Search for Meaning free essay sample

From the age of infant to the age of death, surroundings affect people’s lives greatly. Also, people tend to search for what the society prefers and honors. Siddhartha, who was born in the loyal Brahmin family, was surrounded by teachers and wise Brahmins since young age. He had the chance to acquire wisdom and knowledge from his environment. Therefore, Siddhartha was encouraged to be enlightened and consequently it led him to become passionate towards gaining wisdom. On page 5 in Siddhartha, it says, â€Å"And the vessel was not full, his intellect was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still. † Siddhartha was thirst for intellects and enlightenment as he was raised. On the other hand, children and teenagers born in family apart from Christ easily encounter circumstances that lead them to an ungodly path. Especially, when they are raised in an environment without any religion, there are no spiritual teachings in their lives. We will write a custom essay sample on Search for Meaning or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They are exposed to the environment where sinning is normal and cool. Also, they are influenced by the media. Media tells them what to wear, say, do, and want. It teaches them to seek for materialistic things and unnecessary pleasures rather than search for wisdom and enlightenment. Siddhartha begins his journey for seeking more knowledge while people living apart from Christ begin their journey with desire for materialistic things. In typical searches, people go through rough path full with distractions, lust, and sinful natures. Through this path, wise people use the distractions to further their journey while people apart from Christ lose themselves in the distractions. Siddhartha, the wise one, was lured by Kamala. Kamala reeled Siddhartha into a life of business and lust. After 20 years of life full of distractions, Siddhartha realizes that he had lost sight of search for meaning and decides to embark on his journey once again. At the same time, non-believers also get easily distracted by many temptations. They live a life where they are just trying to gain more materialistic things such as bigger house, expensive clothes, higher position, and more money. In I Timothy 6:10, God tells his followers, â€Å"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. † People apart from Christ do anything what it takes to achieve materialistic goals without any unpleasantness. Furthermore, once they are lost in a world full of materialistic pleasures, it is difficult for them to be found again. As people grow old, they look back at the path that they have walked. Sagacious people discern right and wrong from their past and try to improve. After all the time of enticement and pleasure, Siddhartha serves his experience of wandering as a foundation to his enlightenment. Then, he once again embarks on his journey of enlightenment. On his new journey, he meets a wise ferryman, Vasudeva who becomes his somewhat mentor. John C Crosby said, â€Å"Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction. † During the time with Vasudeva, Siddhartha learns many things from him. He learns the patience of listening and the attentiveness, and most important, he learns to communicate with the river. After all the basic learning, they together searched for enlightenment and Siddhartha followed Vasudeva’s footstep. Finally, Siddhartha reaches enlightenment. Similarly, if lucky, people apart from Christ emerge from the transition period and by the time they realize their fallacious paths, they meet a person who leads them to the righteous path, the mentor of their life. They learn what to search for in the meaning of their life and the process of searching from their mentors. Then, eventually, they end up taking over their mentor’s place like Siddhartha did. Although there is few people whom success in search for meaning apart from Christ, it is very difficult for them to be successful. Without divine and spiritual guidance, it is very easy to get lost. Nevertheless, because the time has changed so much that it is hard to only rely on spiritual guidance. Irrelevant to whatever people go through, adjusting to the reality for non-believers, they should balance the spirituality and pursuit of mundane things.