The Going Forth

Finally, Siddhartha saw a wandering Sadhu, who seemed serene and happy in the midst of all of this suffering. Perhaps this man had the answer?

Siddhartha saw a Sadhu, a wandering holy man, a kind of new age traveler of his times. This person had left home, renounced all the usual conventions and responsibilities, to live the homeless life on the road, to seek the Truth! This was called "Going Forth".

Not all Sadhus are or were genuine. Some were shirkers, some running away from responsibilities, and some running away from crimes or sticky situations; safe in the knowledge they would be supported. But the system also allowed the genuinely spiritual seekers to support themselves and practice.

Siddhartha returned to the palace. He went to see his father and asked, "Why have you lied about the existence of suffering, sickness, poverty, old age and death. Suddhodana said that if he had lied it was because he loved his son. But Siddhartha said that his father's love "had become a prison, how can I stay here when there is so much suffering in the world, I have to do something about it".

Siddhartha visited his wife and son as they slept to say good-bye. He could not wake them, for if he did, his love would not allow him to go. His heart was aching but he realised he had to leave them. The whole palace had fallen into a deep sleep, and a mysterious mist had descended. Only the great elephants were awake, and Siddhartha and Channa.

He had reached the point where the conventions, the pattern of life that had been laid out for him was stifling. So he had to get out. In the story, Siddhartha resolved to take the example of the Sadhu to heart, and leave the palace and seek answers to his questions of why there is poverty, old age, disease and death. He had to Go Forth - to find the Truth.

What was he Going Forth from? Siddhartha realised that he had to separate himself from the demands of the group of which he was a part - he had to go his own, individual way. He needed to get away from the roles he was expected to play and that he did not choose. He felt that he had caught a glimpse of something richer, of new possibilities and that his old life was holding him back.

The Buddha realised that he literally had to leave home. He therefore leaves parents, wife, child, tribe - and he goes at night. Siddhartha steals away from the group, he just slips out, otherwise they won't let him go.

Going Forth is about is starting to control and determine your own identity yourself, and not letting others do it for you. This is what "leaving the group means".

In the family you function in a role, as son, daughter, mother, etc. The danger is that we over identify with a familial role as if this as is just ALL you are, which is how families can become stifling. Often only when you have left home do you really relate to your parents as people, see them perhaps as fallible or funny, and have a much richer and perhaps more loving relationship with them.

Other groups that one may Go Forth from are your social scene, its fashions, its jargon, and its chitchat. Then you may go forth from an obsessive, unhealthy sexual or emotional relationship - one that is based on mutual emotional dependence and exploitation. Then there is the Going Forth from the economic group and perhaps your job. There is the danger of over identifying with what you do. People ask, "What are you"...and you give them a job title, a role. You play or live a role.

Then there is Going Forth from the social class or cultural group - in Ancient India it is one's Varna or one's Caste, in this country it is one's Social Class or one's Geographical origins. So you need to Go Forth from your social class, and the over identification to where, geographically, you came from. One way of doing this is by travel, and study. If you experience another culture you come to realise how much of what you do is dictated by conventions. The observation of the different mores of the new culture makes you reflect on your own. You start to question your own attitudes and assumptions; you even get a degree of culture shock!

Siddhartha realised that he would have to leave his wife and son, Rahula, and become a wanderer, a seeker, a Sadhu. The king said that Siddhartha has a duty to his son, to his wife, a duty to be king. But Siddhartha realised that they too will have to suffer, grow old and die, and be reborn, and die and be reborn and die and be reborn and die in an endless cycle without end, without meaning. Siddhartha's task was to find an end to that empty cycle, to find a meaning, a purpose. Siddhartha had to find the way to lift that curse.

Channa got Siddhartha's white horse, Kanthika, ready and together the two of them left the palace and rode out into the countryside. All were asleep and dreaming, but Siddhartha was on a journey of awakening. Siddhartha cut off his long hair, exchanged his princes robes for rough cloak. He then said farewell to Channa, and then set his horse free. Siddhartha returned to the palace. He went to see his father and asked, "Why have you lied about the existence of suffering, sickness, poverty, old age and death. Suddhodana said that if he had lied it was because he loved his son. But Siddhartha said that his father's love "had become a prison, how can I stay here when there is so much suffering in the world, I have to do something about it".

These are wonderful images of freedom - stealing away in the morning mist, and setting the horse free.