Siddhartha's Quest

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1. Siddhartha’s quest begins in chapter one when he leaves home with Govinda. Siddhartha is trying to find a way to reach enlightenment. The first obstacle he faces in his quest is leaving his family behind. He loves his parents but he knows if he stays he will never reach enlightenment. 2. Another obstacle that Siddhartha could face would be his friend Govinda. Govinda might slow him down or keep him back from reaching enlightenment. Siddhartha wouldn’t be able to make any important decisions without thing about Govinda. 3. In chapter two Siddhartha and Govinda join the Samana’s. The obstacle Siddhartha faced here was trying to conquer his ‘Self’. He was able to conquer it for short periods of time by not giving into his needs like hunger and thirst, but then his ‘Self’ would come back and the cycle would start again. 4. Siddhartha and Govinda lived with the Samanas for about three years. Then they heard stories about the Gotama Buddha. Govinda thought it would be a good idea to go and listen to his teachings. Govinda wanting to go listen to Buddha was an obstacle. 5. The eldest Samana didn’t like the Buddha because he uses to be like them, an ascetic, but then gave up that life for one of luxuries. When they told the eldest Samana they were leaving he got angry but Siddhartha hypnotized the old man so they could leave. 6. In chapter three Siddhartha and Govinda go to the town the Buddha’s at. They went to the Jetavana grove and stayed the night their. The next day they went begging for food and saw the Buddha. They listened to him talk about the eightfold path and four noble truths. 7. After listening to the Buddha people went up to go and swear their allegiance to the Buddha and his teachings. Govinda we... ... middle of paper ... ... but got bitten by a snake and was dying. Siddhartha finds out he has a son. 14. The obstacle right now is Siddhartha’s son. Since Kamala dies he is taking care of him. The boy is mean, arrogant, and lazy. He is setting Siddhartha back in his quest. Also Siddhartha’s feelings for his son are making him lose track of what he’s really after. The son hates how Siddhartha is passive and doesn’t berate him. This makes the son lash out at Siddhartha. 15 When Siddhartha’s son runs away, he is crushed. He feels like someone has wounded him. His son was the only person he truly loved. Siddhartha had been trying so hard to protect him from Samsara that the boy left. Vasudeva told Siddhartha it was for the best and that his son would find his own path. Soon Siddhartha’s wound is healed and Vasudeva goes into the forest to die. At the end Siddhartha reaches enlightenment.

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