Four sights: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Event in the life of the Buddha}}

[[File:Baocheng Four Sights.jpg|thumb|Siddharta sees the dead man, China, 15th-century printed and hand-coloured edition of Baocheng's biography,]]

The '''four sights''' are four events described in the legendary account of [[Gautama Buddha]]'s life which led to his realization of the impermanence and the ultimate dissatisfaction of conditioned existence. According to this legend, before these encounters Gautama Siddhartha had been confined to his palace by his father, who feared that he would become an [[asceticism|ascetic]] if he came into contact with sufferings of life according to a prediction. However, his first venture out of the palace affected him deeply and made him realize the sufferings of all, and compelled him to begin his spiritual journey as a wandering ascetic, which eventually led to his enlightenment. The spiritual feeling of urgency experienced by Siddhārtha Gautama is referred to as [[saṃvega]].

 

===Aftermath===

After observing these four sights, Siddhārtha returned to the palace, where a performance of dancing girls was arranged for him. Throughout the performance, the prince kept on thinking about the sights. In the early hours of morning, he finally looked about him and saw the dancers asleep and in disarray. The sight of this drastic change strengthened his resolve to leave in search of an end to the suffering of beings.<ref name="dhammapada">{{cite book|last=Easwaran|first=Eknath |title=The Dhammapada|publisher=Nilgiri Press|author-link=Eknath Easwaran |year=2007|isbn=978-1-58638-020-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtYYu6Z6_V0C&q=Siddharta%2Bdancing+girls&pg=PA34}} '''[[Dhammapada (Easwaran translation)|(see article on book)]]'''</ref><ref name="guide">{{cite book|last=Gach|first=Gary |title=The complete idiot's guide to understanding Buddhism|publisher=Alpha Books|year=2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu00gach/page/8 8]|isbn=0-02-864170-1|url=https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu00gach|url-access=registration|quote=Siddharta+dancing girls.}}</ref>