Siddhartha took every opportunity to bring some sort of spiritual meaning to things, as well as encouraging others to follow spiritual paths.
When Jesus was about Twelve years old, he and his parents were in Jerusalem, for Passover. Jesus decided that he was going to go to the Temple; he wanted to listen to the teachers and ask them questions. Everyone was amazed at his knowledge, understanding, and answers. When his parents realized that he wandered off, they were angry. When they found Jesus, he was confused at why they didn't know where to look for him and stated "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). His parents in turn did not understand what he was saying. Throughout his life, Jesus was hungry for answers, and knowledge. .
One night, Siddhartha, now about age twenty-nine decided that he was fed up with his life of captivity, and escaped the palace walls. He wandered the street and saw what is referred to as the "Four Passing Sites". The first that he saw was an old man. Siddhartha had never seen anyone who was as aged as this man, and was very disturbed by it. The second site was a person who was very ill. Again, Siddhartha had never seen anyone who was, in the least amount, sick. A corpse was the third new thing that he had seen that night. The corpse being taken for cremation and no one seemed to really care or notice. The fourth and final site was a Sannyasin, a travelling holy man. The Sannyasin, along with the three other sites, inspired Siddhartha to renounce his title as prince, leave his family, and life of luxury, and go on his journey to enlightenment. That same night, Siddhartha returned to the palace, and left a note to his wife, father, and child, telling them that he renounced the world. He then changed into humble clothing, removed all of his jewelry and removed all of his hair, from both his face and his head. .
Siddhartha met and stayed with Alara Kalama, where he received his doctrine, and was taught the way of Akincannayatanna, or the "Realm of Nothingness", which is used as an advanced stage of concentration for meditation.