Until he reached his late twenties, Siddhartha knew nothing of the world. He was limited to his 3 castles surrounded with delicious foods, endless entertainment and hundreds of young beautiful maidens.

One day he heard a song which he felt was hauntingly beautiful yet he could not understand the words. He could only feel.  His wife, the beautiful Yasodhara told him that this woman was singing about her homeland. She sang about her longings, her pain and suffering.

Siddhartha did not understand suffering and felt the urge to see what was hidden outside of the walls surrounding him. One day he arranged for a visit outside of the palace and that is when he saw the four passing sights.

His eyes were confronted for the first time in his life to old age, sickness, death and the serenity of a monk. Siddhartha was overwhelmed. His world was turned upside down. For so many years he had been “protected” from the fatal realities of life and his heart was heavy.

The last sight had a lasting impression on him for it gave him a path. Seeing a monk, someone who renounced the life of the senses in pursuit of the liberation from suffering, gave him a semblance of hope

Siddhartha was conflicted and tortured. His wife Yasodhara had just given birth to his son Rahula. He told his father that even though the birth of his child meant a great deal. He could not bear the thought of them, himself and others facing the ultimate suffering of the cycle of birth and death.

One night he left the palace, even though the guard was enforced to prevent his escape. Heavens granted him safe passage out of the city. As he arrived in the forest he saw a group of five ascetics. They were dirty, emaciated and those me, instead of indulging in the pleasures of life, resorted to the suffering of the body to attain liberation.

At first Siddhartha thought this was the path for him. He changed his royalty clothes to rags, shaved his head and join the group of men. One day as Siddhartha was sitting in the lotus position, it started pouring rain. A King Cobra came from behind and sheltered Siddhartha with his hood.

The other five men who were witness to this scene thus became the former prince’s first disciples. For 6 years Siddhartha endured horrible physical pain. His body was nothing more than skin, bones, hair and dirt. He was barely eating and drinking and on the brink of death.

One day he heard a teacher giving a lesson to his student. He heard those words “The string will snap if it is too tight or not make any sound if it is too loose”

At that moment he realised that indulgence in sensual pleasure or extreme pain are just attachments. That one should be at peace with the middle path to achieve liberation of body and mind.

A young village woman named Sujata, upon seeing Siddhartha offered him a bowl of rice. This was the first in seven years that he had had proper food. The five other disciples felt betrayed and deserted him.