Prince Siddhartha or ôBuddhaö is associated with Buddhism, one of the great religious thinkers and philosophers known to the world who taught a way of life and prayer that continues to resonate in many different cultures today. However, if we examine the ideas and practices incorporated into the mythology of Buddhism, we begin to see that they are highly related to the social context in which they were created.
The story of BuddhaÆs birth maintains the he was born to the king of the Sakhyas in 560 B.C., Suddhodana, and that the ôgods themselves prepared the way before him with celestial portents and signsö (Sivananda 1). Allegedly BuddhaÆs body feature auspicious marks and others representing large numbers. Prince Siddhartha, as the child was known, spent his life with a step-mother after his mother died a few days after giving birth to him. He married at sixteen and had a son named Rahula, but at twenty-nine Siddhartha abandoned his home and family to devote himself to spiritual pursuits and Yogic practices (Sivananda 2). Seeing an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a monk motivated Siddhartha to renounced the world and become aware that ôWorldly happiness is transitoryö (Sivananda 2).
Siddhartha abandoned his wealth and family to discover a theory of life and religion through journeys. He taught specific concepts, like ôIf we can eradicate desire, all sorrows and pains will come to an endö (Sivananda 4). Eventually becoming known as Buddha, Siddhartha developed a way to enjoy Nirvana, eternal peace, and escape from being reborn in the material world through the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. By following this path and accepting these truths, through rejection of material desires an individual could achieve Nirvana and be free from earthly suffering.
From a social context perspective, the myth of Buddha and the practice and religion of Buddhism arose in India, a culture whose majo
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