Jesus Christ, the Prophet Muhammad and Siddhartha Gautama: What they did before and after.

The Journey of the Buddha: From Resistance to Acceptance

Before he became the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama was a prince raised in luxury, shielded from the realities of suffering. His father, King Suddhodana, ensured that he lived a life of opulence, free from sickness, aging, or death. However, destiny had other plans.

One day, as he ventured beyond the palace walls, Siddhartha encountered three sights that would shake the foundations of his understanding: an old man, a sick man, and a dead body. These images of impermanence and suffering filled him with deep unease. He resisted them, recoiled from them, and struggled to accept that such suffering was inevitable. “I do not want to be like that,” his mind resisted, clinging to the illusion that suffering could be avoided. This resistance disturbed him profoundly, leading him to question everything he had known.

Determined to find a way out of suffering, he renounced his royal life and embarked on a spiritual quest. For years, he tried extreme asceticism, denying himself food, comfort, and rest, believing that self-denial would lead to enlightenment. Yet, resistance remained—resistance against the body, against the mind’s cravings, against suffering itself.

The turning point came when he realized that resistance only created more suffering. Under the Bodhi tree, in deep meditation, he let go. He stopped fighting the nature of life, stopped resisting pain, loss, and change. And in that state of surrender, clarity dawned—suffering was not something to escape from but to understand. By accepting life as it is, without resistance, he attained enlightenment.

After his awakening, the Buddha walked through life with peace, lightness, and ease. He saw sickness, aging, and death, but he no longer resisted them. He understood that suffering arises from attachment and resistance, and freedom comes from acceptance. This was his gift to humanity—not an escape from life, but a new way of being in it.

The Buddha’s journey teaches us that resistance to life creates suffering, while acceptance brings peace. When we say, “It’s okay,” when we stop resisting change, uncertainty, and imperfection, we find relief. Just as the Buddha discovered, the least resistance creates the least friction—at least in the mind. And that is where true peace begins.

The journey of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha, shares deep thematic parallels with the lives of Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammad. All three figures underwent a transformative process of struggle, realization, and ultimately, acceptance of life’s deeper truths. Each faced resistance—both within themselves and from the world—but found peace through surrender to a higher understanding.

Jesus Christ: Surrendering to Divine Will

Like the Buddha, Jesus Christ also faced suffering and resistance. He was born into a humble setting, yet he grew up with a profound sense of divine mission. When he began his ministry, he was met with resistance—from religious leaders, from his own people, even from his own human emotions. In the Garden of Gethsemane, as he anticipated his crucifixion, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).

This moment echoes Buddha’s enlightenment—Jesus initially resists the suffering that awaits him, but then surrenders to the divine plan. The acceptance of suffering as a necessary part of his purpose brings him peace, even in the face of death. His crucifixion was a moment of ultimate resistance from the world, yet he met it with forgiveness: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). By embracing suffering instead of resisting it, he transcended it, bringing a message of love, redemption, and eternal life.

Prophet Muhammad: From Resistance to Trust in God

The Prophet Muhammad’s journey similarly involved resistance and surrender. As a young man, he was disturbed by the corruption and idol worship in Meccan society. He retreated to the Cave of Hira, seeking answers. When the Angel Gabriel first revealed the message of God to him, he resisted, overwhelmed by fear and self-doubt. He doubted whether he was capable, whether he was truly chosen. His wife, Khadijah, reassured him, helping him move from resistance to acceptance of his role as a messenger of God.

Throughout his life, Muhammad faced immense resistance—persecution, exile, war—but he continually returned to trust in God’s plan. The Qur’an repeatedly emphasizes sabr (patience) and tawakkul (trust in God), which mirror the Buddhist principle of non-resistance. Despite personal losses, hardships, and betrayals, he accepted them as part of divine wisdom, ultimately leading a transformation that changed the world.

The Common Thread: Non-Resistance Brings Peace

Each of these figures—Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad—initially faced inner resistance to life’s harsh realities. They saw suffering, injustice, and impermanence and, at first, resisted it. But their enlightenment, their divine awakening, came when they stopped resisting. When they accepted life’s trials as part of a greater truth, they found peace and radiated that peace to others.

This lesson applies to all of us: The more we resist life’s realities, the more we suffer. But when we say, “It is okay,” when we accept change, pain, and uncertainty, we find a deeper peace—one that transcends fear and suffering.