Āyasmā Aggacitta

Rethinking the Buddha: 3 Surprising Truths from the Earliest Texts

We think we know the story: a sheltered prince shocked by the sight of aging, sickness, and death, sneaking away in the night to find enlightenment. But what if this foundational narrative is actually a later invention, borrowed from the tale of a different Buddha entirely? A deep dive into the earliest scriptures, the Pāli Canon, reveals a surprisingly different picture. From the true, heartbreaking nature of his departure to his rejection of "zoning out" in meditation, discover three major misconceptions that completely reframe the Buddha’s journey from a fairy tale into a grounded, human path of direct observation.