|
|
| Painting of Brahma |
Siddhartha was born as the son of a Brahmin. He was brought up in the ways of the Brahmin,
and learned everything he needed to know about his original culture and religion. While he knew everything there was
to know about the Brahmins, he still had not received spiritual enlightenment and was unsatisfied. He left the Brahmins
with his best friend, Govinda, to join the Samanas, in another search for enlightenment. He conquered the ways of the
Samanas, yet still found himself empty inside. There was a man called Gotama, who was spreading the news of his enlightenment
and telling others how they could achieve it as well. Siddhartha and Govinda decided to leave the Samanas inorder
to hear what Gotama, also known as the Buddha, had to say. While Govinda agreed with Gotama's ideas and philosophies
and decided to become a monk and devote his entire life to Buddhism, Siddhartha found flaws in what Gotama said. He
continued his search for enlightenment by becoming a man of the world. He sought love and worldly possessions.
After many years of acquiring worth and wealth, Siddhartha was again dissatisfied with himself and this spiritual quest.
He left everything he had and ended up by a river, where he considered suicide. The ferryman, Vasudeva, was the reason
Siddhartha did not take his own life. Vasudeva had a sense of inner-peace that Siddhartha envied and wanted for himself.
He joined Vasudeva has his apprentice. Working side by side with the ferryman, Siddhartha was taught to listen to the
river for answers to questions. Time passed and hard times continued to find the seeker. Siddhartha lost a lover
and a son, but in the midst of it all, the river helped him find what he was looking for. He finally realized that just
like the water in the river went to the ocean, which then ascended to the sky, and then fell as rain back into the river,
life is a continuous cycle that never stops moving. Siddhartha had finally achieved his spiritual enlightenment.
Not only this, but Siddhartha also shined his inner-peace on his long lost friend, Govinda, who had been searching for enlightenment
his entire life, as well.
|
