The Dīrgha Āgama, Volume One — The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination

(1) Original text: 佛告比丘。太子见老病人。知世苦恼。又见死人。恋世情灭。及见沙门。廓然大悟。下宝车时。步步中间。转远缚着。是真出家。是真远离。时彼国人。闻太子剃除须发。法服持钵。出家修道。咸相谓言。此道必真。乃令太子。舍国荣位。捐弃所重。于时国中。八万四千人。往就太子。求为弟子。出家修道。佛时颂曰。撰择深妙法。彼闻随出家。离于恩爱狱。无有众结缚。 

Explanation: The Buddha told the bhikkhus: When I was the crown prince, upon going out and seeing the elderly and the sick, I knew that the world was full of suffering; upon seeing the dead, my attachment to the world was extinguished; and later, upon seeing a śramaṇa who had left home, I suddenly awoke with great clarity. When I stepped down from the precious carriage, with every step I took, my mind moved further away from the entanglements and attachments of worldly afflictions. At that moment I truly left home, truly departed from worldly afflictions. At that time, the people of the country heard that the crown prince had shaved off his hair and beard, put on the robes of one who had left home, taken up the alms bowl, and gone forth to cultivate the path. They all said to one another: This path must surely be true, for it led the crown prince to renounce the glory and rank of kingship and cast aside the heavy burdens he bore. Thereupon, eighty-four thousand people in the country went to the crown prince, seeking to become his disciples and leave home to cultivate the path. The Buddha then spoke a verse: Having chosen the profound and wondrous Dharma, upon hearing it he left home to cultivate the path, departing from the hell of worldly love and affection, no longer bound by the numerous entanglements of birth and death. 

Original text: 于时太子。即便纳受。与之游行。在在教化。从村至村。从国至国。所至之处。无不恭敬。四事供养。菩萨念言。吾与大众。游行诸国。人间愦闹。此非我宜。何时当得。离此群众。闲静之处。以求道真。寻获志愿。于闲静处。专精修道。复作是念。众生可愍。常处闇冥。受身危脆。有生有老。有病有死。众苦所集。死此生彼。从彼生此。缘此苦阴。流转无穷。我当何时。晓了苦阴。灭生老死。 

Explanation: Thereupon the crown prince accepted these disciples and traveled about with them, teaching and transforming sentient beings everywhere, going from village to village, from country to country. Wherever they went, the people all showed reverence and made the four kinds of offerings of food, drink, clothing, and medicine. The crown prince bodhisattva thought to himself: I and the assembly are traveling through various countries, yet the human world is so tumultuous and noisy—this is not a place where I should remain. When can I leave this crowd and go to a quiet and secluded place to seek the true path? Before long, his aspiration was fulfilled, and he found a quiet, secluded place where he devoted himself single-mindedly to cultivating the path. He then had this thought: Sentient beings are pitiable, constantly dwelling in darkness and obscurity, receiving bodies that are fragile and perilous. There is birth, aging, sickness, and death; numerous sufferings gather together. Dying here, they are born there; dying there, they are born here. Clinging to this aggregate of suffering, they transmigrate endlessly through birth and death. When shall I come to fully understand the aggregate of suffering and extinguish birth, aging, and death?

From this account by the World-Honored One, it can be seen that in the course of cultivating the path over countless kalpas, all buddhas and bodhisattvas first engaged in diligent, focused solitary practice in secluded places far from people, away from the tumult of the crowds, and only after attaining accomplishment in their cultivation did they go among the people to teach and liberate sentient beings. This is because the Path is attained in tranquility: tranquility gives rise to wisdom, and tranquility enables the attainment of samādhi. Therefore, all who have achieved accomplishment in cultivation have gone through a stage of solitary quiet practice, distancing themselves from worldly greed, hatred, and delusion, and from the tumult of fame and gain; only after the mind attains purity can they enter the Path.