Of the three sages: Lao-tzu, Confucius, and Buddha, I believe Buddha is the most compelling. Before he transformed into Buddha, he was known as a version of Siddhartha Gautama, the son of a prince who grew up sheltered, in a powerful and wealthy family (Soccio 33). Siddhartha was thought to experience only luxury and pleasure, and so he was isolated from the harshness of the real world and constantly cared for by servants. However, rebellion and curiosity take him away from home where he begins to see things he has never seen before, which begins his journey to want to understand and know all the opposite of luxury and pleasure, but what causes suffering (Soccio 33) . Siddhartha set out to find answers to his questions about suffering, seeking out one teacher or guru after another, but he never got the answers he wanted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay For nearly six years, Siddhartha was part of a small community of monks who learned to control "the mad monkey of the mind," which not only did not help him find any of his answers, but nearly destroyed his body due to malnutrition. Realizing that his way of life was not ideal, he began to acquire proper nutrition, which shocked his brethren. Siddhartha's ability to go against what his comrades believed after so long proved that Siddhartha was not afraid to take his own path in life and was strong in doing so. By straying from the path, Siddhartha was able to learn a valuable lesson Siddhartha learned that we cannot force ourselves to please and confuse others if we want to find wisdom ourselves. “We must stop worrying about what others think of us and stop trying to impress people if we want to find wisdom” (Soccio 35). In my opinion, I believe this lesson is one of the many reasons why Buddha is the most compelling of the three sages we have known. During his journey it can be seen on several occasions that Buddha often rebelled against the ways of people and followed his own path. This is important in the fact that he was able to be an individual and not conform to the ways of others, and even when he did he was able to follow his own ways after experimenting. After learning this lesson Siddhartha continued to wander alone, while stopping at one of them. That day he was greeted by a young woman who claimed to have had a vision of him giving her a bowl of rice milk. Once he finished the rice milk he took the bowl to the river below and placed it in the water, where it began to float against the current. This river is where Siddhartha achieved enlightenment and where Siddhartha transformed into the Buddha. Once again Buddha wandered around, but this time he wandered as a teacher rather than a seeker, and those who were once disgusted by his ways soon became his disciples whose goals were to spread information so that people could use it to reduce suffering . I think it is important to note that his early companions who once rejected his ways have now accepted and followed his actions. The Buddha's strength to follow his own path indicates the importance of independence and following his own path. During his death, Buddha stated that “change – including death and decay – is universal, natural, and inevitable” (Soccio 38). This is important because it shows how Buddha always understood that death, suffering and everything are inevitable and that there is nothing else you can do except live life and accept it. I think through his discussions and thoughts he always seems to bring up a point .