Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part B

Week 6 

In the reading "The Life of Buddha" Part B, by Andre Ferdinand Herold, it starts off with Siddhartha's departure. I feel as if the story begins with a turning point in his journey as he seeks to find more to life and as he states in "Siddhartha the Hermit" he wants to "destroy old age and death." I find the words he speaks to Chandaka during his parting with him in the same story to really show how Siddhartha thought at the time. Although Chanda is offering gifts and pointing out how he will never see his family again, I feel as if Siddhartha knows that it doesn't matter because it's inevitable. He has clearly already made the choice and he wants to do it for his family, and for others; a reoccurring thing that always draws back to his personality. With that being said, I also realized they were parting ways in a forest, which is known to be symbolic as Part A stated with the birth of Siddhartha and the tree he was meditating under. I think this could tie back to growth and a journey he is truly about to embark on. This doesn't disregard how his family reacts. "In Gopa and Suddhodana Grieve" the departure of Siddhartha makes his family and his horse physically ill. They claim they cannot see and are willing to go to him and make his return. This shows how much of an affect his departure had on everyone. At the end of the story his horse even falls dead. I ask myself if this is a lesson within itself as if his past life died and is going towards a rebirth. As painful as this story sets up Siddhartha's departure, it was something he knew he needed to do. One story in particular that I found interesting was "The Tree of Knowledge" where he had 5 dreams. I know in this culture their dreams often are extremely symbolic, so it was interesting to see how detailed they were. It created the setting that he would achieve Supreme Knowledge, and would mediate for as long as he could to do so. In the last story "Siddhartha Becomes Buddha" was interesting to me because he was to achieve Supreme Knowledge but he has limited answers to the questions he has. His thought process helps him figure out the true meaning of old age and death. I really liked how the story tied back to his family unable to see, because at the end of this story the Gods sang "Long blinded, the eye of the world has opened." This shows it was a bigger picture, but I also just enjoyed how it connected back once Siddhartha became Buddha.

(Source: Siddhartha's Departure)