Siddhartha Life Essay

From the moment we are born we have the tendency of craving the worldly desires that we are exposed to. Its part of human nature to want an ideal life where you are either wealthy, powerful, happy or all of the above without any suffering involved. Although that ideal sounds phenomenal, it is the thought of limitation that drives many people to seek for something more than just worldly pleasures. As some stay within the lines of an insatiable life, others come to the realization that living a life with nothing but worldly pleasures and goals are ultimately not everlasting. This is the point where people go on to pursue something bigger than themselves, something that gives them a purpose and infinite joy or as most would call it, a religion.

“At his naming ceremony, priests foretold that his life could go in one of two directions”( Molloy 125). He would either follow his father's footsteps and become a world ruler or he would become a spiritual leader, if he got exposed to the sight of suffering. As Siddhartha grew, his father kept him away from all the suffering of the outside world. He got educated and trained inside a luxurious palace, preparing to eventually become the ruler his father wanted him to be. All was going as planned until Siddhartha decide to visit a town close to his palace without his fathers permission. On this day, he was exposed to the suffering of the outside world and witnessed what he called the “Four Passing Sights.” “He came across an old man, crooked and toothless;a sick man, wasted by disease; and a corpse being taken for cremation. Then he saw a sannyasin, who had no possessions but seemed to be at peace”(Molloy 125). As he encountered these poor folks struggles, Siddhartha was shaken to the core. The sufferings he had witnessed made him question what truly was the meaning of human existence, deciding to begin a new journey

According to Buddha, after going through the three characteristics of existence, a person falls into the path of “The Four Noble Truths.” The first of the noble truths is duhkha, meaning that to live is to suffer.“Buddha argues that all life is duhkha, he simple suggest that all of life's experiences, from birth to death, yield an unsatisfactoriness, either though physical pain, change or conditioned phenomena”(Prebish 51). The second noble truth called samudaya, meaning that suffering comes from cravings or desires. The third noble truth is called nirhodha, meaning the end of suffering and desires. The only way a Buddhist is able to achieve the fourth truth is by following the doctrine called, “The Noble Eightfold