Of the three sages: Lao-tzu, Confucius and Buddha, I believe that Buddha is the most convincing. Before transforming 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). It was believed that Siddhartha should only experience luxury and pleasure, which is why 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 had never seen before, which marks his journey to want to understand and know the opposite of luxury and pleasure, but this which causes suffering (Soccio 33). Siddhartha set out to find answers to his questions about suffering by seeking one master or guru after another, but still did not get the answers he desired. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayFor nearly six years, Siddhartha was part of a small community of monks who learned to control “the crazy monkey of the 'mind', which not only didn't help him find any of his answers, but almost destroyed his body from malnutrition. Realizing that his lifestyle was not ideal, he began eating properly, which dismayed his fellow monks. Siddhartha's ability to go against what his companions believed in after so long showed that Siddhartha was not afraid to follow his own path in life and was strong for doing so. By straying from the path, Siddhartha was able to learn a valuable lesson. he learned that we cannot strive to please and stun others if we are ever to find wisdom ourselves. “We need to stop worrying about what others think of us and stop trying to impress people if we are ever going 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 heard. Throughout his journey, one can repeatedly see that Buddha often rebelled against people's ways and followed his own path. This is significant in 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 ways after experiencing. After learning this lesson, Siddhartha continued to wander alone, as he stopped one day, he was greeted by a young woman who claimed to have had a vision of him and gave him 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 upstream. This river is where Siddhartha achieved enlightenment and where Siddhartha transformed into Buddha. Once again Buddha wandered, 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 in order that people can use it to reduce suffering. I think it is important to note that his previous cohorts, who once rejected his ways, came to accept and follow his actions. The Buddha's strength to follow his own path signifies the importance of independence and following one's own path. Upon his death, Buddha declared that “change – including death and decay – is universal, natural and inevitable” (Soccio 38). This is important because it shows how Buddha always realized that death, suffering and just about everything is .