Symbolism In The Buddha's Life Story

Buddhism stems from the Enlightenment experience of the Buddha, from the teachings he uttered and the example of his life. The Buddha was not a God, but a human being who died at the age of eighty some two thousand five hundred years ago. The term "Buddha" is a title, not a name. It literally means "one who is awake" as in someone who has awoken fully from the dream of life. This title is given to a human being called Siddhartha Gautama who was born around 563 BCE as a prince of the small kingdom of the Shakyas in Ancient India. Sometimes he is referred to as Shakyamuni or the sage of the Shakyas. Siddhartha claimed to have woken up, to have become enlightened, and said in the same way that someone who is asleep can wake up, so every individual can also wake up from "the dream of life" and become enlightened. He also described it as re-discovering an ancient path.

"Suppose a man, wandering in a forest wilderness, found an ancient path, an ancient trail traveled by men of old, and he followed it, and by doing so he discovered an ancient city, an ancient royal capital, where men and women of old had lived, with parks and groves and lakes, walled round and beautiful to see. In the same way, have I found the ancient path, the ancient trail, traveled by the Fully Enlightened Ones of Old".

The best place to start with a consideration of Buddhism is with the life of the founder of this tradition. There is a great deal of mythic and legendary material in the Buddha's life story. Buddhism acknowledges this material, myth is considered as another way of putting across ideas or truth. Rather than being rejected as false, this material is to be interpreted and the symbols decoded. Many of the key teachings of Buddhism can be drawn from the Buddha's life story.

	Symbol	Event	Pilgrimage Place
	White Elephant	Birth	Lumbini
	Bodhi Tree	Enlightenment	Bodhgaya
	Dharmachakra	First Teaching	Sarnath
	Stupa	Paranirvana	Kusinara

There are four symbols that are linked with events in the life of the Buddha. A symbol is something that stands for or represents an idea, event or a feeling. Sometimes a symbol stands for something that cannot be seen. The White Baby Elephant is a symbol of the Buddha's birth. The Bodhi tree is a symbol of his Enlightenment. The Wheel of the Dharma, or the eight-spoked wheel is the symbol of his first teaching. The Stupa is a symbol of his death or "Paranirvana".