Buddha's Realization Of Impermanence: "The World Is On Fire"

This short talk contains the story of Prince Siddhartha, who eventually became a Buddha. It is one of the most profound stories in Human history, as this event led to the Enlightenment of The Buddha. It revolves around the conversation Siddhartha had with his charioteer when he, for the first time in his life, encountered suffering. He said to the charioteer, "The world is on fire!" If you like this short story, then check out Saqib's course here on Insight Timer: "Non-Duality."

Transcript

Namaste dear beloved,

I welcome you to this short talk.

The world is on fire.

These were the words of Prince Siddhartha to his charioteer,

An old man.

The charioteer looked around and got confused.

He did not see anything burning,

But for Siddhartha,

Everything around him was burning at that moment.

To understand this statement of the Buddha,

It's essential to understand the context.

When Siddhartha was born as a son to King Sudhodana,

Astrologers predicted that this newborn prince would eventually become the greatest king in the world or the greatest monk ever to walk on earth.

Fearing that the prince might become a monk and renounce the kingdom,

The king created an illusory world for Siddhartha.

The king knew that if his son came to know of suffering,

Aging and death,

Then there were chances that he might become a renunciate.

So he ensured that everything and everyone around the prince stayed young and happy.

Young courtiers,

Young girls and even young plants and animals.

No sick or old person was allowed to come near the prince.

But then one day,

When he was 29 years of age,

Prince Siddhartha was to go outside the palace for a youth conference.

While on his way aboard a chariot,

He encountered four different kinds of people.

A sick man,

An aged man,

A dead man and a monk.

Looking at the first three men,

He encountered suffering for the first time in his life.

He realized that everything in the world is impermanent,

That everything is aging and that everything is moving towards death.

He could clearly see the illusory nature of the world around him because everything changes every moment,

Everything is impermanent and hence everything will perish.

He realized that attachment to anything leads to suffering because everything is impermanent.

Therefore he said to the charioteer,

The world is on fire.

The fourth man Siddhartha saw was a monk who had given up his attachments to the worldly desires.

So Siddhartha decided to become a monk himself.

He told the charioteer that if everything is impermanent,

I will search for what is permanent.

He then left his family and the kingdom and began his journey towards enlightenment.

I hope you enjoyed this short talk.

Take care and have a great day ahead.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you for this brief wisdom which comes to me at a most appropriate time. Namaste

I loved reading the book Siddartha as a teen , again as young mother and yet again as my impermanence is coming closer and realized. In each stage gleaning new wisdom . Today I’m thinking of the flow of the river and how everyone I’ve loved and who died are in that river ..in me and death doesn’t seem scary. Each day a lesson,each day a gift. Thank you for sharing your gift of storytelling s as bd teaching dear Saqib 💜🌊🌊💫🌊🙏

I loved the story. Thank you. I would like to find more stories that make me feel like that one did.

I like it, I have the book " Sidhartha " and this shorts story reminds me of what is important 🙏

Saqib, I love listening to Buddha’s short story❣️I heard it so many times & it sounds better & inspiring every time I listen to his life’s journey 🔆🕊️💫.

Thank you so much. 🙏❤️.

🌹✨🌹

Gorgeous 🔥xxx

Thank you Saquib, I enjoyed this talk and the gentle reminder of how everything is impertant. 💗