Preview

Natural Human Life: Prince Siddhartha Gautama

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
255 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Natural Human Life: Prince Siddhartha Gautama
In the 6th Century B.C.E, a man named Siddhartha Gautama was born. As a young Prince, a holy man gave the prophecy that Siddhartha would either be an amazing spiritual leader or a ruthless military conqueror. Preferring the latter, his father, King Suddhodana, raised Siddhartha in a world devoid of any religion or suffering. As most humans, Prince Siddhartha developed a wandering curiosity of the hidden world. The King allowed Siddhartha to leave, but he carved a path that only had specific people that Suddhodana was willing to expose Siddhartha to. On his trip, Siddhartha came across a man of old age, a sick man, a dead body, and a holy man. Seeing these examples of natural human life, Siddhartha left his home and family in search of the cure

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    “There was a tree on the river bank, a cocoanut tree; Siddhartha leaned against it, placed his arm around the trunk and looked down into the green water which flowed beneath him; he looked down and was completely filled with desire to let himself go and be submerged in the water” (Pg. 88). Very ironic that Siddhartha wanted to commit suicide in the river which he said was very beautiful and learn a lot from it by listening to it. It wasn’t until the river showed Siddhartha his reflection which gave him a sort of enlightenment. “With a distorted countenance he stared into the water; he saw his face reflected, and spat at it; he took his arm away from the tree trunk.” (Pg. 89). Even though he was enlightened he still let himself get closer to his death, but then Siddhartha heard the word “Om”. Siddhartha learned that he was very close to death, and learns of his emptiness. Later on Siddhartha then remembers at the end of chapter 8, that the river brings a great pleasure to him. “Happily he looked into the flowing river; never had a river attracted to him as much as this one; never had he found the voice…

    • 1473 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Hero's Journey

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The novel, Siddhartha, displays the troubles faced throughout Siddhartha’s life on his journey to find spiritual understanding of himself and the world. As a boy, Siddhartha was born a respected Brahmin; however, he begins to doubt that the religious practices of the group will help him achieve peace. Therefore, he leaves to find a different path toward nirvana. He sees a wandering group of almost naked beggars, Samanas, looking for food and decides to experience…

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, progresses on a quest for the true meaning of life, or Nirvana, through constant movement between distinct paths in order to fulfill his feeling of emptiness. Throughout the novel “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha learns that enlightenment comes from within, and initially commences to seek external guidance from the Brahmins, Samanas and Buddism. Since his childhood, the Brahmins deposited their absolute knowledge into his “waiting vessel”, his spiritual mind, yet he was still not at peace. The Brahmins teach Siddhartha the virtue of patience, the art of prayer as well as make him well-versed in the different rituals. The feeling of desolation immersed in him provokes Siddhartha’s determination to leave,…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Research Paper

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mara is a symbol of death and suffering in Buddhism. When researching the name Mara it was found that its Sanskrit root means, “to die.” During the life of the Buddha and his path to enlightenment, he encounters this evil archenemy. Mara attempts to tempt Buddha in many different ways in order to try and ruin his chance of achieving enlightenment. He believes he has power over the soon to be Buddha when stating “so this successful prince Siddhartha wishes to escape from my sphere of influence, straight away I will make him unsuccessful.” As prince Siddhartha is meditating under the Bodhi Tree, Mara sent an army after Buddha in attempt to bring him down. Mara created a storm which brought “an extremely terrible fire like fiery great rocks,…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Research Paper

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha has a myriad of teachers. His one goal in life is to achieve enlightenment. He encounters various teachers in hopes of achieving enlightenment through one of their teachings or experiences. Nevertheless, with every teacher, he comes into a new phase of his life with a new intention in mind. He learns the ways of life through his teachers of Kamala, Kamaswami, and Vasudeva.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The most notable historical figure in history is Prince Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha's father gave him every material good he could ever need and granted all his wishes and desires, living in three massive palaces. His father did everything he could to keep him away from facing any pain or suffering. However, Siddhartha fled from his luxurious life, to find the meaning and roots of suffering behind all living things. Prince Siddhartha was honorable and this shows character especially in this day and age where all we want is possessions. But he left everything he had, his happiness, his royalty, and the lifestyle people dream of having, all behind to help others. He traveled six whole years along a spiritual journey, searching, trying to…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Islam vs Buddism

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cited: Boeree, George. “The Life of Siddhartha Gautama.” Webspace. 1999. Shippensburg University. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha encountered four sights that deeply disturbed him and ultimately sent him on his religious quest. Kept inside the walls of the palace was the best way to keep young Siddhartha oblivious from the incomprehensible truths of reality. One day, Siddhartha goes wandering outside his palace with his charioteer and notices something odd. Siddhartha sees two men that look different from everybody else; they showed characteristics of old helpless men. The modern day term we describe people like this would be either hobo or homeless. Siddhartha was curious to learning about these men due to his father keeping the truths of reality from him his whole life. The curious Siddhartha asked his charioteer many questions as he went to explore where these two unfamiliar men went. Siddhartha visualizes the characteristics of an aged elderly man. He learns about aging and that everybody ages no matter what. The next thing Siddhartha encounters is a man in terrible pain. The charioteer describes this to Siddhartha as an illness and how it’s unpredictable to first notice when you have it. Everybody would eventually suffer from illnesses of all sorts and some couldn’t treat it like we do today. Following these two sightings, Siddhartha then witnessed a funeral. He noticed that the physical body was shut down and no longer alive. Siddhartha viewed the body being burned and people crying. Siddhartha felt the sorrow from the weeping family as he learned about death. Finally, Siddhartha saw someone who had given up everything they had in order to search for their inner self. A troubled Siddhartha was inspired by this person and finally decided to leave the palace to embark on a religious quest. On his journey outside the palace, Siddhartha learned that “all humanity is vulnerable to ageing, sickness and death” (Prebish 31). Siddhartha left his wonderful lifestyle, wealth, wife and son to begin…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Siddhartha Research Paper

