The story goes that the Buddha was married and a father of a young son before he grasped the terrible realities of life: sickness, aging and death. His father, the king, had heard a fortuneteller say that the boy would become a great religious leader if he realized the suffering in the world. Since the king had high hopes of being succeeded by his son, he worked hard to insulate his son from the negative side of life. But once Gautama realized these realities, he was immediately determined to understand all of life, to "get it" as we'd say today. The Hindus revered wise men, who tended to practice self-denial, even self-torture, in order to become enlightened. Gautama set to work with a vengeance, to the point of bringing himself to the brink of death by dehydration and starvation. When he was so weak that he could barely move, a young maiden saw how far gone he was and said he simply must eat. Sujata's ministrations brought him around. Perplexed, he sat himself down under the bodhi tree, vowing not to rise or leave until he understood. During the next days of careful concentration, he realized that even as a young child, he had experienced moments of direct joy - joy from the world, joy from being alive. True, he knew the transient joys of food, rest and sex, but there was another joy, of living itself.
He decided that neither the indulged life of feast and orgy nor the ascetic life of starvation were the way. The way lay between these extremes, the Middle Way. He wisely and bravely allowed himself to be solidly at home with joy. I hope you go and do likewise.
Sources (of millions)
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
Buddha - Deepak Chopra
Going On Being - Mark Epstein
Also see chapter 2 of the book of Ecclesiastes
