Chiara Grandi
Komyo Reiki: Japanese tradition

Siddhartha Gautama was born into a princely family in India near the border with Nepal about 560 BC. His father tried to protect him from the bad thisgs in life, and never let him see any sadness or suffering. But when Siddhartha became a young man he went outside the palace walls for the first time, and was shocked by what he saw. He came upon a wrinkled, old man, a sick man, someone who had died, and a holy man who had given up all life's pleasures.

He saw how everyone, eventually, has to face sickness, old age and dead. He knew how frightened people were of these events, and how their fear can make them suffer. He asked himself: was there no way to free people from this pain? To try to find the answer to this question, he left the comfort of his family and home to live as a poor man. He took the advice of regious teachers and disciplined his body by going without food, warmth and comfort, but he still could not find the answer to his problem.

Eventually, he developed a way of life called the Middle Way: he looked after the needs of his body, but did not seek any extra comforts or luxury. At the same time he learnt how to calm his mind by concentrating on breathing deeply. At the age of 35, on a night of a fuul moon in May, Siddhatha eventually found what he was looking for. As he sat under a tree, calming his mind with even breathing and meditation, he felt release from the pain of sickness, old age and death, and from the cycle of birth, deadh, and rebirth. He became a "Buddha" - an Enlightened one. For the rest of his life he travelled from around India on foot, teaching and helping others to be free from the suffering that always comes from human needs and wants.

Whe Siddhartha deid at 80 years old, he left his teachings - the Dharma - and he left his followers, organized into communities calle the Sanga, to keep his teachings alive.