Four sights

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Foundations Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path The Five Precepts Nirvāna · Three Jewels
Key Concepts Three marks of existence Skandha · Cosmology · Dharma Samsara · Rebirth · Shunyata Pratitya-samutpada · Karma
Major Figures Gautama Buddha Buddha's Disciples · Family
Practices and Attainment Buddhahood · Bodhisattva Four Stages of Enlightenment Paramis · Meditation · Laity
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Texts Pali Canon Pali Suttas · Mahayana Sutras Vinaya · Abhidhamma
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According to accounts of Gautama Buddha's life, he led a sheltered existence as a prince surrounded by luxury and pleasure in his younger years.

One day he violated the king's orders by sneaking out for an unannounced excursion outside the royal palace. There he saw the four sights that were his inspiration to become a monk: an old crippled man (old age), a diseased man (illness), a decaying corpse (death), and finally an ascetic.