1. Look at the image below. What do you see?
- Who is the man in the forest?
- How is this image different from the earlier images of Siddhartha?
- Why do you think Siddhartha is alone?
2. Read the following text and follow the directions on your worksheet.
Prince Siddhartha’s experiences with suffering transformed him. His royal life now seemed empty. He instead wanted to find the happiness and peace that the ascetic had found.
Siddhartha decided to give up his old life and become an ascetic in search of enlightenment. Becoming enlightened would mean finding deep truth and freedom from suffering.
At the edge of a dark woods, Siddhartha removed his royal robes, sandals, and jewels. He cut off his hair with a knife. He put on a simple robe and carried only a small bowl for alms, or gifts of food.
Siddhartha met other ascetics as he wandered the forests and fields. Like him, they wanted to understand the nature of the world. They believed that they could reach enlightenment through meditation. While meditating, the ascetics sat quietly and focused their minds on spiritual questions. Siddhartha quickly became an expert at meditation.
The ascetics also denied themselves many basic needs. For example, they stayed up all night without sleeping. They sat in the hot sun without shelter. They held their breath for several minutes. They also fasted, or stopped eating, for many days at a time. They hoped to find spiritual truth through self-denial.
Siddhartha continued to follow the way of the ascetics for some time. He became a beggar, surviving off the charity of others. He slept in the woods amongst wild animals. He became terribly thin from lack of food. It is believed that he became so thin that he could touch his stomach and feel his backbone. He traveled for six years around India, but eventually became unhappy with this extreme way of living. And he had not yet found the key to enlightenment.
Siddhartha decided to give up his old life and become an ascetic in search of enlightenment. Becoming enlightened would mean finding deep truth and freedom from suffering.
At the edge of a dark woods, Siddhartha removed his royal robes, sandals, and jewels. He cut off his hair with a knife. He put on a simple robe and carried only a small bowl for alms, or gifts of food.
Siddhartha met other ascetics as he wandered the forests and fields. Like him, they wanted to understand the nature of the world. They believed that they could reach enlightenment through meditation. While meditating, the ascetics sat quietly and focused their minds on spiritual questions. Siddhartha quickly became an expert at meditation.
The ascetics also denied themselves many basic needs. For example, they stayed up all night without sleeping. They sat in the hot sun without shelter. They held their breath for several minutes. They also fasted, or stopped eating, for many days at a time. They hoped to find spiritual truth through self-denial.
Siddhartha continued to follow the way of the ascetics for some time. He became a beggar, surviving off the charity of others. He slept in the woods amongst wild animals. He became terribly thin from lack of food. It is believed that he became so thin that he could touch his stomach and feel his backbone. He traveled for six years around India, but eventually became unhappy with this extreme way of living. And he had not yet found the key to enlightenment.