Siddhartha Gautama was an Indian prince. When he was born a holy man predicted that if he ever went out of the palace he would never become king. His father kept him in the palace for a very long time.
One day Siddhartha decided to sneak out of the palace. What he saw surprised and upset him. He saw 4 things. A dead man, an old man, a sick man and a holy man.
Siddhartha wondered why there was so much suffering in the world. he went out searching for an answer. One day he sat under a tree and started to meditate to help him find the answer.
After 48 days of meditating, Siddhartha finally found the answer. life is full of suffering and there is a reason for suffering. He believed that everyone can stop their suffering through enlightenment and meditating to discipline the mind and body. After he found the answer he taught the monks in the park.
Siddhartha changed his name to Buddha which means the enlightened one. Today there are over 300 million Buddhists in the world.