The Buddha's awakening
Siddhartha was born into a royal family. Seeing that people are born, grow old, fall ill and die, he left the palace to look for a way out of suffering.
After years of severe asceticism he saw that harming the body does not bring clarity. He chose a middle way: eating enough, resting enough, with a calm and clear mind.
He sat beneath a bodhi tree and vowed not to rise until he understood. Tradition says many temptations and fears came that night, yet he kept his mind steady. Near dawn he saw the cause of suffering and the way it ends, and became the Buddha, "the awakened one".
This is remembered on Bodhi Day. He then taught for many years to share what he had seen.