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The river, in the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, is a symbol, a plot device, and the prophet throughout the story and Siddhartha’s spiritual journey. The river, and the explanation of time given above also explains and represents a Buddhist outlook on time and existence itself, impermanence and presence in the moment.…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Written by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha provides a unique experience of how suffering can be overcome with an aspiration in mind, no matter how long it takes. Even at the beginning of the book, Siddhartha realizes he is discontent by the sheltered world of his fancy life of a Brahmin. He believes there is something more, to truly understand and find peace with his innermost self, the goal of achieving Nirvana. He begins with joining the Samanas, believing that one has to suffer to reach this enlightened state; living like the Samanas would create conditions of treacherous life, having to starve, feeling weak in order to feel better (13). Siddhartha even encounters Buddha, and decides it is not worth it to follow him, for he wants to experience life and suffering for himself, instead of being taught second-hand. Eventually he met a girl, Kamala, and it almost…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha, a young man from the Brahmin caste, goes through many stages during his quest to pursue deeper understanding and it is what he learns at each stage that brings him closer to wisdom whilst shedding previous aspects of himself. Siddhartha takes place in ancient India where all life is shaped by the scenery and culture of that time and the hero being influenced by such leaves his home to find spiritual enlightenment. The sole purpose of his journey is to find the wisest way to live and to achieve the Atman within. It becomes clear that he is dissatisfied with his life and also the knowledge he began to suspect was not full. “He had started to suspect that his venerable father and his other teachers, that the wise Brahmans had already…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    So, overall we see the young boy, Siddhartha go on a journey just trying to find what he wants in life. Trying to find himself and go through lust, greed, serenity, and eventually finds peace throughout. We see many different characters throughout have a different influence and teach a different lesson. That is why when discussing Siddhartha my understanding of the cultural and context was developed immensely when seeing the perspective of my peers.…

    • 328 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The wandering ascetics, called Samanas, teach Siddhartha much in the ways of spiritual discipline. Unlike Siddhartha's prior Brahmin lifestyle, the ascetic life proved to get him closer to spiritual Enlightenment than before. After a while with the Samanas, Siddhartha noticed that the oldest man in the group was nearing sixty and still had not achieved enlightenment. This didn't bode well for Siddhartha. Looking back at his time with the Samanas, Siddhartha found that the only spiritual step he had taken was one that he could have achieved by going to the local bar or sleeping with a whore. The spiritual escape that he was taught was merely a momentary oblivious state that that proved to help with nothing down the road.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bhagavad Gita Sparknotes

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gautama Buddha was born in 480 BCE to parents Suddhodana and Maya. His mother Maya gave birth to him in forest and ended up dying. After her death his aunt became his stepmother. He was born and raised a Hindu. His father the king kept him sheltered in the house. His father was told that Gautama had two options in life. He was going to be Sanyasi and leave the world or follow in his dad’s footsteps. When Guatama was older he experienced the four passing sights. He would ask his father permission to go the pleasure gardens. Even time he tried to go to pleasure gardens he would be exposed to part of life that he did not know existed. The four passing sights he saw were an old person, disease, death and ascetic sanyasi. After being open to the real world he left family behind to embark on a journey of enlightenment. He sat by a tree and mediated for thirty-five days becoming the enlightened one. After he became enlightened he officially became the Buddha. What a non-Buddhist can learn from this story is that no matter how much you try to shelter your kids they will always find out about what really goes on in the world. The second lesson would be sheltering your kinds your making them ignorant about their surroundings. The final lesson would be that you cannot change fate. If it is meant to happen it will happen no matter how much you try to change it. Buddha’s dad tried to shelter him to stop him from leaving and he failed. The king was not more powerful than…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Herman Hesse 's Siddhartha depicts the epic of “a man 's search for himself through the stages of guilt, alienation, despair, to the experience of unity” (Ziolkowski 1). The novel is credited as a critical attribution to Hesse 's works as “it marks an important step in the development of Hesse and is unique in German literature in its presentation of Eastern philosophy” (Malthaner 1). In it, Siddhartha wrestles with the beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, and other aspects of various Eastern religions in an attempt to achieve Nirvana. He begins his life as the son of a holy Brahmin and matures to become one himself. Finding no solace in his prayers and daily rituals, he abandons all he has known in order to become a simple Samana and lose the Self in order to attain Enlightenment. However, he finds himself “caught in a continuous cycle of death and rebirth because he has not yet achieved a state of total enlightenment or Nirvana” (Bennett 2). Siddhartha uses what he has learned from the Samanas to hypnotize an elder so that the elder will allow Siddhartha and his lifelong friend, Gotama, to leave in order for them to enlighten themselves through the teachings of the Buddha. He listens to the Illustrious One, and finds error in his ways as “it becomes clear to him that the way of salvation can not be taught, that words and creeds are empty sounds, that each man must find the way by himself, the secret of the experience can not be passed on” (Malthaner 3). He leaves Gotama in order to better find the Self, and in the process becomes a man of no religion, faith, friends, or followers, but solely the Self. Siddhartha stumbles upon a beautiful courtesan by the name of Kamala. He promises to achieve wealth in order to provide her with money, a luxury he had since given up to become a Samana. Siddhartha enlists Kamaswami as his mentor and works for him as a merchant, and over the course of many years loses himself to greed. Realizing this, he flees…

    • 2170 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays