Siddhartha

Your name is Siddhartha and you are a prince. Ever since it was prophesied at your birth that you would become either a great king or a great spiritual leader, your father has confined you to the palace grounds, hoping to shield you from anything that might push you down a spiritual path. You lead a life of luxury in the royal complex, ignorant of suffering for years and years. One day, your personal charioteer and friend, Channa, tries to convince you to secretly leave the palace and see the world outside its gates. What do you do? [[Sneak out of the palace with Channa]] [[Refuse to leave->Lose]]

You do not achieve enlightenment and instead are reborn in the realm of the hungry ghosts, trapped for eternity in the cycle of birth and death. THE END [[Try again->Intro]]

You touch the earth under the tree and defeat Mara. You then realize that life is suffering caused by attachment to permanence in a world of impermanence. In understanding this, you achieve enlightenment, becoming the Buddha and exiting the endless cycle of birth and death. Your teachings will gain tremendous influence and endure for thousands and thousands of years, offering humans a path to enlightenment. THE END

''Siddhartha; or, The Buddha'' An Interactive Story by Connor Jansen [[Begin->Intro]]

You leave the palace with Channa in secret and on your journey you encounter four sights: an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an ascetic. Unfamiliar with suffering, you ask Channa if you too are subject to old age, sickness, and death. Channa tells you that you are, and you realize that all the luxury and pleasure of your life are transient. You are bound to lose them and suffer. You talk to the ascetic, who seems content, and he says that he is on a path of spiritual reflection and has renounced all possessions. Channa asks you what you would like to do next. What do you say? [[Go back to the palace and forget about what you saw->Lose]] [[Join the ascetic in his way of life]]

You become an ascetic and subject yourself to increasingly austere disciplines, following the teachings of several spiritual leaders but ending up dissatisfied with all of them. Eventually, you are sitting motionless in meditation in a forest when a young woman stumbles upon you. She is worried by how thin you are and offers you some rice and milk. You accept, realizing that your extreme asceticism has impeded your spiritual reflection. You resolve to sit and meditate under a tree until you awaken to life without suffering. Deep in meditation, you are confronted by the great demon king Mara, who sends his daughters to seduce you and attacks you with monsters. What do you do? [[Give in to Mara's salacious temptations->Lose]] [[Keep fighting against desire->Win]]