Siddhartha

Siddhartha

Siddhartha has been searching for fulfillment all his life. Though he was the most scholarly and respected Brahmin, this did not satisfy him. He drank knowledge, yet still felt ignorant. He could not find peace. He could not find fulfillment. His journey is essentially one of trial and error, suffering, mistakes, and rebirth.

He was the son of a Brahmin priest and gained all the knowledge he could acquire, learned and practiced the ways of the Brahmin, but found it was not for him. It did not fulfill him, so he left and became a Samana, living by not living, conquering his Self through pain, hunger and fatigue. Yet, he could not lose his Self. He could only deceive it, trick it, run away from it, and each time it returned mockingly. Because of this, he leaves the Samanas. He finds and listens to the teachings of the illustrious Buddha. He sees that Gotama has attained enlightenment, but he does not practice the ways of the Buddha for he knows that he must take his own path, find his own peace, attain nirvana on his own. So he sets out on this quest alone. Only then does he discover the error of his ways. He realizes that there is beauty in life, the world is not an illusion, but very real to him.

He goes and lives among the common people in a small town where he becomes a successful business man. He learns the art of love, business, and human nature. Slowly he deters, becoming a gambler, eating rich foods, drowning himself in money and drink. He becomes more and more disgusted with himself. Finally, when he can take it no longer, he flees the town in hopes of escaping this new Siddhartha whom he despised.

Feeling utterly hopeless, when he reaches a river, he longs to end his life by submerging himself in the water. As he bent down, he heard a sound from a remote part of his soul, and awoke him from the gravity of the mistake he was about to make. It was the sound "Om," that saved his life and lulled him to sleep. Upon awakening he found himself changed, renewed, and reborn. He was no longer the man he recognized nor the man that his friend Govinda, who was watching him sleep, recognized.