The Buddha’s Six Years of Austerities
After leaving the palace and donning the humble robes of a monk, Siddhartha sought out renowned spiritual masters. He immersed himself in the great teachings of accomplished mentors but not one of these spiritual leaders knew the path to complete freedom. So, Siddhartha chose to seek his own path. He withdrew to Mount Gaya accompanied by five fellow practitioners. Siddhartha resolved to devote himself to strict asceticism. After traveling to Uruvela, Siddhartha engaged in prolonged fasting. Eating only once every seven days, Siddhartha was soon reduced to a skeletal frame. His eyes sunk deep into their sockets and his backbone protruded like a string of beads. Siddhartha also practiced extended holding of the breath which nearly ended his life. After six grueling years of harsh asceticism, Siddhartha realized that self-mortification was not the way to enlightenment.
Having decided to give up his extreme ascetic practices, Siddhartha decided on a path between self-indulgence and self-mortification. In his earlier life as a prince, Siddhartha had known the extremes of pleasure and self-indulgence. Now, as a mendicant, Siddhartha had six years of experience in self-inflicted torment. Having experienced both extremes, the Buddha chose a more moderate path of spiritual development. He called this the Middle Path. The Buddha’s Middle Path, however, is not merely a compromise between two extremes. Rather, the Middle Path seeks to transcend all extremes. The Middle Path refers to a distinct way which epitomizes Buddhist doctrine and practice.
When Siddhartha decided to abandon his extreme practices of self-mortification, his five fellow practitioners thought Siddhartha was backsliding and left in disgust. In fact, Siddhartha had progressed even closer to his ultimate goal of enlightenment. Now Siddhartha was ready to confront the demon, Mara.
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