A prince who left his palace after encountering old age, sickness, and death. Years of ascetic practice failed him; he sat under a bodhi tree and vowed not to rise until he had found the end of suffering. He rose at dawn awakened — the Buddha, “one who has woken up.”
His teachings — the The Four Noble Truths, the The Eightfold Path, and countless situational discourses preserved in the Pali Canon and Mahayana sutras — remain the foundation of Theravāda Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. His final instruction was direct: be lamps unto yourselves.