geocities.com). One example of how one may come to realization of the eight-fold path is through the myth of Kisa Gotami. Kisa Gotami was a wife and had one son. One day all of a sudden, Kisa's son passed away of a disease. She was very distraught by the idea that her son was gone that she begged and pleaded to have someone help her bring him back to life. Someone told her of the powers of Tathagata so she went to him. Tathagata told her that she needed to find a handful of mustard seeds from a house that has never encountered death, and than he could help her. After looking for the seeds anywhere she could think of and not finding a house without death, she becomes enlightened about death and can than begin to follow the eight-fold path of enlightenment (www.purifymind.com). In all, Buddhists believe that reaching nirvana is when one becomes one with Sunyata, they are relieved from births and deaths, and they are in ultimate peace and bliss. This can be attained by the eight-fold path, but it is possible that one may never attain this in there life. If so, they will be reborn through samsara and hopefully will finally be put to rest at some point in there lives. In Hinduism, the ultimate goal of life is to reach moksa (www.leaderu.com). Before one can reach moksa, they must first become one with Brahman. The way in which a person can become one with Brahman is through the yoga path. Once one has become one with Brahman they can than reach moksa (www.godrealized.com).
In order to reach moksa, one must first realize what steps they must take to understand the ideas behind it. In Hinduism, there are first two dimensions of identity that one must understand. The first identity, is physical, it is the body. The body is transitory and is only apart of Maya, or everything that is perishable. The second identity is spiritual; it is the Atman, or "embodied soul." The Atman is permanent. The only thing that is a barrier between the Atman and Brahman is the actual body itself.