Close your eyes and imagine you're a prince or a princess living in a giant, luxurious palace. Your parents make sure that you have everything you could ever want or need: lots of toys, fine clothes, the best education. You're surrounded by beautiful gardens and expensive things. You have servants to clean up after you, bring you food, and help with everything. When you're not learning from private tutors, you spend your day swimming, practicing archery and swordsmanship, and riding horses. The palace is so massive, it's your entire world, and you never even have to leave.

Now, imagine you decide to give all that up. You're not happy with that life. You wonder if life has a greater meaning. You wonder if possessions can ever make you truly happy and content. This was the life Siddhartha Gautama found himself in. You might have heard of him; today, we call him Buddha.

The story of how Siddhartha became Buddha begins even before his birth. Siddhartha's father was king of a small kingdom in Northern India in the 6th Century BCE, over 2500 years ago. Several years before Siddhartha was born, the King was visited by sages, or wise men, who told him his son would either be a great king or a great holy man. Of course, Siddhartha's father wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and be a great king. So, when Siddhartha was born in 567 BCE, his father decided to shelter his son from the world so he wouldn't know about suffering and death. He thought that if Siddhartha never saw bad things in the world, he wouldn't want to fix them, and so he wouldn't want to become a holy man.

So Siddhartha grew up surrounded by all the comforts and privileges money could buy. When he became a young man, he married a woman named Gopa. He seemed to have it all, but the plan Siddhartha's father made for him to become a great king was all about to fall apart. Instead of accepting the life of luxury that he was given, Siddhartha grew restless living in the palace.

One day, he asked his father to let him go on a chariot ride to see the city around the palace. His father agreed but told the chariot driver to stay on the richer parts of the city close to the palace to avoid letting Siddhartha see people who were poor or suffering. Siddhartha set out in the chariot with his driver. Before long, they saw an old man slowly hobbling along the road, looking as if he might fall over at any moment. Siddhartha had never seen such an old man, and he asked the driver what was wrong with him. His driver replied, "He is very old. His body has grown weak with age. You too will grow old someday; all people do." Siddhartha was disturbed but asked him to drive on.

Later in the ride, they saw a sick man lying by the side of the road. He was groaning and looked very unhappy. Again, Siddhartha asked what was wrong with the man. His driver replied, "He is sick with a terrible disease. Everyone gets sick sometimes. Someday, you will get sick too." Siddhartha felt terrible seeing this man suffering, but they continued their ride through the city.

On their way back to the palace, they came across a funeral procession. People were crying and moaning. For a third time, Siddhartha asked his driver what was happening. Again, he replied, "Someone has died, and these people are his friends and family. They're mourning for him."

When Siddhartha returned home, he could not stop thinking about the old man, the sick man, and the funeral. He thought about these things happening to his father and mother, to his wife, and to himself. He realized that all the treasure in the palace, all the servants waiting on him, all the beautiful things surrounding him could not prevent him or anyone else from the sad things he saw. He realized that he wanted to find a way to help people overcome suffering.

Once he realized these things, Siddhartha knew he could no longer live an easy life in the palace. So, one day, he said goodbye to his family and set out to find the cause of suffering. He cut his hair and lived as an ascetic, someone who chooses to live in poverty and simplicity. He studied meditation with great holy men and discussed the problem of suffering with them. But after many years of living this way, he still didn't know why it happened or how he could prevent it.

Finally, he decided to sit and meditate under a Bodhi Tree. He vowed not to leave until he had the answer to the problem of human suffering. Siddhartha sat meditating day and night, still and calm as a statue, for six days. On the sixth day, he opened his eyes and realized he understood the nature of suffering. He became enlightened and from then on was known as Buddha, which means "awakened one."

For the rest of his life, Buddha traveled throughout India, teaching others about what he had discovered. He taught people the Four Noble Truths he realized about suffering. The first truth is that everyone suffers and has hard things happen to them; it's just part of life. The second truth is that we suffer because we are always wanting more and trying to hold on to what we have. This might sound surprising. Didn't he start his quest because he saw people who were suffering because they were old, sick, and dying? Buddha thought that the real reason we suffer is not because bad things happen to us, but because we allow negative feelings and desires to take over our thinking. If we're sick, we lie around feeling sorry for ourselves and wishing we were well. But then when we're healthy, we think of other things we want but don't have, and we still suffer.

Think about a time when you really wanted a new toy or game. It probably felt very unfair that you didn't have it, and then if you did get it, you might have been happy for a short time, but then you were just back to normal and wanted something new. We become attached to things or even ideas of things, and those things are not permanent. This keeps us spending all our time wanting to have things we don't have and worrying we'll lose what we do have. Buddha taught that things like toys and games and other things we might buy don't really make us happy deep down, and any happiness we do feel doesn't last.

The third truth is that we can overcome suffering. Once we overcome suffering, Buddha thought we could reach a state of Nirvana, or perfect peace and happiness, just as he did when he meditated under the Bodhi Tree. Finally, the fourth truth tells us how to overcome suffering. The way Buddha thought we overcome suffering is by following what he calls the Eightfold Path. I won't go over all eight parts of the path, but basically, to follow the Eightfold Path, we must always try to improve ourselves. This means being kind and honest, trying not to harm anyone or anything, and acting with compassion. We must also learn to pay attention to our own thoughts. As we pay attention to our thoughts, we can better understand thoughts that make us feel sad. This helps us think in a new way. This paying attention to our thoughts is called meditation.

Buddha taught that following the Eightfold Path creates good karma. Karma is the idea that everything you do has a consequence, whether good or bad. Kind actions tend to have positive consequences, and unkind actions negative consequences. This isn't a consequence like a reward or a punishment; it's just a thing that happens as a result of an action. He taught that by building up a lot of good karma, you can reach Nirvana, a state of true enlightenment.

Buddha spent the rest of his life traveling around India, teaching what he had discovered to anyone who wanted to learn. He encouraged his followers to try out the practices he taught for themselves to see how well they worked and to gather in communities to learn and help each other. Community was important because Buddha knew that to be truly happy, people need to feel compassion and kindness for both themselves and others. This is called metta in Buddhism.

After its beginnings in India, Buddhism spread throughout South and East Asia and was practiced widely in Tibet, Bhutan, Thailand, China, and Japan, among other places. Today, people around the world practice Buddhism in different forms. For some, it's a religion, but for others, it's simply a way of looking at life.

Like Buddha taught, you can take the time to meditate each day. Meditating is a good chance to breathe deeply and slow your thoughts. It can also help you to pay attention to your thoughts. Your thoughts often lead to how you're feeling, so if you have lots of negative thoughts, those may be causing negative feelings. Breathing deeply and clearing your mind can give you the positive energy you need to help yourself and help others. There are lots of great ways to start meditating. You can find videos, podcasts, and apps that can help you get started, but the simplest way is to just set a timer and try and sit and relax during that time while breathing deeply. Also, like Buddha taught, remember that things that we buy won't always make us happy. Toys eventually break or they go out of fashion, and we'll always want something new. Think about how you might turn your attention to more important things like spending time with your family and friends, learning something new, or doing good for others. These are things that last longer and will give you greater, deeper joy.