The life of Siddhartha also known as Buddha for my understanding was very impressive. Every life starts out with love and ends out with love as Hermann Hesse mentioned in Siddhartha. Siddhartha was a humble down to earth man who felt the pain of others associated with him and even those not associated with him. Siddhartha was born to Queen Maya. She must have been a very pious woman since she had dreamt of a white elephant entering her womb. The elephant is the symbol of fertility in Hinduism and the color white is for purity. Hinduism was the religion of Queen Maya. Queen Maya’s dream meant that the baby was going to be very special, which he was true. When Siddhartha was born he emerged from the left side of his mother without causing her any pain and discomfort. He immediately took seven steps to the north and announced that this was his final incarnation. His mother died shortly afterward.
The river shows love in many ways through how Siddhartha and Govinda played with each other by the river as children. Children have their own games that are full of love and innocence. Most of Siddhartha’s journey of love and life is relevant to today’s society since the journey of love and life has always been the same throughout the ages. In the novel, love is used as a religious viewpoint, “Om is the bow, the arrow is the soul, Brahman is the arrow’s target. One should strike it without wavering”. Om is the bow, which means that God is full of love for his people. The arrow is the soul, which means that love is the essence of life all over the world. We need to do each other a big favor and that makes the world our target where we should spread love and not hate. One should strike it without wavering means we should not need anyone else to tell us to spread love all over the world, it should come from within us. Love is the biggest message Hermann Hesse is trying to spread throughout his novel Siddhartha.
When Siddhartha was twenty-nine years old he started to feel unsatisfied with his palace life as a prince. He had to convince his father to let him step out of the palace grounds due to his safety reasons. Love can be seen through how Siddhartha’s father needed convincing his father knew happiness comes from within and that it is not something we need to go out looking for. Siddhartha’s father knew that which is why he told him, “you will go off to the forest and become a sharmana if you find happiness in the forest, come back and teach me happiness. If it is the disappointment you find, then still come back and we shall again make sacrifices to gods together”. On the grounds outside of the palace, he came across the laymen and saw what people were going through in life. The palace life for Siddhartha as a young prince had turned into a very intoxicating life. He wanted to go out and explore the outside world on his own terms without being controlled by his kingdom. As we can see in today’s day and age it is common for young people to want to break away from their families and native cultural lifestyles.
Siddhartha’s great departure from started from him leaving his wife princess Yasodhara and his son Rahula behind when he left the palace for his inner peace. Some scholars also say that his son was born only sometime before he left home to achieve enlightenment. He wanted to obtain more knowledge about the world and people, which is why he left. He found a place away from his palace where he set down and did not even for a moment stop his meditation. This is where he entered into a deep state of meditation. I have had moments in my life where I just wanted to run away from where I am to find peace. I can relate to Siddhartha in many ways since I love teaching people everything I have learned myself. The way Siddhartha obtained enlightenment and meditated in his life was a very simple and peaceful way.
Siddhartha felt he could not pass his knowledge down to anyone even though he had a feeling that God wanted him to work for humanity in his life. Basically, his inner voice told him to help poor people around him. He decided to teach the five former ascetic associates. They first rejected his views, but soon after when they saw his level of enlightenment they decided to learn from him. This lesson is believed to contain the most fundamental teachings of Buddhism. Siddhartha had a hard time making people listen to his message of peace. Everyone who has something good to teach historical has been put down in the beginning.
<3 Affirmation of the Day: I am beautiful and enough as well as I am living a happy and blissful life and so it is. <3
<3 Meditation of Today: I asked my guides to give me a sign if what steps I am taking in life are going to be good for me and I could smell roses and a sweet smell around me. It is scary but true. Buddha meditated for a long time under a tree and even forgot to eat and came out in peace. <3