ABSTRACT
Siddhrtha set forth on a six-year regimen of asceticism that nearly killed him. By living a wandering lifestyle in the forest, Siddhrtha lived a dangerous form of existence in the forest, with meager dietary resources to sustain his body. Siddhrtha continued with his meditation and achieved concentration, before reaching the four meditations, which involved achieving dis-cursive thought, equanimity, and freedom from anguish or joy. The Buddha's message was based on his spiritual quest and what he discovered during his search. The entire process of karma and rebirth was an integral part of a larger process called conditioned genesis, a twelve-linked chain of causation discovered by the Buddha. The Buddhist monastic community was called a Sangha, a term that referred to the fraternity of monks and the bond of association among them. Over a period of time, laypeople adapted to the demands of Buddhism and found ways that they could be engaged with the religion.
