Siddhartha has met a woman. The woman's name is Kamala. They have a great relationship with each other and they are in love. Ever since they have been together they get along and just have a bondage. Siddhartha's day just brightens up when he is talking to her. Siddhartha has found the world. He has found life, and not just darkness that he was once isolated by. Life has kidnapped Siddhartha. He finds two women and according to the world, he is introduced to the essential aspect of a mans life. Siddhartha was asked to have sexual intercourse with one of the women, but Siddhartha refuses to do any such act. He still thinks about it. Siddhartha has escaped the spiritual world. He decides to join the material part of the world and shaves his hair off his head. Siddhartha wants to experience something new, something life changing. Siddhartha still speaks with Kamala. His curiosity for sexual sensations does not leave his mind.
Siddhartha follows Kamal's advice and doesn't cause Kamaswami to get suspicious but allows him to respect him. Kamaswami wanted to test Siddhartha and see if he was ready to be a business man. Siddhartha gives nothing but honest answers and it tells Kamaswami that he is educated. Kamaswami likes the answers that Siddhartha gives him and allows Siddhartha to work with him as a merchant. Siddhartha can't take anything serious now. It ironic because there has been a transition going on in Siddhartha's life and it has made him act so much more different. Everythig for Siddhartha is a joke now. Siddhartha has been acting so silly. Everything that Siddhartha has been doing is all a joke. Kamaswami is trying everything that he possibly could but e ererything that he does.
Kamaswami must like Siddhartha because he kept Siddhartha employed. Siddhartha becomes a wealthy man. Siddhartha gains control over himself and becomes great at business. He looks and acts like a wealthy merchant, wearing the finest clothes, eating rich food, entertaining dancers, and gambling, but he finds that the spiritual voice within him has died. Even his continued relationship with Kamala brings him little peace.Siddhartha begins to have dreams that suggest the time may have come to move on. In one dream, he recalls a conversation with Kamala in which she expresses interest in Gotama, but Siddhartha dissuades her from seeking him out. In another dream, he finds the rare songbird Kamala keeps in a cage has died. He throws it out into the street, as though he discards all that is good and of value in his life. When he wakes up, he feels death in his heart. The inner voice that had prompted him to become a Samana, to turn away from the Buddha, and to face the unknown has been silent for a long time.He realizes that he has been playing at the game of Samsara, the cyclical path of normal life in which one lives, suffers, and dies. While it is important for him to have played this game, he does not need to keep playing it forever. He leaves the city in despair, without informing anyone of his departure. When Kamala learns of his disappearance, she frees her songbird from its golden cage. From this day on, Kamala accepts no more lovers, and she discovers she is pregnant with Siddhartha’s child.
After Kamala’s funeral, Siddhartha does his best to console and provide for his son, but the boy is spoiled and cynical. Siddhartha’s son dislikes life with the two ferrymen, wishing to return to the city and the life of wealth he knows. Siddhartha cannot convince him that fine clothes, a soft bed, and servants have little meaning. Siddhartha believes he should raise his son himself, and Vasudeva at first agrees. Though he tries as hard as he can to make his son happy and to show him how to live a good life, Siddhartha finds his son filled with rage. Vasudeva reminds Siddhartha that his own father had not been able to prevent him from joining the Samanas or from learning the lessons of worldliness in the city. The boy should follow his own path, even if that makes Siddhartha unhappy. Siddhartha disagrees, feeling that the bond between father and son is important and, as his own flesh and blood, his son will likewise be driven to search for enlightenment. The river, where true enlightenment and learning can be found, should be an ideal spot for the boy to spend his days.One night the son yells that Siddhartha has neither the authority nor the will to discipline him. The son screams that a ferryman living by a river is the last thing he would ever want to become, that he would rather be a murderer than a man like Siddhartha. Siddhartha has no reply. The next morning, Siddhartha discovers that his son has run away, stealing all of Siddhartha’s and Vasudeva’s money. Vasudeva believes that Siddhartha should let the son go, but Siddhartha feels he must follow his son, if only out of concern for his safety. Siddhartha gives chase but soon realizes his task is futile. He knows his son will hide if he sees Siddhartha. Still, Siddhartha keeps going until he has reached the city.
Govinda returns to the river to seek enlightenment. He has heard of a wise man living there, but when he arrives, he does not recognize Siddhartha. When Govinda asks him for advice, Siddhartha tells him with a smile that he is searching too hard and that he is possessed by his goal, and then calls him by name. Govinda is as amazed now as when he failed to recognize Siddhartha at the river years earlier. Govinda still follows Gotama but has not attained the kind of enlightenment that Siddhartha now seeks. So he asks Siddhartha to teach him what he knows.Govinda points out that he is very old and has little time to reach the final understanding Siddhartha has attained. Siddhartha tells Govinda to kiss him on the forehead. When he does, Govinda sees the timeless flow of forces and images pass before his eyes, just as Siddhartha had envisioned them in the flowing river. With tears streaming from his eyes, Govinda bows down to Siddhartha, whose smiling face is no different from that of the enlightened Buddha. Govinda and Siddhartha have both finally achieved the enlightenment they set out to find in the days of their youth.
Quote
" Listen my friend! I am a sinner and you are a sinner, but someday the sinner will be Brahma again, will someday attain Nirvana, will someday become a Buddha. Now this 'someday' is illusion; it is only a comparison. The sinner is not on the way to a Buddha- like state; he is not evolving, although out thinking cannot conceive things otherwise. No, the potential Buddha already exists in the sinner; his future is already there. The potential hidden Buddha must be recognized in him, in you, in everybody. The world, Govinda, is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a long path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment; every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people- eternal life. Everything is perfect. Therefore, it seems to me that everything that exists is good - death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly. I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary for me to sin".
