Buddhism : A Life Of Life

Meditating in the forest for six years he realized that he was becoming close to full enlightenment. Siddhartha found another spot to complete his meditation under the Bodhi Tree where he wouldn’t leave until he achieved his enlightenment. While in his deep state meditation Devaputra Mara the chief of all demons tried to stop him from achieving his goal by sending nightmarish vision to him to disturb him. With none of these tactics working Mara even tried luring him away with beautiful girls, but nonetheless Siddhartha wouldn’t break his concentration. Withstanding the chief of demons, he received the name Conqueror Buddha in which the next day of meditation he could become Buddha (“About Buddha”).

Buddhism is based on the teachings of an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama who lived around 500 B.C. Buddhist tradition says that one day the prince looked beyond the walls of his palace and saw the suffering of his people and wanted to make a change. Siddhartha left his wife and 2 kids and began the path to become Buddha (enlightened one) and after years of practice, he spent the remains 45 years of his life teaching “dharma”(the path to liberation from suffering) and established Sangha (a community of monks).

As with the Brahmins, Siddhartha’s experience with the Samanas is not a fulfilling one. Hesse writes, “he slipped out of his Self in a thousand different forms. He was animal, carcass, stone, wood, water, and each time he reawakened” (Pg-15). Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas, yet he was still unable to reach enlightenment. During his time with the Samanas, Siddhartha never saw or heard of a single person achieving enlightenment. Feeling disillusioned with the teachings of others, Siddhartha decided to leave the Samanas, and seek out the venerable Buddha. Siddhartha seeks out the Buddha and hears his sermon, but he ultimately decides to seek his own path to enlightenment. In leaving the Buddha, Siddhartha begins to follow a Buddhist path. Siddhartha says, “But there is one thing that this clear, worthy instruction does not contain; it does not contain the secret of what the Illustrious One himself experienced he alone among hundreds of thousands" (Pg-34). In this part of his journey, Siddhartha realizes that no one can teach him how to achieve enlightenment. As Gautama did before him, Siddhartha heads out to find his own path to enlightenment.

When looking into the water he is able to see a reflection of himself and through that image he is able to reconnect to his inner self and look back at what his original plan was. When he sees himself he is reminded of the spiritual muttering “om” and that single word brings him solace and peace. He was able to find his Self once again and continue his journey to enlightenment.

Siddhartha comes to realize that he has discovered who he really is, he is Siddhartha. He knows himself more than any other teaching or religion. As he comes to self-realization, he comprehends he has been letting himself slip away, he has been running away from himself.

Yet nothing distracted Siddhartha from his journey and after 49 days Siddhartha was transformed into the Buddha, but Mara had one more temptation for Buddha. Mara try to get Buddha not to bother teaching others the way to enlightenment because he had already reached nirvana and “why bother to play the idiot before an uncomprehending audience?” Buddha’s reply was that there would be some that would understand and thus went to teach the path to enlightenment. When Buddha went to preach he taught one the devoid of authority, devoid of ritual, skirted speculation, intense self-effort, and to devoid of the supernatural. All of these aspects have been implanted in the formation of the four noble truths.

After three years, Siddhartha realizes that he is not progressing toward his goal. He had learned all the Samanas could teach, and "he lost himself a thousand times and for days on end he dwelt in non-being. But although the paths took him away from Self, in the end they always led back to it" (15-16). Siddhartha discovers this was not the path he sought; escaping from one's Self did not bring one to salvation. His wisdom grew when he accepted there was another path and this short escape from Self is experienced by others in a quite different way such as people who drink numbing their senses like he did with the Samanas. He sees that in truth, there is no learning and that his questioning and thirst for knowledge could not be satisfied by teaching. Seeking another path, Siddhartha hears of a Buddha named Gotama, and with Govinda, who also chooses to leave, ventures to see him.

