His mother died when he was just one week old and he
was affectionately brought up by his maternal aunt,
who married Suddhodana. Being the son of a rich and
important family Siddhatta had a comfortable
childhood. Tradition records that he was a very
sensitive and a
studious child who mastered the relevant Subjects with
much ease. According to the custom of the time, he
married at the age of 16, the beautiful young princess
Yasodhara, whom tradition describes as his first
cousin.
The young couple led a happy married life in full
luxury for 13 Years. All these luxuries failed to veil
the realities of life with which he was struck and
overwhelmed. This made him renunciate everything, even
his new born son Rahula and leave household life and
enter the state of homelessness, leading an ascetic
life in search of a solution to the problems of life.
At that time he was in his prime of youth - just 29
years of age.
During his quest for a solution which lasted for six
years he wandered about learning under famous teachers
of the time. With his usual brilliance he mastered all
the current philosophical and religious thoughts, but
none satisfied him. He followed the most accepted
traditional practices the severe ascetic practices
which only left him physically battered. He resolved
to break away from traditional extremes and follow his
own way.
Firmly resolving to reach his goal, one day he sat
under the Bodhi - tree, in Gaya near modern Bihar.
Before the following dawn he realized, through his own
higher wisdom, the truth, the problem of life and its
cessation. This was his Enlightenment and since then
he
was called the Enlightened One, (The Buddha).
He started his mission, first preaching to five
ascetics, his former colleagues, and continued his
missionary activities for 45 years. During this period
he toured on foot a fairly wide area in North western
India, meeting people of all walks of life and
preaching to them and guiding them to see the truth.
Soon there grew a large group of disciples who took
this message to the people.
The Buddha's great compassion and wisdom, his unique
qualities as a teacher, his unblemished character,
frankness, straightforwardness and simplicity and many
other simple human qualities won the hearts of the
people. This comparatively young teacher soon
over-shadowed his senior contemporaries.
Novelty of his Dhamma with its liberal philosophy had
a great appeal in the people. Just as the Buddha
himself, his disciples also dedicated themselves
tirelessly in the task of spreading the message for
the welfare of the people. Soon people of all classes,
kings,
ministers, nobles, millionaires and even beggars and
outcasts - became the followers of the Buddha's
teaching. His teaching was open to all those who
wished to do so.
The Buddha continued his missionary activities to the
ripe age of 80 years, till his feet could not carry
him any longer. His compassion was such that even in
his death bed he preached to those who sincerely
approached him to learn. He was on one of his usual
barefoot tours, in his 80th year, when he fell ill
with dysentery and passed away in the small town of
Kusinara in Uttar Pradesh in India
Based on this historical Buddha there developed a
Buddha - concept in which the human Buddha got
gradually transformed into a super-human being and in
later Buddhism ending up as a metaphysical concept,
the ultimate reality of the world- the Dharmakaya.
The uniqueness of the virtues with which the Buddha
was endowed, some explanatory utterances of the Buddha
himself concerning his personality, the rich
imagination of his devoted followers, analysis of the
Buddha personality by his metaphysically bent
disciples
popular beliefs, specially, those pertaining to ‘Great
Beings’ that were prevalent at the time and such other
numerous factors contributed to this transition. This
process of transition which started while the Buddha
was living, got accelerated after his passing away.
Many other connected beliefs developed alongside the
Buddha concept. Plurality of Buddhas, past and future
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas (or Buddha aspirants) are some
of those affiliated beliefs .The study of the
personality of the Buddha in its transition from that
of a human being into a universal principle and the
other related developments, is a special area of
study, and it is called Buddhology.
Reference:
http://www.lanka.net/Directory/bcc/mahi1.html