In the Buddha’s renunciation of the world lies the key theme of the story of his life and perhaps the very core idea of Buddhism. Gautama’s upbringing was such that it gave rise to his radical miss-perception of things. The gap between the way he perceived things to be and the way they actually were in reality is the very same gap considered by Buddhists to be afflicting all unenlightened beings.
When discussing the life of the Buddha the words ‘story’ or ‘account’ are commonly used. This is because there is no verifiable factual data regarding his life. So the story of the life of the Buddha or Awakened One who realized the Dharma: ‘that which really is’ is all we have. In Indian storytelling tradition the story of his life is portrayed in a series of disconnected incidents, generally including his birth, enlightenment, first sermon, and death. Such Indian stories traditionally acted as a means by which the unchanging nature of the hero is revealed and highlighted. However, is it possible to separate out the account of the Buddha’s life from his teachings?
