Over 2,500 years ago, Prince Siddharta Gautama was given birth in what is presently called Lumbini in Nepal. He was born a prince and his birth was received with many distinct signals that indicated a future of greatness. The prince’s father asked a wiseman who resided in the kingdom for advice about his boy. The sage man believed that the prince, Siddharta Gautama, might either follow in his father’s footsteps and become a great king or he might become a spiritual leader.
Praying that his son would definitely grow to be his successor, the king managed his best to separate the prince from those things that may motivate him toward a spiritual life. The prince was bombarded by luxury and excess, so many rewards that his royal position could offer. Siddharta Gautama proved to be an intelligent scholar and excellent sportsman. He wed a lovely woman whom he loved and they bore a child.
At the age of 29, the prince discovered that the world around him was a great deal more complicated than what he encountered in the walls of his palace. Out and about among the people of the kingdom, he observed actuality: sickness, old-age and death. The surprise of this finding left the young prince shaken. He made the decision then to dedicate himself to ending the suffering. Leaving behind his wife and child, the prince forsaked his worldly belongings and embarked on a spiritual quest.
Guatama started a course of study under several instructors to master their practices. With the help of Alara Kalama, he soon started to understand meditation and learned an exalted form known as absorption. This allowed him to attain a state of nothingness where there is no moral or cognitive dimensions. Although this was beneficial it was obvious to the past prince that it would not resolve the suffering he had witnessed. Guatama continued his search for other people who might guide him on his spiritual journey. Udraka Ramputra, aided Gautama to perceive a state of neither perception or non-perception, but this to wasn’t precisely what he was looking for. The next step in his quest led Gautama to Uruvilva in North India. It was there he deciced on an ascetic way, surviving a life of deprival for nearly 6 years. This just led to the destruction of his body, weakness and self-destruction. Even though it cost him his five followers, Gautama ended this ascetic lifestyle.
The end of this spiritual journey looked as far away as ever, so the Buddha sat down under a Bodhi tree and proclaimed that “flesh may wither, blood may dry up, but I shall not rise from the spot until Enlightenment has been one.” After forty days and nights of thought and meditation, the Buddha at last attained Enlightenment.
It is the Buddhist belief that at that moment he attained a state of being that exceeds anything else in the world. Each of our normal experiences are based on preconceptions and circumstances: how we were raised, our encounters, imperfections and shortcomings. Enlightenment is a state when the complex internal workings of existence become obvious and the reason for human suffering identified.
For the next 45 years, the Buddha journeyed through much of what is today north India. He taught the way of Enlightenment to all that desired to comprehend. This particular instruction had become known as the dharma or “the teaching of the enlightened one.    The Buddha took numerous disciples that subsequently attained their own Enlightenment and they taught others.
Buddhists believe that Buddha attained a state of being that goes beyond everthing else in the world. If normal knowledge is founded on conditions – childhood, psychology, viewpoints, awareness, and so forth – Enlightenment is Unconditioned. It was a state when the Buddha gained insight into the deepest workings of existence and therefore, into the cause of human suffering, the challenge that had set Him on His spiritual quest originally.
The Buddha statue we often see doesn not represent a god and did not consider himself as a divine person. He was simply a human who endeavored to transform himself through self reflection and meditation. Buddhists see him as an ideal and his journey as a guide which will encourage them on the path to enlightenment. Most homes that practice Buddhism will display some type of Buddha decor like a statue of Buddha, but this is intended to remind them of their own spiritual journey.