Reading about Siddhartha’s life as a Hindu follower and eventual decision to leave his father and elders’ teachings for a life that many see as barbaric and completely different from what he has always been taught is good reminded me of a decision I made, once.
I have written on this blog a lot recently about the strict Christian school I grew up attending from first through the eighth grade. This school was unique to what I found most “Christian” schools to be in that it was not a Jesuit school founded under Christian principles that taught secularly – it was a fully Christian establishment and everything, from the lessons to the teachers, were centered around that. Any religion outside of Christianity was scorned and any student who was Muslim, Jewish, or anything else besides Christian was not admitted into the school. We were taught about the Bible in Bible class, in math class, even during playtime there would be games for us to play where you could only win by memorizing the most Bible verses. The problem I had with the school, however, was not so much how they taught us these things but WHAT they taught us. I was taught at this school that those who did not believe that Jesus was our savior, who were not Christians, should be punished. I was taught that Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and all other religions were not only wrong but evil. We were taught over and over again the story of Jesus, but we were never asked to forgive or to love our neighbor when it came to people around us who were not Christians. The entire program was based on judgment and not on compassion.
When I graduated from middle school I was enrolled in a secular, all-girls private school where I spent all of my high school years. This school was the opposite of my middle school in just about every way. It had four “cornerstones” that we as students were all supposed to live up to and they were: academics, courtesy, character, and athletics. The teachers at this school were obsessed with exploration, with learning more about other cultures and religions and belief systems. The students were open-minded, motivated, and accepting of one another. When I began school there, I felt like I was finally able to breathe. I realized then what a hugely skewed view of the world I had gotten at my old school. 
Though my experience is much less intense, this is what I was reminded of as I read about Siddhartha’s journey. Though Siddhartha travels through many different “tribes” and spends much more time searching for his truths than I had to, I still saw similarities in the way he sifted through the information that was given to him and decided – completely on his own – what was right and what was wrong for him personally regarding each group of people he lived with.
At one point Govinda says to him, “had you remained [with the Samana’s], you truly would have learned to walk on water,” (Siddhartha, 26). This reminded me of the sort of “guilt” I was made to feel when I left my school for a different high school rather than staying and finishing out my schooling there. Teachers and friends implied that I would never reach a spiritual apex at a secular school like the one I was leaving to attend and that staying at my school was the only way I could continue to learn more about God and continue to be a servant of His. Little did they know, I would end up growing even stronger in my faith once I went to my new school. Only the difference was, I was able to do so while learning about other religions at the same time and even continue to respect others for their beliefs as well. After all, as Siddhartha responds to Govinda, “I don’t have any desire to walk on water, let the old Samanas satisfy themselves with such tricks.” (Siddhartha, 26). I feel the same way.
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