There are various versions of the eight phases [of the Buddha’s life], however generally they are as follows. Dates are based on the calendar of Northern Buddhism.

1. Descent from the Tuṣita Heaven: The previous incarnation of Śākyamuni Buddha as a bodhisattva decides to be born in our world, referred to as the “Sahā” world, and descends from the Tuṣita heaven as a six-tusked white elephant.
2. Entry into Mother’s Womb: He enters his birth mother Māyā’s womb through her left side.
3. Birth: On April 8th, after being born from Māyā’s right armpit at the Lumbinī Gardens, Śākyamuni walks seven steps and declares, “I alone am the honored one in all the heavens above and the earth below.”
4. Leaving Home: Seeing the impermanence of the world in the four excursions he took from his castle’s gates, he cast away his life as a prince and became a renunciate seeking enlightenment. He was 29 years old.
5. Subduing Demons: After six years of austerities, he entered a state of meditative concentration under a bodhi tree. Demons attacked and tried to interfere with his practice. However, he fought them off.
6. Attaining the Way: On December 8th, after fighting off all kinds of obstructions, he became a buddha or awakened one. He was 35 years old.
7. First Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma: Going to the Deer Park in Sārnāth, he for the first time preached the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path to five bhikṣus, or mendicants. For the next fifty years, he traveled through India teaching sentient beings.
8. Entering Nirvāṇa: On February 15th, at 80 years old, he passed away and entered nirvāṇa under two śāla trees in Kuśināgara.

Sometimes, instead of (5) Subduing Demons, one finds “Encouragement from Brahmā.” It is said that Brahmā, who Indian people at the time considered the highest god of Brahmanism, encouraged the newly enlightened Śākyamuni to spread his teachings widely. Also, sometimes (7) First Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma is replaced with simply “Turning the Wheel of the Dharma,” referring to his fifty years of teaching as a whole.