In the sixth century before the Christian era, religion was forgotten in India. The lofty teachings of the Vedas were thrown into the background. There was much priestcraft everywhere. The insincere priests traded on religion. They duped the people in a variety of ways and amassed wealth for themselves. They were quite irreligious. In the name of religion, people followed in the footsteps of the cruel priests and performed meaningless rituals. They killed innocent dumb animals and did various sacrifices. The country was in dire need of a reformer of my type. At such a critical period, when there were cruelty, degeneration and unrighteousness everywhere, I was born to put down priestcraft and animal sacrifices, to save the people and disseminate the message of equality, unity and cosmic love everywhere.
My father was Suddhodana, king of the Sakhyas. My mother was named Maya. I was born in B.C. 560 . The place of my birth was a grove known as Lumbini, near the city of Kapilavastu, at the foot of Mount Palpa in the Himalayan ranges within Nepal. This small city Kapilavastu stood on the bank of the little river Rohini, some hundred miles north-east of the city of Varnasi. As the time drew nigh for me to enter the world, the gods themselves prepared the way before me with celestial portents and signs. Flowers bloomed and gentle rains fell, although out of season; heavenly music was heard, delicious scents filled the air. My body at birth had the thirty-two auspicious marks (Mahavyanjana) which indicated my future greatness, besides secondary marks (Anuvyanjana) in large numbers. Maya died seven days after my birth. I was brought up by Maya's sister Mahaprajapati, who became my foster-mother.
Generally, Buddhists do not consider me to have been the only Buddha. The word Buddha is simply a title that means 'The Awakened One'. A Buddha is generally considered anyone who has becomed Enlightened and experienced a state of Nirvana. Hence, i am in fact one of many such beings who have existed in the past, and will continue to exist in the future. Some Buddhists believe the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya. While anyone can become Enlightened and experience Nirvana, some Buddhist texts such as the Lotus Sutra indicate that eventually all beings will. Thus, according to such texts, all beings will become Buddhas in time...
