Over the centuries it has been said –to achieve great knowledge, great sacrifices must be made. And the Adventure genre was born! But what we often forget about all of our action heroes is the people they left at home.
Historically only men got to go on adventures. Women were always left standing by the front door waving goodbye to a dust cloud. No one blames the men for leaving their families to go peruse adventure or justice or destiny. But god forbid a woman leave. She would be vilified! How dare she leave her children unattended and her husband all alone.
However, if Siddhartha Gautama had not abandoned his family, we would not have Buddhism. Does that mean the suffering of his wife and child we’re justified? Should he instead have stayed behind, unhappy and caged, or taken his family with him and forced them to live the life of poverty he wished to peruse? What is the right answer…? Is there one?
The world is complicated and cold; and much more grey than I was taught growing up. As Buddha would say – Life is Suffering. But it is in knowing that, that we begin to walk the eight-fold path to enlightenment.