Essay about Siddhartha: Gautama Buddha and Siddhartha

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11.18.2013
Siddhartha Paper

In Siddhartha, Siddhartha goes on a pursuit for truth. Obtaining truth is key for fulfilment of a perfect correlation with the earth. His journey revolves around achieving enlightenment by reaching nirvana. Siddhartha, through his journey to enlightenment, undergoes spiritual breakthroughs, obtains truths, overcomes obstacles and evidently awakens. His journey is constantly changing from confused start to enlightened finish. Siddhartha’s journey is highlighted by his rejection of teachers, his acceptance and willingness to be guided by nature and forces from within, and his separation from Gotama. Siddhartha and Govinda’s search is to find a general understanding of the life cycle, known as nirvana. Siddhartha and Govinda both have a desire to understand their spiritual livelihood. They strive to find nirvana and that obtaining it is possible. Although nirvana leads to perfect harmony with the world and is the pinnacle of the search of enlightenment, Siddhartha and Govinda are different in terms of what they strive to do in the search of truth. Siddhartha, when he becomes apprehensive of the path he is currently on to inherit after his father, and for nothing but materialistic gains, he hastily changes his course of action. He not only wants to, but is willing to abandon the path of the Brahmins in exchange for that of the Samanas. He continues his journey to leave the Samanas for Gotama, the first Buddha, and then make a radical exodus from teachers of spiritual knowledge in search of the real world with Kamala and Kamaswami. His lack of devotion to teachers is what put Siddhartha on the path to nirvana. In addition to this, Siddhartha finds what he is looking for at the river. This instance transforms him into an enlightened person. He refuses to give up his pursuit and remains on the path that becomes presented if he has not yet reached Nirvana.
Siddhartha’s separation from Gotama is a crucial contribution to his goal of being enlightened. Siddhartha’s journey to Gotama shows Siddhartha is not ready to look within himself. Gotama makes a profound impression on Siddhartha. His teachings consist of the Eightfold Path and various aspects of Buddhism. Siddhartha dedicates himself to Gotama and his teachings. Despite doing this he feels unable to fully accept Gotama’s philosophy. Following this at the grove, Gotama enlightens Siddhartha that his goal is not to implement a concrete explanation of the universe, but rather to achieve freedom from suffering. Siddhartha must accept the Four Noble Truths being, Dukkha, all life is suffering, Samudaya, the root of all suffering is attachment, Nirodha, elimination of suffering, and Magga, how to approach and deal with suffering. Siddhartha’s encountering with Gotama proves that he must reach an enlightened state by himself. Unhappily, Siddhartha leaves Govinda behind and starts and individual search for a way to find the meaning of life that does not rely on spiritual instruction. Siddhartha ends up invoking the notion of Hinayana, rather than Mahayana. In order to find said enlightenment, he must travel alone on a small, lone vessel to seek help in his personal life rather than being on a large vessel and helping humanity
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