The Journey

Banner Source: Forest

After seeing the four sights, the prince knew in his heart that living as a religious ascetic was the path that he was truly destined for. He returned to the palace after seeing the holy man with the intentions of saying goodbye to his family and starting a new spiritual journey. He expressed to King Suddhodana that he must embark on a journey outside the walls of Kapilavastu. The father and son parted ways, but before leaving for good, he went to visit his wife and son one last time. They were sound asleep in bed, and he felt that he could not wake them for perhaps his love for his wife and son might have held him back. Siddhartha’s horse took him deep into the forest. There, they parted ways. Before continuing his journey, he took the sword he had left with, cut his hair, and traded his royal wear with someone’s robe.

Moving forward, Siddhartha had renounced his life and all earthly attachments. He left everything behind with the intention of breaking the constant cycle of suffering that is life. To begin his religious awakening journey, he first sought out a man named Arada Kalama. Kalama was a famous teacher that Siddhartha Gautama wanted to learn from. He ended up studying under him and ultimately learned many things including meditation. He learned everything Kalama knew and went so far, eventually mastering everything Kalama knew and becoming his equal. However, this did not satisfy Siddhartha due to the fact that he was still subject to suffering. He parted ways with Kalama and went on to seek education elsewhere.

The next person Siddhartha came in contact with was another teacher. His name was Udraka Ramaputra. With Ramaputra, Gautama did the same as before. He learned everything his teacher knew but was still unable to free himself from the understandings of suffering. He moved on along with his spiritual journey determined to find the cause of life’s suffering yet again. After spending time with the two teachers, Kalama and Ramaputra, he subjected himself to years of ascetic disciplined ways. Six years had passed while he remained on the banks of the river meditating, enduring the negatives that come with being out in nature: no shelter or protection from the rain, mosquitos, serpents. He even changed his diet and began eating only a grain of rice a day. All this time had passed, and yet he had still not reached enlightenment. The six years of ascetic training did not help with his progression.

picture source: Siddhartha Gautama learning

Author’s Notes:

In “The Four Sights” part of the storybook, we are left off with the young prince coming to his final decision to leave. He had just experienced the encounter with the holy man and had returned to his palace. When he returns to the palace, he spends a little time saying goodbye to each person in his family. The first person he says goodbye to is his father. He explains to King Suddhodana that his father’s efforts of sheltering his son away from the reality of life could not keep him from reaching this decision and that he must say goodbye to his lavish life. Before leaving, he also stops by to see his wife and son, but they were both asleep, and so he moved on and began his journey. Part 2 of the storybook emphasizes Siddhartha Gautama's trials and tribulations in regards to his spiritual journey. It is evident that he does not reach nirvana as easily as he thought. Instead, he spends a lot of time learning from multiple teachers and studying all that he can. The purpose of this part was to highlight a little on the events that took place before he eventually reached enlightenment. We see that he visits multiple teachers and then spends 6 years intensifying his ways with ascetic training. I think this part of the storybook really highlights that reaching one's goals does not happen overnight, but getting back up when you have failed and trying again will push you further and closer to the end goal.

Bibliography: The Life of Buddha by Andre Herold