This happened a very long time ago. One ancient book says it was in 542 BCE, another says it happened 2500 years ago.
At the very foot of the Himalayan mountains, in India, there was a small kingdom. The king and queen were very kind people, but they had no children. Year after year passed. Then one day, the queen had a dream that a white baby elephant flew to her and touched her with its trunk.
She wasn't frightened, but woke up hoping it was a good sign. And indeed, after some time, she gave birth to a child. It was a boy. He grew not by the day, but by the hour. He almost immediately began to walk and talk. And his gaze was so intelligent and aware, like that of a very wise person.
Wherever he stepped, lotus flowers grew. Wherever he passed, everyone became wiser, and wherever he went, he brought goodness.
The boy said:
I was born to gain knowledge and free all living things from suffering.
His father surrounded the little prince with care and attention. He taught him to ride horses, shoot a bow, as well as various games and entertainments. The boy never left the kingdom walls, as his father built him four palaces for all the seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn. He arranged it so that only young and healthy people lived in the city, so the boy wouldn't see old age and illness. His father decided that his son would be king when he grew up.
One day, while walking through the kingdom, the heir wandered to a distant street and heard a song there in a strange foreign language. The young prince asked his friend to translate its content. And he told him that there were other countries, another life. Not as good and carefree as his, but rather poor, with diseases, suffering, and poverty.
I must see the world.
He said.
And, returning to his chambers, he gathered the most necessary things and went to see what was happening in the world.
The first thing the young prince saw upon leaving the kingdom gates was that life is filled not only with joy and laughter, but also with suffering. And he decided he would teach and learn how to free oneself from suffering. Looking around and observing the lives and concerns of other people, he understood that the world that had surrounded him since childhood and to which he was so accustomed was not actually like that everywhere.
Sometimes it seems that everything is good and wonderful, but this is only an illusion. And to understand what the truth is, one must develop spiritually and become enlightened. Only an extraordinary person can do and think this way, and that person is Buddha.
He would sit at the foot of Mount Kailash, 6638 metres high, and dream. And at that time, an unusual glow of red, blue, and white appeared over the mountain. It illuminated everything around, the emanating light was so bright that it hurt to look at it.
One day a bear came to Buddha and asked:
How can I quickly dig a large den?
Budda advised him to start by digging a small hole first, then a bigger hole, and that's normal. After all, you must always start small. This was the first lesson.
The second followed. A little owlet had a sore wing, and because of this he couldn't fly. And Buddha advised him to think that his wing was healthy, strong, and didn't hurt at all. The owlet thought about it so often that everything really stopped hurting, and he flew.
And the essence of the second lesson is that thoughts are material. What you think about happens in reality (comes true).
Once black crows couldn't divide their prey among themselves and were angry at each other because of it. They even fought, because one of them got a bigger piece than the other. Buddha suggested that the offended crow forgive the offender, and the conflict was resolved. Thus appeared the third lesson.
And once, while swimming in a pond, a little duckling caught his foot on a snag and couldn't free himself. And his friend was swimming carelessly nearby and did nothing to help. A goose who was also swimming in this pond saw this and quickly came to help. So here's the point: actions matter: you must act, not remain passive. This was Buddha's fourth lesson.
As in the animal world, so in the human world, you must try to understand another person first, and then talk about yourself and your desires. Such was Buddha's fifth lesson.
And here's another: a young man came to Buddha for advice. He couldn't understand what he wanted himself. His thoughts ran one ahead of the other, and accordingly, the young man would start one task, then abandon it unfinished, and take up another that seemed more interesting to him, then interrupt and start a third task... In the end, he never finished anything.
The young man was very scattered, unfocused, and Buddha gave him a lesson, which he called the sixth. The essence of the lesson is as follows: "Conquer yourself, learn to control your thoughts, be consistent in bringing them to life." This lesson is considered one of Buddha's most important lessons; only intelligent, brave, and disciplined students are capable of fulfilling it.
With his seventh lesson, Buddha teaches to live in harmony. Never dwell on troubles. Don't live with grievances. Don't harbour malice. Don't get irritated. Be able to quickly forget the bad.
And his eighth lesson is very useful: "Be grateful." There will always be something to thank friends, acquaintances and strangers, teachers, and Higher Powers for.
That's what Buddha is like and his lessons. And he also strongly believes that there is another world where final liberation and peace occur, where there is no suffering, and it is called nirvana.
And our life is a cycle. All things are impermanent by nature. Everything flows and changes under the influence of the environment and events that have occurred. Therefore, one must study, read a lot, to understand the world and the laws of nature, be flexible and ready for any changes.
