known as the founder of the world religion known as Buddhism. He was born into an aristocratic family where he only knew and enjoyed the luxuries of life. One day he learned of the cycle of rebirth as well as the mechanisms of life that fuels and traps people with it. What he did not know was that he was in essence sheltered his whole life, and this “perfect” life that he had lived kept him ignorant of the suffering that truly comes with life. The sufferings which he discovered are also known as “The Four Sights.” The concept of “The Four Sights” will be something woven into the writings of my storybook. Furthermore, the Enlightened One Storybook also contains discussion of the other important milestones that Siddhartha Gautama experienced throughout his life and the journey he took towards reaching enlightenment, all of which will be separated into different sections of the overall story.

In addition, the Enlightened One Storybook website offers stories that are highly correlated to the religion of Buddhism. The story about the life of Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha, has a lot of symbolism that is considered highly significant within the religion of Buddhism. I will be retelling the story of Siddhartha Gautama’s life while also incorporating information in regards to symbolism and its significant meaning.