The presenter offers an enactment of the compassionate, contemplative and exploratory life of Gautama Buddha.
Gautama was born a prince around 2,500 BC. At 16, he married a beautiful princess. The couple had a son. At 29, the prince had a life changing experience when he first observed human suffering outside the palace gates. Overcome with compassion, he left his princely life, a beautiful wife and a son to devote the rest of his life to contemplative exploration of a way to end human suffering. Like Einstein’s thought experiments, he authenticated the findings of his research by experimenting on himself. Convinced of having found a solution, he taught until he died at the age of 80.
Participants will learn how a prince became an enlightened teacher teaching a deceptively simple practice to end suffering for its practitioners. The findings of his contemplative research can be found in a little book called Anapanasati Sutta.