Siddhartha I

The young siddhartha gautama at the early stages of his journey 

Siddhartha is an intriguing story of a boy’s journey to enlightenment and self-discovery. With the permission of his family and his friend by his side, the young Siddhartha travels through India. Siddhartha has this “epiphany” after seeing the ascetics and the world’. Originally, Siddhartha sees the suffering in the world and realizes he must abandon all earthly pleasures in order to practice a state of meditation: emotion-less and lack of any desires. Siddhartha does just enough to survive, he eats once a day, wears rags, and gave his possessions away. Along this early path, Siddhartha sees that, “The world was certainly sick, and life was difficult to endure-and see, here a fountain appeared to spring up, here a clarion call appeared to sound that was trustworthy, mild, and full of elegant promises” (23). The young boy believes the only way he can eliminate suffering in his world is by abandoning emotion. This seems problematic for a few reasons. Although Siddhartha himself may not feel the world’s pain, these things will still exist and continue to perpetuate around him. Additionally, this docile behavior is a state of self-denial. However this seems to change once Siddhartha sees all the beautiful things in the world. After leaving Buddha’s grove, he experiences an Awakening and says, “I no longer want to begin my thoughts and my life with Atman and with the suffering of the world” (40).  During this awakening, Siddhartha learns to appreciate the aesthetics of the world and appreciate his surroundings and “Siddhartha learned something new on every step of his path, for the world was transformed, and his heart was enchanted” (45). At this point, Siddhartha transforms from a boy into a man. Comparing himself to the snake, “He realized that one thing had left him, as a snake left its old skin; one thing which had accompanied him throughout his youth and used to a part of him no longer existed inside him: the desire to have teachers and to listen to teachings” (38). Siddhartha becomes his own teacher, his own prophet, and his own guide. At this point, Siddhartha can take actively reach enlightenment his own way.

Reaching self-actualization
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            Similar to Siddhartha’s period of enlightenment, we all endure this realization at one point or another. Once again like Siddhartha, the most meaningful enlightenment comes from within, from our individual actions. Though we do take meaningful lessons from our teachers, there comes a time when we must act on our own. As we have discussed, suffering/compassion is a major theme of worldly religion. When comparing Eastern to Western philosophy, we’ve noticed the differences in practices. In terms of suffering,

“I thought about Christ on the cross, crucified for our sins, the central image of Christianity, and an image, most decidedly, of redemp- tion through suffering. In contrast, the peaceful, smiling Buddha sits with his hand outstretched in the earth touching gesture, an image of complete serenity, the transcendence of all suffering” (Pope). Whether this is a religious encounter, spiritual, or self-actualization, the Siddhartha’s journey from boyhood to manhood is definitely comparable to ours. 

Alan Pope, "“Is there a difference?” Iconic Images of Suffering in Buddhism and Christianity" 248. 

OM: A state of meditation and peace