Yana Violice Story

Yana Violice grew up in a Buddhist neighborhood. Her family brought her up under the Buddhist teachings and she became very aware of all of the stories of past Buddhists that undertook her own beliefs and values in her own practice. She is here today to tell her story.
Stories
One main thing that I think has made me continue to practice certain qualities is Buddhism is because my parents really instilled in me the stories of previous Buddhists. I can remember other neighborhood kids not really caring to learn or talk about their religion while I was growing up but my siblings and I really actually enjoyed our teachings and lessons and I truly believe it was because of the stories. My mother was big on making everything into a visual so that it would stick with us a lot more. My favorite story was of the Prince Siddhattha. I made my parents tell and retell his story to me almost every single day! I’m sure they grew very tired of it but it just fascinated me so much as a child. Prince Siddhattha spent many years of his life inside a palace with all of the pleasures that a Prince could want. Then one day out of dissatisfaction, Siddhartha asked his charioteer to take him outside of the palace walls. Here he came across four different sights that would then become important to the Buddhist culture.

The First Excursion
On the
first excursion Siddhattha saw many different beautiful things along the streets of which his palace was close to. Then all of a sudden he saw something or in this case someone that he had never come across before. He saw a man dragging himself upon the street of the people begging them for food. His skin wrinkled, his hair grey, he had no teeth and he could barely walk. The prince watched the man for awhile before asking his charioteer what it was that he just saw. He didn’t believe that it could really be a man. He had never seen someone that looked like that. He asked if the man was born in that condition. The charioteer explained that the man did not always look like that and that is was old age taking over his appearance and structure. He explained to Siddhattha that at one point in his life he was young just like them but that this was what happens over time. Siddhattha was very upset by what he heard and asked to be taken back to the palace so he could think about what he just saw. I think I was so fascinated about this because in my community, I was used to seeing elderly people. I was taught that this was just a way of life. I thought it was so crazy that this Prince who I assumed should know everything, had never seen a person suffering from old age.
The Second Excursion
After the Prince thought about the old man on the street he wanted to go outside of the palace walls once again. This time as he walked down the streets there was a lot less people and no joyous parties happening outside of his palace. Instead he came across a man laying on the sidewalk in town. He was twisting and turning while he screeched in pain. Siddhattha saw him holding his stomach. He was gasping for breath as he called out in pain. Siddhattha went to the man and tried asking him what was wrong but the man couldn’t answer him because he was in so much pain. His charioteer got him away from the man explaining to him that the man had a plague and that being too close to him could cause him to also become very sick like the man. He also explained to the prince that there were many other illnesses in the world.Once again the prince returned to his palace only this time he was even more sad than the first time. Again this was just crazy to me as a child. I always thought that part in the story was the scary part. I remember being very young and always wanting my mom to say that part quickly so I could get through it fast so I would not be afraid. Imagining the man dying on the street would also give me nightmares often yet the story of Siddhattha was still my most favorite one. The story doesn’t end there though.
The Third Excursion
The next time the Prince ventured out into the the streets, he ventured for a whole day. He then came across a group of people crying as they carried a man on a plank. They then placed the man on a pile of wood and set fire to it. Siddhattha asked his charioteer about what they had witnessed and that is when he learned about death. He was informed that all living things must die. This really hit home for me and my siblings. We had lost many good people in our community due to starvation so this was something I was very used to and understood well. Oddly enough this was never a sad part to me. Death to me was a part of life. The sad part to me was knowing Siddhattha was becoming sad now knowing many other facts of life other than those surrounding the palace.
The Fourth Excursion
The last time that the prince asked to go outside of the palace times, he came across a man sitting by a tree. The man was wearing an orange robe, had a shaved head, and looked very happy. When Siddhattha asked about this man he was informed that he was a monk and that he lived in a temple. He was told how monks go from house to house asking for food and also teaches people how to be good and live a peaceful life. The thought of this made the prince very happy and he decided to become a monk himself so he sat under a tree in order to think. He broke this only when he received word that his wife had given birth to a son. I used to always play make believe that I was a monk. I would sit under a tree in my backyard for hours just thinking about how my life would be as a buddhist monk. This story was told to me time and time again and I swore to always be true to my buddhist religion.
Truths
Growing up I was extremely interested in the key concepts of Buddhism mostly because being so young I could not process and remember every detail so when one was told to me that was so clear, I would hold onto it. One that really sticks out to me was learning about the four noble truths. These were the four truths that the Buddha talked about in his first teaching which was done in a deer park. He proclaimed this to be true: suffering exists, suffering comes from attachment to desires, suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases, and the freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the eightfold path.
Path
The eightfold path is believed to be the path of salvation.
It is divided into three different categories: wisdom, morality, and meditation. Under wisdom there are two main concepts including right view and right thought. Morality has three key concepts including right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Lastly mediation has three concepts which are right effort, right mindfulness, and right mediation. It is said that once you accomplish the eightfold path that you will reach nirvana. Nirvana is the sense of perfect happiness and is the biggest goal of any Buddah. Even I am always aware of my actions and always trying to reach
Nirvana.
These are just the main points that I took in as a child. There are many other key concepts that go along with Buddhism but it honestly takes a lifetime of learning, teaching, and practicing.