Match Siddhartha's actions that led him to the Middle Way. are these right
(life of suffering added to)
Leads to
life with religious ascetics
l
(life as Hindu prince)
leads to
life given to pleasures
(meditating under Bodhi Tree)
leads to
enlightenment
These are partially correct, but here is the more comprehensive sequence of Siddhartha's actions and their effects leading him to the Middle Way:
1. Life as a Hindu prince:
- Siddhartha grew up in a life of luxury and abundance, shielded from the harsh realities of the world.
2. Encounter with the "Four Sights":
- Siddhartha experienced the sight of old age, sickness, death, and an ascetic monk, which exposed him to the suffering and impermanence of life.
3. Renunciation of worldly life:
- Siddhartha decided to leave his princely life behind, abandoning his family and material possessions, and became an ascetic himself in search of spiritual truth.
4. Life with religious ascetics:
- Siddhartha joined a group of ascetics and subjected himself to extreme austere practices, including severe fasting and extreme self-mortification. This was an attempt to find enlightenment and liberation from suffering.
5. Dissatisfaction with extreme asceticism:
- Siddhartha realized that extreme asceticism did not lead to the liberation he sought and caused immense physical and mental suffering. He concluded that torturing the body does not provide the answer to life's questions.
6. Meditating under the Bodhi Tree:
- Siddhartha sat in deep meditation beneath the Bodhi Tree, dedicating himself to finding enlightenment and the end of suffering. He made a firm determination not to rise until he found the ultimate truth.
7. Attainment of enlightenment:
- After an intense period of meditation, Siddhartha finally achieved enlightenment, becoming the Buddha, or the awakened one. He gained profound insights into the nature of existence, suffering, and the path to liberation.
8. Teaching of the Middle Way:
- In his teachings, the Buddha emphasized the Middle Way, which is the balanced path between indulgence in sensual pleasures and extreme self-mortification. He advocated for a moderate lifestyle that avoids both overindulgence and extreme self-denial as the path to liberation from suffering.
So, while the actions you mentioned are part of Siddhartha's journey, they are steps within a broader sequence of events that led him to discover and teach the Middle Way.