After years of a spiritual quest Siddhartha has finally said something useful. Apparently, Gotama is the first "enlightened" man Siddhartha has found. Govinda is instantly charmed by Gotama's calm, almost selfless, personality. The Buddha is perfectly calm and peaceful: "every finger of his hand spoke of peace, spoke of completeness, sought nothing, imitated nothing, reflected a continuous quiet, and unfading light, an invulnerable peace." Although Govinda is convinced Buddha's teachings will lead them to enlightment, Siddhartha gets an epiphany, which causes Siddhartha to separate from Govinda.
The combined teachings of the Brahmins, the Samanas and Buddha did not satisfy Siddhartha. This leads Siddhartha to conclude that teachings are completely useless. As he tells the Buddha, enlightenment cannot be taught, it has to be experienced.
This new view on enlightenment reminded me of the Dao. Like the Dao, it cannot be taught through teachings and books, and it cannot be expressed in words. As well, it is found through non-action. Te Dao is mastering your human necessities and becoming completely non-active. Enlightenment is being non-active and selfless until Nirvana arrives naturally. I am happy Siddhartha is one step closer to self fullfilment.
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