Siddhartha Research Paper

Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha or just simply the Buddha was born in what is now known as Nepal sometime between c. 563 BCE and c. 480 BCE into the caste system with his caste being the Kshatriya, the caste of royalty or the military elite. He was born to Śuddhodana, a head chief of the Shakya tribe, and Maya, a princess. Siddhartha’s father held a naming ceremony for a five day old Siddhartha where eight Brahmin priests predicted that Siddhartha would either be a great holy man or a great king. The prophecy was correct as Siddhartha Gautama has had one of the largest impacts on Asian culture by creating the fourth most popular religion in the world that is still active 2,500 years later.

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse discusses the many paths of teaching that relate to Hinduism that Siddhartha followed on his journey through life and how each path helped him realize what he wanted with his life. Siddhartha follows many teachings or paths in which to reach his spiritual destination, which at the beginning was to reach Nirvana.

The novel Siddhartha, written by Hermann Hesse, is about a guy named Siddhartha located in ancient India. His best friend, Govinda, are greatly involved in the elite Braham cast: Braham is an elite group of the highest god of Hinduism, which means they are viewed royalty and loaded with heaps of wealth. Siddhartha is the golden boy of his community: women dream of acquainting with him and men long to have his immense power and abundance. The main direct sight of Hindus focus on devotion to God or several gods. Even though Siddhartha endures meditation practices, takes the form of rituals and practices associated with images and sculptures of gods in home shrines, and participates in holy satisfaction, he still feels the emptiness in him not satisfying his needs. In order to obtain the inner peace that he wishes to seek, he tests new solutions to satisfy him, such as, Enlightenment. Enlightenment is defined as a man’s emergence from one’s self-incurred immaturity. The young Indian is very adapted to the Hindu ascetic, for the pressure the Brahim scholar instructs upon him. The only solution in times like these, Siddhartha and Govinda would mediate under the banyan tree.

From start to Finish, Siddhartha lived his life in search of one main facet; spiritual enlightenment. While in the process of his quest for enlightenment Siddhartha encountered the four noble truths of Buddhism. In the first part of the novel, Siddhartha is portrayed experiencing each of the noble truths.

Here Siddhartha is demonstrating that he is the only one that matters when it comes to thoughts of who he is, and only his opinion of himself matters. Acceptance and the ability to look into himself will lead to that road of happiness. Also, to be minimalistic as to if there is nothing to be needed then it is not. This is something many people should take into consideration as to stay away from being materialistic.

Siddhartha’s life was more of a journey, a journey filled with whimsical decisions and many questions; Siddhartha simply did as he pleased. After living this capricious lifestyle, he noticed that he felt empty inside. He wondered why he felt this way for a long time and decided to leave his current life. He abandoned all possessions and left his father in a quest to seek peace with the shramanas. Soon the cycle of the nature of Siddhartha was formed. Siddhartha would seek something and pursue that something blindly and by abandoning his previous lifestyle. It was not until he was an old man did he finally reach peace through the guidance of a river. Siddhartha’s life had changed immensely numerous amounts of times by the time he was old, but the change he experienced was not necessarily caused by of outside influences. He experienced change, but every change originated inside of him; of what he wanted to follow next. Of course, this still required Siddhartha to change to his new surroundings in every instance he obeyed new lifestyle. When he followed the shramanas, he left everything he had previously known and owned. When he left for the city, he completely changed his demeanor and became rich. Once again, when he lived by the river, he abandoned all possessions and former values. I believe that Siddhartha

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.

According to ancient tales the Siddhartha Gautama also known as the Buddha, was born in southern Nepal one of the world’s holiest places (Gene). The Buddha, born son of the warrior caste parents was predicted by wise men that “the child would be a successful as either a universal monarch or a great ascetic” (RoAT 172). As son of wealthy parents he was not aware about the world around him, he spent most of his life inside the palace walls. He was married at sixteen, to Yosodhara, she conceived a child named Rahula (Prebish 52). Siddhartha’s mother died when he was an infant and his father pleased him with royal pleasures. Including royalties such as power to rule, and arrange marriage. One day Siddhartha traveled outside his palace with his chariot driver. He saw a different perspective of life, after witnessing a sick man and old man, a dead man, and a shramana. Legends account that within days left the palace, leaving his wife and new

King Suddhodana his father, wanted to keep him from what the foreseers pronounced after his birth, that Siddhartha Gautama was to become a great king or a great religious monk. King Suddhodana wanted Siddhartha Gautama to become the great king and he kept all religions and death from his son. One day Siddhartha Gautama, was to ride through the town outside of the gates so the King purged the town of the four elements of religion. These four elements were aging people close to death, the sick, funerals processions and religious articles. The first three elements would bring the emotion of emptiness which would raise the question about life and the last would bring forth the pronouncement of him becoming a great religious monk. Siddhartha Gautama first saw an old man on the verge of death, second he saw a man with a disease that crippled his body, third he saw a funeral procession, and fourth he saw a holy monk displaying the serenity of a life of

As one matures through life he gets wiser and more knowledgeable. As Siddhartha’s long life journey was coming to a close, he too was becoming wiser and more knowledgeable. Siddhartha learned that if you search your whole life for wisdom you will miss many steps along the way. Siddhartha’s revelation between the difference of wisdom and knowledge corresponds with his other discovery which is the difference between finding and seeking. This has been the guide for his way of life. These differences he has discovered are the main reasons for having several teachers and a radical lifestyle. Furthermore, this revelation has made a distinct separation between Siddhartha and Govinda. It highlights the major difference between Govinda and Buddhism

Siddhartha joined the Samanas and assumed the life of an ascetic hoping to attain Nirvana. He believed that by denying his body, his soul would flourish. To become empty of all things- thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow- was the only way to become empty and let the Self die. “He ate only once a day and never cooked food. He fasted for fourteen days. He fasted for twenty-eight days. The flesh disappeared from his legs and cheeks. Strange dreams were reflected in his enlarged eyes. The nails grew long on his thin fingers and a dry, bristly beard appeared on his chin. His glance became icy when he encountered women; his lips curled with

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

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

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.