The Discovery of a New Dhamma

Gautama when he sat in meditation for getting new light was greatly in the grip of the Sankhya Philosophy. That suffering and unhappiness in the world he thought was an incontrovertible fact. Gautama was, however, interested in knowing how to do away with suffering. This problem the Sankhya Philosophy did not deal with. It is, therefore, on this problem—how to remove suffering and unhappiness—that he concentrated his mind.

 Naturally, the first question he asked himself was—" What are the causes of suffering and unhappiness which an individual undergoes?"

 His second question was—" How to remove unhappiness? “To both these questions he got a right answer which is called 'Samma Bodhi' (Right Enlightenment). It is because of this that the Pipal Tree has come to be known as the Bodhi Tree.

 Before enlightenment Gautama was only a Bodhisatta. It is after reaching enlightenment that he became a Buddha.