The Prince Gautama Siddharta

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.

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.

Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. The founder of Buddhism is said to be Siddhartha Gautama, the son of an Indian warrior-king. Gautama led an extravagant life through early adulthood, reveling in the privileges of his social class. Gautama became bored with the indulgences of royal life so he wandered into the world searching for understanding. After encountering an old man, ill man, a corpse, and an ascetic, he was convinced that suffering lay at the end of all existence. He then became a monk, depriving himself of worldly possessions in the hope of comprehending the truth of the world around him. The culmination of his search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he finally understood how to be free from suffering, and ultimately, to achieve salvation. Gautama became known as the Buddha, meaning the “Enlightened One.” He spent the remainder of his life

There have been many teachers in one’s lifetime, some more important than others. These teachers and instructors affect different people in different ways, and lessons are learned that are important to prepare for real life situations. In the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, a young Brahmin named Siddhartha is not content with his current spiritual self. Siddhartha is directed to spiritual enlightenment and Nirvana because of his guidance and teaching from Kamala, Kamaswami, and Vasudeva.

Many people don’t consider Buddhism a true religion. They believe it is a dharma or a way of teaching. Siddhartha Gautama is buddha, he was born in Nepal to a noble Hindu family. His mother has a dream that his birth is going to be the coming of a great one, of an Enlighted human being. She knew he would either be a substantial ruler if he stays home or a spiritual leader if he leaves home. Siddhartha’s dad really wants him to stay at home because he wants

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.

Siddhartha Gautama was the son of a king, indulged like a prince who abandoned the life of aspiration to pursue Enlightenment. When I lived in Nepal, I went to school and studied Buddhism. There I learned about his life and the philosophies he kept in practices. Also, I learned that he was a great leader, and his great ideas such as the Four Noble Truths, Eightfold path, Nirvana, fundamental wisdoms, the theory of karma and rebirth, the five precepts and Wheel of Dharma has influenced many people. I learned about his great achievement and how he was able to create a whole new religion, Buddhism, which is now known as the fourth largest religion in the world, by influencing people through his unique practices and philosophy. From this experience, I learned firsthand that he is a great religious leader who left a legacy not just on Nepalese culture, but on the whole world.

Siddhartha was a significant person in history for the reason of formulating the religion of Buddhism and teaching what he has learned over the years to a small, growing community whose members came to see him as “Buddha” which means teacher. His teachings included the Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, and The Middle Way which spread and became one of the most common religions in Asia.

Siddhartha, in Herman Hesse's novel, Siddhartha, is a young, beautiful, and intelligent Brahmin, a member of the highest and most spiritual castes of the Hindu religion, and has studied the teachings and rituals of his religion with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Inevitably, with his tremendous yearning for the truth and desire to discover the Atman within himself he leaves his birthplace to join the Samanas. With the Samanas he seeks to release himself from the cycle of life by extreme self-denial but leaves the Samanas after three years to go to Gotama Buddha. Siddhartha is impressed by the blissful man but decides to lead his own path. He sleeps in the ferryman's hut and

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.

He had already achieved a great deal, but for everything he gave up, he still was not where he wanted to be yet. Siddhartha learned to "think, wait, and fast," but after he still did not attain enlightenment, he meditated and fasted at the base of a fig tree for 49 days until he achieved enlightenment and became “Buddha” ("Historical Context: Siddhartha"). Siddhartha traveled along a long, bumpy path to reach enlightenment, but the outcome was worth it. He was patient and able to fulfill his destiny of becoming a great saint who spread his new religion, Buddhism, throughout the

Siddhartha Gautama was born between 563 and 480 BCE as the prince of Lumbini (in what is now Nepal). His mother died in either in childbirth or shortly thereafter and and his father was left to raise him. During his birth celebrations, it was predicted that Siddhartha would either become a great king or a great spiritual leader. His father wanted him to take over the throne, so he avoided religious teachings and sheltered him from suffering. Siddhartha, unsatisfied with with the life he was leading and yearning to learn about the world, he left his home at twenty-nine to seek the true meaning of life. On his travels he saw an old man, a diseased man,

And it is the Buddha’s accomplishment, that encouraged Siddhartha even further to seek his own enlightenment. But he is unable to achieve the wisdom that he sought with this group either. Siddhartha learned that while Gotama achieved enlightenment, the path taken by him is not necessarily the path for other people to take. Then, he approached the group of people who are not bound together by any religion: The Samanas, who are a group of wandering ascetics who, along with the Brahmins and Buddhists, helped Siddhartha come to the

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.