“Buddhism began with a man who woke up,” Juéxǐng said to the children.  “Siddhartha Gautama was born to a king and queen of pure descent.  Upon his birth, a brilliant light embraced the world.  The blind gained their sight to look upon him; the deaf and dumb gained their hearing and speech to discuss his majesty; slaves and prisoners cast aside their shackles to celebrate his arrival.  The universe trembled.  Only The Evil One looked on in disapproval.

“Siddhartha Gautama’s father summoned his greatest fortune tellers to read his son’s future.  They prophesied thus:  If the world captivated Gautama, he would become its greatest king; if it did not, he would become its greatest redeemer.  His father decided to make him a king, and so shielded him from all the world’s ugliness.

“And so Siddhartha Gautama knew only beauty, and wanted for nothing, and could do no wrong.  He received three colorful palaces of unparalleled resplendence.”  The man gestured grandly.  “His father arranged his marriage to the princess Yasodhara, who proved dazzling and elegant, tender and joyful, dignified and graceful.  Yasodhara bore him a son.  As heir to the throne, Gautama anticipated a future gleaming with endless wealth, power, and fame.  He drifted between sumptuous feasts, pleasure gardens, extravagant festivals, performances from musicians and forty thousand dancing girls, and collections of exotic gems and creatures.”

“One day in Siddhartha Gautama’s twenties, he rode a golden chariot through the streets and his attendants overlooked an old man on the side of the road.  Gautama looked upon the man’s frowning creases, glazed eyes, crumbling body, and shaking limbs, and he learned of aging.  His next ride brought him past an infested, rash-covered man collapsed in the ditch, and he learned of disease.  Next he passed a rotting corpse, and he learned of death.  Finally, a ride brought him past a monk, and he learned of withdrawal from clinging to impermanent things, and of withdrawal from suffering.”

The Four Sights seen by Siddhartha made for a striking image.  We are born innocent and joyful, but over time life forces us to take problems seriously -- aging, disease, and death.  But Morris personally found himself less inspired and more frustrated by knowledge of withdrawal from suffering -- as if he were stuck in a pit and a smiling monk taunted him from the rim, telling him escape was simple, as though he hadn’t already spent years scrabbling at the wall until his hands bled.

Juéxǐng continued.  “Siddhartha Gautama returned to his wife, his son, and his palaces, but they had lost his interest.  He bid his family a silent farewell, and his horse Kanthaka carried him off into the night.

“Having rejected luxury as the path to Truth, Siddhartha Gautama turned to asceticism, or self-denial.  He pushed asceticism to its extreme, eating only a pea a day until little remained of him but skin clutching a skeleton.  But torturing the body doesn’t tame the mind.  He nearly died of starvation; by luck, a passing girl mistook him for a spirit and saved his life by offering him a bowl of gruel.  He now understood that Truth could not be found in either extreme of luxury or asceticism, but instead must be sought using the ‘Middle Path’ of moderation.

“Siddhartha Gautama sat beneath a Bo tree and vowed to remain in concentration until Truth was his.  The Evil One noted Gautama’s quest and tried to prevent him from attaining enlightenment.  He assaulted Gautama with sand and stones, wind and weapons, flames and enveloping darkness, but Gautama remained steadfast in meditation.”  The man crescendoed, and mimed the various attacks.  “He tempted Gautama with his seductive daughters Lust, Thirst, and Discontent, but Gautama did not falter.  He challenged Gautama’s right to meditate upon his patch of Earth.  Gautama touched his finger to the Earth, the Earth proclaimed in a thousand voices, ‘I bear you witness,’ and The Evil One fled in defeat.  The gods of Heaven descended to congratulate Gautama and to rejoice in his victory.”

Morris snorted.  He wondered if Juéxǐng would have let Morris go if he had touched the spiraling tree with his finger and said, ‘I bear you witness.’  It seemed unlikely.

Juéxǐng continued.  “Siddhartha Gautama continued his meditation, and soon thereafter he found the Truth.  He awakened from his dream of human life as Siddhartha Gautama to become the Buddha, and he entered into Nirvana.  Once again the creatures of the world rejoiced, and once again the universe trembled.  Bliss overwhelmed him so that for forty-nine days he could not stand.  When Buddha finally prepared to stir, The Evil One returned with a final temptation.  ‘Nobody could understand that ineffable lesson which has taken all your strength and repeatedly brought you to the brink of death.  Why not enter Nirvana at once and end your suffering forever?’

“Buddha thought long, then declared, ‘There will be some who understand,’ and was never again disturbed by The Evil One.  His quest for the Truth complete, Buddha turned to his true purpose: sharing it with others.  He spent half a century preaching his message, helping everyone he met in every way he could, and planning for the future.  Though he passed away, he passed into Nirvana and will never suffer again, and before he left he taught the world Four Noble Truths and an Eightfold Path to end suffering.”