More than 2000 years ago, a nobleman named Siddhartha Gautama went on a quest to overcome suffering and death through self discipline and meditation, he believed that he had finally achieved Nirvana. After he became know as the Buddha. Buddha claimed that he had found the cause of human suffering and the way to end it, he then laid out his four noble truths; all existence is suffering, human desire or attachment causes this suffering, humans can end suffering by putting an end to their selfish desire the only way to
Siddhartha’s growth and transformation are the results of his own experiences and inner struggles, because to truly attain nirvana, one must find their own path to reach it. The first major turning point in Siddhartha’s life occurs when he acts on his dissatisfaction towards the Brahmin life and teachings. He believes that although his father has passed on all the wisdom his community has to offer, his questions about the nature of his existence will remain unanswered, and
Years later, the two friends stumbled upon a Buddhist region and met the “Illustrious One” or, Gotama. While Govinda joined the Buddha, Siddhartha found flaws in Gotama’s teachings and was not ensnared in their peace, so, he left for his own journey all alone in the wilderness. In the woods, Siddhartha comes to terms with himself, “I will no longer try to escape Siddhartha…I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha (pg. 38-39).” He feels as if he is born again in the woods, and, as Karma would have it, he saw the world for the first time. He stumbles upon a village and meets the beautiful Kamala.
In many cultures, such as the Hinduism, there is a huge emphasis on tradition. We can see this emphasis in Siddhartha. Raised in a strictly Brahmin family, Siddhartha was expected to follow his family’s footsteps and beliefs because that is what most Brahmins believed was the path to spirituality. Tensions arise between Siddhartha and his family when Siddhartha decides to pursue his own path to enlightenment instead of following his family’s path. When Siddhartha tells his father that he will go to the Samanas the next day with his permission, his father, “falls silent, and remains silent for so long that the stars in the small window wandered and changed their relative positions” (Hesse, 9).
Japanese Buddhists have calculated the beginning of Mappo to be 1052 CE. In order to be ready for Mappo and to cope with it people of the Buddhist faith attempt to achieve enlightenment. But everything in the social world, or in the world of the capital, imposes unavoidable attachments. Even helping, having a job, and achieving fame can all be forms of attachment. In order to relinquish his attachments, Chomei took tonsure and retreated into the forest.
Siddhartha Gautama was raised Hindu and believed in reincarnation. Gautama married young and when he had a son he had four visions that inspired him to find a spiritual solution to stop human suffering. Siddhartha left his family to solve the four visions. Siddhartha first tried meditation, but it couldn’t last forever. After trying meditation, he joined a Brahmanism group where he learned breath control and fasting.
These stories of creation are not necessarily historically accurate or literal, but they are believed by many to convey profound truths from the beginning of oral story telling to when variations of the tales were recorded such as with Greek mythology by Hesiod and Homer. Many myths, especially those regarding creation and the origins of the universe such as making order of chaos, can often become synonymous with religious tales of creation. These types of stories can become sacred recounts. Like religious stories they feature deities, God like figures, human like figures or animals who have been personified in some way. They take place in vague, non-specific areas of the world and contemplate answers to important questions of life.
In other words, to put it in Zen terminology, he had the first koan in existence: “Why is there misery in the world? Why is there suffering? How do I get out of it?” He was trying to escape from life instead of accepting that life exists and being able to rise above it. In trying to escape from it, He could find nothing; in accepting it, He found all. His koan is the same koan, which we dress up in various ways, that every one of us brings to Zen training; “How can I escape living?
First off, when the Buddhists think of suffering, they refer to the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths explain the nature of the Dukkha, which means suffering. The Dukkha is often indicates a lack of satisfaction and a sense of things never measuring up to what they were supposed to be. The Buddhists believe that suffering is related to stress and anxiety .The Four Noble Truths are: 1) Life means suffering, 2) The origin of suffering is attachment, 3) The cessation of suffering is attainable, 4) The path to the cessation of suffering. They each have their own meanings.
The followers believe in following the Four Noble Truths which deals with suffering and how to eliminate it by following the Eightfold Path. They believe that life is only temporary and is basically full of pain. From the Buddhist perspective, the mind is the creator of sickness and health. The mind is believed to be the creator of all of their problems. Disease is caused by internal not external factors (Numrich, 2001).