Siddhartha, Chapter 3: Knowledge, Question 1

In Buddhism, the main goal of a believer is to reach enlightenment and to seek knowledge/wisdom. Enlightenment can be identified as the opposite of ignorance. In order to reach enlightenment, one must understand the root of suffering, which is ever-present in life. Gautama Buddha, also known as the Enlightened One, taught his disciples that to become enlightened, one must understand and accept the Four Noble Truths and follow the Eightfold Path. Doing so results in possible enlightenment.

Four Noble Truths:
1) Life is suffering
2) The cause of suffering is desire
3) There is a remedy/cure
4) The Middle Way/Budhist path –> To follow the eightfold is to free yourself from suffering.

Eightfold Path:

Three Qualities Eightfold Path
Wisdom (panna) Right View
Right Thought
Morality (sila) Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Meditation (samadhi)
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Contemplation
source: http://www.buddhaweb.org/

To become enlightened means to avoid Samsara (a cycle of birth and death). Remaining in the cycle of rebirth is not being completely free of worldly desires. Therefore, reaching enlightenment is extremely important, especially for Buddhist ascetics.

The following is a video about how Buddha reaches enlightenment, but from a quite humorous perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbVVbDpGzM

This particular site explains Buddha’s path to enlightenment and the Buddhist teachings.
http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm

Chapter 2: Nirvana (...not the rock band!)

Nirvana is known as a state of freedom from suffering and individual existence. Buddhists see the state of Nirvana as enlightenment. Achieving it is their ultimate goal. It is fundamentally freedom from greed, ignorance and hate in the world. Nirvana cannot be described in words but it can only be learned through experience directly. An example of this would be achieving your most desired dream. By achieving your greatest dream or challenge, you’ve experienced, in a sense, a form of Nirvana. People who have spent their whole lives climbing tall mountains, ultimately hoping to climb Mount Everest one day. When that day comes and they have reached the summit, they’ll be enlightened for conquering their dream and therefore, in a state of nirvana.

Nirvana is also known as a spiritual condition in which the person is freed from karma. Karma is, for example, when you do something bad to someone. You will keep carrying this karma or bad energy until you do something nice to someone. Until then, you’ll have the worst of luck on your side. Doing something nice for someone will just give you good karma and you will have great luck until you decide to be bad again.

These following links incorporate additional information about Nirvana:

http://library.thinkquest.org/28505/buddhism/nirva.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nirvana1.htm

Chapter 1: Knowledge, Question 3

Chapter 1: Knowledge, Question 3

Since Siddhartha seemed to have everything going for him, why would he be so discontent? Is he simply seeking the independence of adulthood? What kind of “freedom” is he seeking?

Siddhartha was born into a wealthy family. He was also born with a graceful and beautiful complexion and an admirable intelligence. All of his peers looked up to him because he had everything they strived for. Yet, Siddhartha was unhappy, dissatisfied, and longed to fill an unidentified void. He wanted to pursue his own hunger for personal life experiences and break away from the regime he was born into. This, too many people, seems preposterous because if anyone should be happy and fulfilled, it should be him! In truth, he was right to leave on his journey and abandon his material possessions along with the path his father (or perhaps, parents) had chosen for him.

Siddhartha was not simply seeking the independence of adulthood. He craved to experience for himself what his teachers had been talking about or avoiding talking about. He wanted to know what life truly meant. He knew it meant more than words uttered out of teacher’s mouths. The ‘freedom’ he sought was that of acquiring his own knowledge and understanding through personal experience and surely could not be taught through sermons and teachings.

Siddhartha’s departure from his luxurious life can be compared to many celebrities who have supposedly achieved the ‘American Dream.’ For example, Britney Spears had everything going for her: a successful career as a singer, a marriage, and two beautiful children. Even though she had millions of people looking up to her all over the world and has material wealth more than the majority of people, somehow, it seems that she became disconnected from her image of the aspiring pop star as she let her life spiral out of control. Her luxurious life was not enough to make her truly happy and fulfilled. Many people had become jealous of her because of her success and fame. However, these aspects are superficial. They can entrap anyone and hurt them, just like they did with Britney Spears.

Like Siddhartha, Britney Spears was dissatisfied and unhappy her life at that point, and therefore began self-destructing. Along with her excess partying, she divorced from her husband, lost custody of her children and ended up in a mental institute a few times. Hopefully she will pick up the pieces and rebuild a healthy life.

In conclusion, both Siddhartha and Britney Spears displayed dissatisfaction and unhappiness with their seemingly ‘perfect’ lives. Appearances can, indeed, be quite deceiving.



A video collection of photographs showing Britney’s downfall:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXxY1sA6b7k&NR=1

An article describing in more detail her downfall and why people are so curious about a celebrity’s problems.

Article: http://collegian.kenyon.edu/article.php?id=2746