Shakyamuni Buddha

Walking Away from Pleasures

Driven by curiosity about life outside the palace walls, Siddhārtha seized the opportunities he found to slip away to explore the city. Unguarded, he was immediately confronted with three successive signs of the deep suffering that is integral to human existence: illness, aging and death. Following this, he encountered a wandering ascetic, whose presence demonstrated to the young Siddhārtha a newfound possibility: that there might exist a solution to suffering for those who sought it. On a subsequent occasion, after a night of revelry in his harem, Siddhārtha’s renunciation for the world of empty pleasures arose with even greater strength, and he resolved to go forth that very night. He enlisted his charioteer to help him escape under cover of darkness, and they managed to depart undetected, the devas lifting the hooves of his horse to muffle their sound. Turning for a final glimpse of the city of Kapilavastu, Siddhārtha vowed not to return until he had freed himself completely from the cycles of birth and death. Sending his charioteer back alone, Siddhārtha cut his hair at the site of the Stūpa of Purity, and embarked on the final stage of his multi-life quest for enlightenment.

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