Kyle Tobin Siddhartha (contd.)

Eventually the young mans father lets him partake on a quest for everlasting peace and understanding for the world and its creatures. The young man and his best friend leave the small town and join a group of Samana's who travel around towns working for food and basically living at a bare minimum. The Samana's feel as if abandoning everything in the world is it that the mind, body, and soul can live in harmony. The feeling of greed and jealousy should never cross the thought of a Samana's mind, which is the next step for the young man to let go of all his struggles and needs. I feel that this concept the Samana's undergo can work but it is a bit extreme because the human body should be properly nourished in order to reach its maximum potential. Eventually, the young man and the Samana's hear of a man named Gautama who has supposedly reached this state of nirvanna and is going around towns spreading his wisdom. The young man meets Guatama and has a discussion with him, in which the young man feels as if Gautama's teachings can contradict one another. Gautama shows no emotion but seems a little frustrated and tells the young man to go seek his own way of spiritual understanding. I feel that the young man talking to Gautama was good for him because it allowed him to see someone who was of higher power and more experienced than himself.