Buddha by Karen Armstrong and Term Paper

At first he "went forth," literally walking away from the Brahmin society he knew, by joining the "forest monks," a group of honored rebels, seekers of truth, and engaged in many yogic trances and ascetic deprivations with them. This proved unfruitful, however, and only by seeking out his own self-liberation, with a determination to find the truth within himself, did he realize the way out of the cycle of constant suffering. Like his contemporaries, he discovered that the "truth that lies within" led to a universal understanding of the need for "compassion" to set a person free. That is, when one gave up the "self" or ego-binding grasping, and discovered the truth of the emptiness of "self," simultaneously embracing all sentient beings with loving kindness, equanimity and compassion, then, and only then, could one achieve true freedom from suffering.Not keeping his discoveries to himself, he spent the rest of his life, like his contemporaries in Greece, China and Israel, bringing his skillful means and path of "enlightenment" to others.

According to Armstrong, all the prophets and sages of the Axial Age discovered, simultaneously, that the way to a higher, transcendent, more fully human life was by looking within and discovering self-existing, self-liberating, inner truths. Common to these spiritual movements, as well, was that 'compassion towards others' would lead to a more meaningful, freer life in this world. It was a pivotal, revolutionary thought that, centuries later, is still at the root of our traditional religions and still presents a challenge,….....