Shakyamuni, known in his youth as Siddhartha Gautama, was a prince who became aware of and profoundly troubled by the problems of human suffering. According to religious scriptures Siddhartha renounced his prince hood at the age of 19 and pursued the life of a religious mendicant from which he rejected both extremes of the mortification of the flesh and of hedonism as paths toward the state of Nirvana. After 11 years of ascetic practices and deep meditation, at the age of 30, he finally realized the truth that would emancipate mankind from their suffering, and he became a Buddha. All the teachings of Shakyamuni were recorded giving rise to a vast array of sutras or scriptures. The Buddha can in no way be described as a transcen

Otten, Anna. Hesse Companion. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1977.

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Buddhists do not believe in transcendent or any other type of god or gods, the need for a personal savior, the power of prayer, eternal life in heaven or hell after death as many of the western religions do. They do believe in reincarnation: the concept that one must go through many cycles of birth, living and death. After many of these cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self they can then attain Nirvana. The teachings of Buddhism effectively deal with the question of human beings very existence and pursue the surest way toward establishing a secure basis for living. It is a practical system, which provides a means to realize a state of self-perfection. (Field)

The basic teaching of Buddha is formulated in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Preceding from the premise that suffering exists and that a release from it must be found, Buddha constructed his system. The First Noble Truth is to be understood, the universality of suffering. The Second Truth is to be abandoned, the desire to have and control things that cause suffering. The third truth is to be made visible, the supreme truth and final liberation of Nirvana which is achieved as the cause of suffering is eliminated, the mind experiences complete freedom and liberation. The fourth truth is to be brought into being, the truth of the eightfold ariya path leading to the cessation of suffering. (Robinson)

In "Siddhartha" Hesse also made some basic parallels between the life of his character and that of the legendary Buddha. Buddha left his wife and son to become an ascetic, as Siddhartha leaves his beloved Kamala and his unborn son to take up the ascetic contemplative life. Both spent time among mendicant ascetics studying yoga. Buddha spent several years meditating by the river and Siddhartha last years are spent in a ferryman's service. Buddha's revelations come to him under a Bo Tree while Siddhartha arrives at his final decision under a mango tree. Under the tree Buddha had a visionary exper

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