Siddharta Gautama was twenty-nine years old when he abandoned his family to search for a means to bring to an end his and other’s suffering after studying meditation for many years. At age thirty-five, Siddharta Gautama sat down under the shade of a fig tree to meditate and he determined to meditate until he reached enlightenment. After seven weeks he received the Great Enlightenment which he referred to as the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path. Henceforth he became known as the Buddha.

Back in his home village, Siddhartha was pretty much going through the motions, he would go to the different rituals and do the things that people wanted him to do, he was simply spiritually and emotionally dissatisfied (Puchalik). For Siddhartha his enlightenment journey started right when he joined the Samanas. The Samanas were a stepping stone for Siddhartha, he used them to get away from the village, where he was trapped by religion. As his journey went on Siddhartha experienced both failure and success, both helping Siddhartha reach his end goal of enlightenment. Experience is a major part of enlightenment, it’s through dealing with the failures in life that one can achieve enlightenment. However it is not just about experience, Buddhist experience also requires some type of education, which Siddhartha got back at the village. While on the journey Siddhartha learns many things the hard way, which helps him on his path to enlightenment. For example when his son runs away his first reaction is to find him and bring him back. However the ferryman has to tell Siddhartha that things do not always go as planned, his son did not want to be on the ferry with him. It was in learning to let go of his son that Siddhartha was able to realize that enlightenment comes from deep within the soul. By letting nature take its course (by just living life) Siddhartha was able to find

During Siddhartha’s pilgrimage, he comes across many different stages. In the beginning, we meet an intelligent young Siddhartha, attempting to search for peace and enlightenment. Siddhartha leaves his old life, where he was The

SIddhartha learns the third Noble Truth, suffering ends when desire ends, in Chapter 4 “The Awakening”. In the chapter, Siddhartha departs from the Buddha and his friend, Govinda, behind. He now had the freedom to do whatever he needed to do to uncover what he desired to know. On his path away he says, “I was seeking Brahman, Atman, I wished to destroy myself, to get away from myself, in order to find in the unknown innermost, the nucleus of all things, Atman, Life, the Divine, the Absolute. But by doing so I lost myself on the way”(31). This quote explains that Siddhartha ponders about his desire to attain more wisdom and how he knows that desire causes suffering. He realizes that he was inaccurate to do this and that he needs to end his desire

He realizes he no longer wants to try and gain wisdom from others above him. He decides the best way to reach his ultimate goal of enlightenment is to experience tribulations in order to reach success. Siddhartha says, “Teaching does not contain: it does not contain the secret of what the Sublime One himself has experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands […] to leave all teachings and all the teachers and to reach my goal or die.” (Hesse 33). He realizes that not even Gautama can help him get rid of his ego and become

Buddhism’s founder was a man named Siddhartha Gautama, meaning “one who realized his goal.” Buddhists believe that when Siddhartha’s mother, Maha, was conceived she had a dream involving a white elephant carrying a lotus flower. She interpreted the dream to mean that her son would grow up to become a great spiritual leader. Just a week after Siddhartha was born, his mother died. Upon her death, he lived with his wealthy aunt and his father on a large estate. As Siddhartha grew up, his father kept him away from all suffering and anguish of the world. Unlike many of his peers, he was well educated and free from the world’s sorrows.

Buddhism originated from India, and was founded by Prince Siddharta Gautama, who later came to be known as Buddha, or the enlightened one. Born of a princely caste, he later renounced his comfortable life in search for nirvana. In order to do that, he joined a band of ascetic, who was a group of Hindu priests.

Buddhism arose in northern India in the 6th century BCE. The historical founder of Buddhism, Siddharta Gautama (c.560-480 BCE) was born in a village called Lumbini into a warrior tribe called the Sakyas (from where he derived the title Sakyamuni, meaning 'Sage of the Sakyas'). According to tradition Gautama's father, Suddhodana was the king of a small principality based on the town of Kapilavastu. His mother, Queen Maya, died seven days after Gautama's birth. Following the death of Maya, Suddhodana married Maya's sister, Prajapati, by whom Gautama was brought up in great luxury and sheltered from the harshness of the outside world.