At that moment, when the world around him melted away, when he stood alone like a star in the heavens, he was overwhelmed by a feeling of icy despair, but he was more firmly himself than ever. That was the last shudder of his awakening, the last pains of birth. Immediately he moved on again and began to walk quickly and impatiently, no longer homewards, no longer to his father, no longer looking backwards.Hermann Hesse
About This Quote
The story of Siddhartha is one of the most famous and most beloved of all the Hindu stories. Siddhartha was an ordinary man who lived in India at the beginning of the birth of Buddhism, when society was still blinded by caste, when men were driven by the hunger for wealth and power, when there were no doctors to cure disease, no medicines to cure pain, no machinery to make life easier for children. Siddhartha was an ordinary young man who felt that he had nothing to look forward to except a life of endless funeral rites in the company of his dead father. He was an ordinary young man who heard whispers that there might be a different kind of life in store for him. He was an ordinary young man who woke one morning with a new understanding of what it means to be alive. He was an ordinary young man who found his way to a teacher, who gave him a new set of eyes, who sent him back into the world with a new vision. The story goes on to describe how Siddhartha's teacher leaves him because he can see that Siddhartha has gained his freedom from lust and greed.
As he walks away from his teacher he hears words that change his life completely. "I have done what I could," said the voice in the woods. "If you want further help, go to Gautama." The story continues with Siddhartha wandering aimlessly until he meets Gautama Buddha .
He asks Gautama whether he knows what has happened to him; Gautama replies "I know nothing but you." Then Gautama tells Siddhartha about how he thought his only path to enlightenment would lead him through asceticism (withdrawing from worldly attachments) but instead taught him not "to give up" but instead "to detach" (that is detach the mind from worldly attachments). Siddhartha then tells Buddha that while he has learned something valuable from him (he has learned detachment) but that while he will still be attached like everyone else (he will still get married and have children) it is better than asceticism because it means he can live out his whole life without feeling regret or regretting every choice he makes. This is also why this story inspires so many people: because it teaches us that we should never try to be perfect or follow rules blindly because we are not perfect and rules are meant to be broken sometimes. Instead we should learn how to live
Source: Siddhartha
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