The Buddha was born in a border district on the northeast Ganges River plain into a family with the clan name Gutama. The Buddha "was conceived when his mother, Maya, dreamed that a white elephant entered her body through the side. The newborn child stood up, strode seven paces, and declared that this was his last birth: He was destined for Awakening. Shortly afterwards an aged scholar of the Buddha's time, examined the infant and prophesized that he would become the Buddha. Other accounts specified that he would become such only if he chose to leave the palace to become a wandering holy leader; otherwise, he would become a universal monarch. The supernatural elements of the Buddha's birth can only be passed on as myths; however they stand as the foregrounding of some of the main Buddhist ideas.
Firstly the supernatural aspects of his birth lead people to further believe that Gutama was indeed destined to be the Buddha. It is also said that soon after the young Buddha was conceived, he strode towards the seven corners of heaven and announced that this life would be his last rebirth. Buddhists believe that the Buddha will not reincarnate into the world anymore. Since the Buddha was born under such magical circumstances, it leads followers to believe that he was a true saint.
The core episode of his life as a young adult is termed the "great renunciation" or ascetic way of life. The young Buddha was surrounded by the sensual pleasures wealth and power can provide. His first experience with the outside world, seeing an impoverished old man, sent him back to the palace wracked with melancholy because his father had kept him well shielded from the outside world for fear that he would turn into a religious leader instead of a prosperous king. A second and third trip introduced him to disease and then to death. Rather than contemplate these things he was advised by the king's counselor to satiate himself in erotic pleasure.
