In this Sangha Night series we will be looking at some of the key points in the Buddha’s life story, taken from the early Pali Canon discourses.

PART ONE: THE NOBLE QUEST

We begin with Buddha at the start of his journey, as he takes up the Noble Quest.  He says:

Why do I, being myself of a nature to have been born, of an ageing, mortal, sorrowful nature … go in search of what is of a similar nature? What if I … were to go in search of the unborn, unageing, unailing, deathless, griefless, unexcelled security from bondage, Nirvana?

This is surely a question – and an inspiration – for us today. Knowing that most of what we usually turn to for security in life is, in the end, impermanent, why do we persist in looking to those things for our ultimate happiness and fulfilment? Where could we look instead?