The following excerpts about the life of Buddha are taken from
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s book, Introduction to Buddhism: As the
young prince grew up he mastered all the traditional arts and
sciences without needing any instruction. He knew sixty-four
different languages, each with their own alphabet, and he was
also very skilled at mathematics. He once told his father that
he could count all the atoms in the world in the time it takes
to draw a single breath. Although he did not need to study, he
did so to please his father and to benefit others. At his
father’s request he joined a school where, in addition to
various academic subjects, he became skilled at sports such as
martial arts and archery. The prince would take every
opportunity to convey spiritual meanings and to encourage others
to follow spiritual paths. At one time, when he was taking part
in an archery contest, he declared, “With the bow of meditative
concentration I will fire the arrow of wisdom and kill the tiger
of ignorance in living beings.” He