Prince Siddhartha Visits the Four Gates

Our Saha World leader, Shakyamuni Buddha, was Prince Siddhartha, the son of King Suddhodana in India three thousand years ago. The Buddha was born into the royal family, so how did he end up becoming a monk? There was a step-by-step process --- a series of causes and conditions. When he was a teenager, Siddhartha enjoyed his life in the palace, but at the same time, he felt isolated. One day, he decided to take a trip outside the palace and planned to visit the four gates of the town. When the prince arrived at the East Gate, he saw an old man with a hunched back, limping along with great difficulty. In his trembling hand was a cane which he could hardly hold steady, and he wobbled and stumbled as he walked. His face was very thin, his hair was grey, and his clothes were little more than torn rags. He looked very pitiful. The prince had never seen such a pitiful-looking person in the palace, so he asked his attendant, "Who is that? How come he has a hunched back and walks so feebly?" "He is an old man," the attendant replied. So the prince asked, "Why do old people look so miserable? Am I going to grow old and look like that too?" The attendant said, "Yes, it happens to everyone!" Upon hearing that, the prince of unparalleled wisdom realized that he would also become old and feeble in the future! He immediately lost interest in sightseeing, and hurried back to the palace. Back at the palace, the prince's thoughts lingered on the old man, and he wondered, "When I become old and suffer like him, what will I be able to do about it?" The King noticed his son's change in mood, and said to the attendant, "I saw the prince leave the palace cheerfully, so why has he come back looking so grave?" The attendant then described to the King what had happened at the East Gate. "I see," said the King. "Next time, make sure that the prince doesn't see any more unpleasant things!" The imperial lifestyle became boring after a while, so Siddhartha decided to venture out again, this time to the South Gate. King Suddhodana had ordered the road leading up to the South Gate to be cleaned and festively decorated to depict a picture of jubilance. Nevertheless, while strolling along, the prince saw a man who was sick- pus and blood oozing from all over his body. His mouth and eyes had become grotesquely deformed. Disease made him look like a living ghost! Everyone was afraid of him. The prince again turned to his attendant and asked, "What's wrong with that man?" "He is sick," replied the attendant. The prince then asked, "Will 1 become like him?" "You are a prince," the attendant replied. "When you are healthy, everything seems fine. Unfortunately, good health is not something anyone can guarantee. We cannot prevent illness. It is inevitable!" Hearing this, the prince realized that eminent as he was being a prince, he would still have to suffer from disease! So once again, he lost interest in sightseeing and returned home. Soon the prince went on a third outing, this time to the West Gate where he saw the funeral proceedings of a deceased person --- a young man who had a son and an elderly father to take care of. His death meant that his father had lost a son, his son had lost his father and thus become an orphan, and his wife had become a widow. The family had lost a most important person- their provider-and they were so poor that they did not have enough money for a coffin. All they could afford to do was wrap the corpse in a straw mat for burial. This unfortunate event shocked the prince and saddened him deeply, so he and his retinue returned to the palace. On his fourth journey out of the palace, the prince travelled to the North Gate, and what did he see there ? He saw a Shramana monk! At that time, Siddhartha had not yet become a monk, nor had he achieved Buddhahood; therefore, Buddhism did not yet exist, and there were no such things as Shramana monks. The monk he encountered was in fact a Celestial Being who had descended from Heaven and had taken a monk's form for the prince. This monk carried himself with solemnity and ease, and emanated compassion, such that he immediately earned the respect and reverence of those in his presence. Of the four encounters that the prince had while journeying out of his palace, this last one was the most pleasant and auspicious! The prince was very happy to see the monk, and asked, "Who are you?" " I am a Shramana monk." "What is a Shramana monk?" asked the prince. "It is one who has left home and who diligently upholds the precepts, practises concentration and gains wisdom by eliminating greed, anger and ignorance. If one can do that, one can be liberated from the suffering of birth, aging, sickness and death." This time, the prince returned home in a joyous state of mind because he had seen the monk and realized that becoming a monk would enable him to escape worldly suffering! From then on, the prince's mind was captivated by the idea of becoming a monk; but would his father, the King, allow him to do that? The King was firm in his response: "You will have to take the throne one day, and you will have to rule the country! How can you think of becoming a monk? Absolutely not! Never!" However, the prince had become skeptical about the value of wealth and status. Although he was imperial in rank and had unmatched wealth, he was no longer interested in any of these because he had had seen the sufferings of aging, sickness and death. Being noble does not prevent suffering; one still ages, gets sick and dies. Likewise, wealth is impermanent. Even if you were a billionaire today, a flood, fire, or earthquake could easily wipe away your wealth overnight, leaving you without even a shelter. Therefore, to find a way to free himself, as well as others, from the sufferings of aging, sickness and death, the prince resolved his mind on leaving home to become a monk. From a layperson's perspective, Prince Siddhartha seems foolish for giving up his throne to become a monk! Everything that others craved --- wealth and status --- was despised by the prince. But time has proven that the prince in fact had great wisdom, being able to see through the impermanent nature of all worldly phenomena and letting them all go, including fame, wealth, status, and his ego --- the smaller self. He cultivated the Six Paramitas and myriads of good deeds to ultimately achieve Buddhahood. After that, he would, through his teachings, lead sentient beings to deliverance from the suffering of transmigrating within the Six Paths, and help them attain the ultimate bliss of Nirvana. From that time onward, we have been blessed by Prince Siddhartha's compassionate resolve to become a monk; in so doing, he made it possible for us to hear and practice the Buddhadharma today, and in turn disseminate his teachings throughout the world. If he did not have unmatched wisdom and if, driven by the Five Desires of wealth, lust, fame, food and sleep, he had continued to yearn for the throne, he would have rotted like everything else after his death. In the five thousand years of Chinese history, you cannot find a single emperor who was as meritorious as Shakyamuni Buddha, whose merits never cease to bless generations of posterity.