Hatred does not cease in the world by hating, but by not hating; this is an eternal truth. This philosophy quoted from Buddha is only one of his many great teachings that inspire people all over the world to live their lives in a loving and respectful manner. The Buddha influences so much because he was such a great man. He sacrificed a kingdom, wife, and child in order to pursue Nirvana and find enlightenment. HE invoked the Dhamma, and spread his pro-life principals to all who would listen. In the sixth century before the Christian era, shortly preceding the Buddhas birth, religion had been forgotten in India. Priests of the time were irreligious, performing meaningless rituals of sacrifice and amassing great wealth for themselves. At this needed time, when there was cruelty, degeneration and unrighteousness everywhere, reformer Buddha was born to put down priestcraft and animal sacrifices, to save the people and disseminate the message of equality, unity and cosmic love everywhere (Sivananda 17). Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in B.C. 560 to Suddhodana, king of the Sakhyas. His place of birth was a grove known as Lumbini, located at the foot of Mount Palpa in the Himalayan Mountains within Nepal. As Buddhas birth drew near, the gods prepared a path for him with celestial portents and signs, such as flowers blooming, soft rains falling, heavenly music playing, and the air was filled with delicious scents. The birth of the child was followed by a prediction by the astrologers to the Buddhas father. The prediction was that, The child on attaining manhood, would become either a universal monarch, or abandoning house and home, would assume the robe of a monk and become a Buddha, a perfectly enlightened soul for the salvation of mankind(Shepard 4). It was prophisized that unless the prince saw four signs, he would not retire from the world to become a Buddha. The four signs were an old man, a diseased man, a dead man, and a mon...
