gautama buddha
Gautama Buddha was a sage, and his teachings have been the founding of the philosophy of Buddhism. When he was young, he was raised in wealth. Though, at around the age of 29, he was known to have left the comforts of his palace in order to live a life of simplicity and meaning. He begged in the streets and excelled past his teachers when it came to the subjects of yoga and meditation. He spent years traveling and practicing religion with five ascetics in an attempt to find inner peace. He starved himself at times and lived his philosophy to the extreme, and because of that, the Middle Way in Buddhism emerged. Buddha realized that one must not live life to any extremes, whether that be on the side of asceticism or being greedy. He embraced the ideas of not being connected deeply to material possessions, but he also agreed with partaking in the pleasures of life. He called this balance of living the Middle Way, which is a concept of Buddhism that still lives on today. Gautama Buddha learned the true meaning of life through his years spent living an ascetic life, and because of these experiences, the foundations of Buddhism were formed.
The philosophies of Buddhism tie strongly with the philosophies of the American Dream, and as Gautama Buddha and his teachings were the foundation for Buddhism, his life and experiences also are a representation of the desired life that people today want to live. For years, Gautama Buddha lived his life with an ascetic philosophy, and asceticism is one of the main themes of the modern American Dream. Even though he did not live his life with extreme ascetic qualities, he still lived a portion of his life as an ascetic and learned about the deeper meaning and spirituality of life through those experiences. He gave up his riches and wealth in order to live like the poor, and through those experiences, he learned about the importance of life’s most taken for granted things, such as the ability to make relationships with others and to be able to enjoy the simple beauty of the world. The American Dream highlights giving up excess in order to notice and cherish the things that one normally takes for granted, such as the beauty of the world and the meaningful relationships that they have been able to make with others. These aspects are the parts of life that really matter, and when people notice that, they step closer to achieving the dream because they now understand that material possessions and wealth are not the most important aspects to life but are rather restraints.
Even though one was a religious leader and the other was an author, many comparisons can be drawn between Gautama Buddha and Henry David Thoreau.
The philosophies of Buddhism tie strongly with the philosophies of the American Dream, and as Gautama Buddha and his teachings were the foundation for Buddhism, his life and experiences also are a representation of the desired life that people today want to live. For years, Gautama Buddha lived his life with an ascetic philosophy, and asceticism is one of the main themes of the modern American Dream. Even though he did not live his life with extreme ascetic qualities, he still lived a portion of his life as an ascetic and learned about the deeper meaning and spirituality of life through those experiences. He gave up his riches and wealth in order to live like the poor, and through those experiences, he learned about the importance of life’s most taken for granted things, such as the ability to make relationships with others and to be able to enjoy the simple beauty of the world. The American Dream highlights giving up excess in order to notice and cherish the things that one normally takes for granted, such as the beauty of the world and the meaningful relationships that they have been able to make with others. These aspects are the parts of life that really matter, and when people notice that, they step closer to achieving the dream because they now understand that material possessions and wealth are not the most important aspects to life but are rather restraints.
Even though one was a religious leader and the other was an author, many comparisons can be drawn between Gautama Buddha and Henry David Thoreau.