Siddhartha (Historical Context)

Historical Context

Ancient India

In the fifth century B.C., India consisted of sixteen major states in the north. The region's southern parts remained largely undeveloped. Kings or chiefs ruled individual states and acquired income through taxation and trade. The Brahmans, or religious leaders, held a very high position in each state and often had the authority to approve of the ruling class. On some occasions they were rulers themselves. In addition to the major states, there were dozens of smaller regions comprised of various tribes organized as oligarchies, each under a single ruling family. One of these oligarchies, in what is now Nepal, was ruled by the Shakya tribe, of which Siddhartha Gotama was a prince. Control of the Ganges Valley became a major issue between the northern Indian states during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., and wars were continually fought over the rights to the lucrative trade routes. The state of Magadha established dominance in the region by the mid-fifth century B.C., but infighting continued into the next century. The nation of India was not unified until the establishment of the Mauryan Empire in 325 B.C.

The Story of Buddha

Siddhartha Gotama, who became known as Buddha, meaning the "Illustrious One" or "Enlightened One," founded Buddhism in approximately 500 B.C. Raised as a Brahman prince, he was married at sixteen to a neighboring princess, Yasodhara, who bore him at least one child. Despite his comfortable, even luxurious circumstances, a discontent grew in him. At the age of twenty-nine, he left home against his parents' will and began a spiritual quest.

At that time, wandering ascetics, who were also searching for a deeper meaning to life, travelled across northern India. They sought inner peace and freedom from attachment to the ordinary things of this world through the then-developing discipline of yoga. They came to be deeply respected by ordinary Indians. It is against this background that Siddhartha began his Great Renunciation. He meditated and practiced the extreme bodily asceticism which the Jains and others were advocating. He learned to "think, wait, and fast," but after six years he did not achieve enlightenment and, at the age of thirty-five, he abandoned the ascetic life and went to a place now called Bodh-Gaya, near the town of Uruvilva. He sat down to medi-tate at the foot of a fig tree, later to be referred to as the bodhi (enlightenment tree). The enlightenment he received was a profound awareness that all things are mutable, impermanent, insubstantial, and sorrowful, but that human beings tend to become attached to things as though they were substantial, abiding realities. Then, as the objects of these attachment disintegrate, humans are thrown into a state of panic and anguish. The Buddha was convinced that this insight would release him from craving and, by following the Middle Way between extremes of indulgence and denial, he could end the negative cycle of rebirths and free himself from the wheel of life.

Siddhartha promoted concepts of peace, love, and passive behavior as well as respect for all life. His teachings, known as the dharma, emerged in opposition to the violence, suffering, and inequality he witnessed in Indian society. He specifically denounced the Brahmans, who were supposed to be the spiritual and moral guides of society, for their participation in the killing of animals and for sanctioning war. He also felt that the caste system resulted in suffering and devalued life. The system, some of which remains in place to this day, is directly opposed to Buddhist beliefs in social equality and freedom of choice. Siddhartha, though of the highest Brahman caste himself, taught that all people are born equal and that everyone must fulfill his or her own destiny, which cannot be dictated by another.

During the forty-five years between the Buddha's enlightenment and death, he traveled and preached in central India and won many converts to the religion. After the Buddha's death, the Mallas of Kusinagara took his body, honored it with flowers, scents, and music, and then cremated it. The remains were divided among eight of the peoples of central India, who took their shares and constructed stupas (reliquary monuments) for them. These monuments were the forerunners of others that were later erected throughout India and that served as the centers for Buddhist devotees.

Turn-Of-The-Century Germany

As the twentieth century began, Germany was marked by rapid industrialization. From 1895 to 1907, the number of industrial employees doubled and exports of finished goods rose from thirty-three to sixty-three percent. National wealth and urban populations soared, as did national pride. But working conditions were poor and industrial workers lacked full political rights. In Germany's social hierarchy, industrial workers and minorities were re-garded as subservient members of society. When the economy slowed or cities became overpopulated, anti-Semitism surfaced and Jews were seen as outsiders.

By 1912 the German government had become increasingly militaristic and aggressive. The country's navy was second in might only to Great Britain's, and because of their newfound economic and military power, Germany began taking on the role of aggressor throughout Europe and North Africa. France, Great Britain, and Russia formed the Triple Entente alliance to ward off the potential threat of a German invasion. World War I erupted, though, after the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated by Serbian terrorists in 1914. The members of the Triple Entente found themselves in a fierce battle against a powerful German nation.

In 1918 World War I ended with German defeat. But it was not long before nationalism and aggression resurfaced in Germany. Capitalizing on the nation's desire to regain power after its loss, Adolf Hitler and fellow Nazis instilled strong feelings of anti-Semitism and fierce national pride in the German population. By 1921, Germany's government was denouncing writers such as Hesse, calling him and others "Jew-lovers" because of their anti-war and anti-prejudice view.