This is a story that embodies the basic teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. When he was a young man and still a prince (Siddhartha Gautama), he was not permitted to leave the safety of the royal compound. Nevertheless, he looked out open gates and saw that the reality of most lives was so very different from his. More so, he realized what was the same for all of them: The suffering of birth, illness, old age and death. In the way the story is told, he discovers each at one of the four gates.

This realization had a profound impact on him. Evidently, much had been hidden from him! Thus, his whole thought about life and existence changed and he began to see live as a circle without end, full of hardships.