( Hesse, 143-144)
Response
First of all I happen to believe that this is funny. The reason why I say so is because it just is. It's an enormous change of how in the beginning of the book, Siddhartha was very holy if I could say. Now there has been a gigantic change, it's like life has just hit him. Siddhartha is now able to accept life for what it is. I disagreed with some of the comments that were made in this quote. I do understand where Siddhartha is coming from. I just don't understand why Siddhartha would say that sin is good. What has happened to this man? Where has Siddhartha's spiritual sense went? I laugh at the fact that Siddhartha said that everything is perfect. It's crazy how he can say that. I'm surprised at that. I know that living in an evolving world, everything isn't perfect. Life is not perfect and no one is perfect. Everyone has their own opinions and that's just life. We as a people, even though this is s diverse world, we can't say that the world is perfect, not one person should be able to say that. Siddhartha says that it is necessary for him to sin, and I can't go against that because that something that people commit everyday, on a daily basis, so what can you do? Nothing.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Rodney's novella post#2. 150 pages
Summary:
People look up to Siddhartha. They loved the way that he carried himself. One thing that was troubling was that Siddhartha didn't believe that he joyful because he lacked all joy deep within his heart. Siddhartha inspired everyone that knew him, but he wasn't inspiring to himself. Life is not what Siddhartha wants, he wants a world of emptiness. Siddhartha is denial and wants nothing of life, even though people look up to him, he lacks in his life and he will not dare take credit for how good people see him.
Siddhartha has one goal and that is to become empty, empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow. When a human body is no longer self is what Siddhartha is after. I wonder why he's acting so careless of life, and just down as if his whole family has died and he's the only one left. What's wrong with Siddhartha?
There's a lot of questions about life in this book, and Siddhartha gives you the answers to them. Siddhatha is lost in life, and it seems so wrong because he doesn't want life. Siddhartha wants life to be taken away from himself. This book is so cool it makes you question yourself and makes you wonder, and wander in your mind. Siddhartha is a down person, he has the skills and the teachings to be powerful. Govinda, his shadow trys to push him and allow him to see that he can do better, but Siddhartha turns down his request. Govinda said that Siddhartha can walk on water but again, Siddhartha says no, leave that kind of arts up to the elder Samanas , who have much more experience and knowledge. Govinda has decided to move on without Siddhartha. Siddhartha is fine about his friend moving on in life, but his friend isn't. I don't know why, but Siddhartha is so down.
Siddhartha is upset now because the Samana has taken his friend as he said.
Quote:
" He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value. He has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is now Gotoma's shadow. But he has given to me Siddhartha, myself. ( Hesse, 36).
Reaction:
Wow, Siddhartha really came out of his shell. I'm astounded because I never thought that Siddhartha would come out like this. This is the turning point for Siddhartha. Siddhartha is always clam, and diffident. At this point Siddhartha is saying you know what? You have taken my only, or my close friend. I also think that Siddhartha is saying that even though I have lost my close friend, or how he puts it, his shadow, he has the audacity and the capability to find who he is deep down inside himself. I know that there will be a change that will occur due to the lost of Govinda, Siddhartha's shadow. When I read this quote it made me question myself, and I just was in so much suspense, because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. This quote has taught me a lesson, and that is that even though you have lost something or a someone, it could be a car, a close friend, family member, or even a shadow, sometimes you have to look at the situation in a positive way, because sometimes it can bring about a positive change or something good. Who knows, in this book it can bring Siddhartha a friend that is a real friend and not just a shadow.
People look up to Siddhartha. They loved the way that he carried himself. One thing that was troubling was that Siddhartha didn't believe that he joyful because he lacked all joy deep within his heart. Siddhartha inspired everyone that knew him, but he wasn't inspiring to himself. Life is not what Siddhartha wants, he wants a world of emptiness. Siddhartha is denial and wants nothing of life, even though people look up to him, he lacks in his life and he will not dare take credit for how good people see him.
Siddhartha has one goal and that is to become empty, empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow. When a human body is no longer self is what Siddhartha is after. I wonder why he's acting so careless of life, and just down as if his whole family has died and he's the only one left. What's wrong with Siddhartha?
There's a lot of questions about life in this book, and Siddhartha gives you the answers to them. Siddhatha is lost in life, and it seems so wrong because he doesn't want life. Siddhartha wants life to be taken away from himself. This book is so cool it makes you question yourself and makes you wonder, and wander in your mind. Siddhartha is a down person, he has the skills and the teachings to be powerful. Govinda, his shadow trys to push him and allow him to see that he can do better, but Siddhartha turns down his request. Govinda said that Siddhartha can walk on water but again, Siddhartha says no, leave that kind of arts up to the elder Samanas , who have much more experience and knowledge. Govinda has decided to move on without Siddhartha. Siddhartha is fine about his friend moving on in life, but his friend isn't. I don't know why, but Siddhartha is so down.
Siddhartha is upset now because the Samana has taken his friend as he said.
Quote:
" He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value. He has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is now Gotoma's shadow. But he has given to me Siddhartha, myself. ( Hesse, 36).
Reaction:
Wow, Siddhartha really came out of his shell. I'm astounded because I never thought that Siddhartha would come out like this. This is the turning point for Siddhartha. Siddhartha is always clam, and diffident. At this point Siddhartha is saying you know what? You have taken my only, or my close friend. I also think that Siddhartha is saying that even though I have lost my close friend, or how he puts it, his shadow, he has the audacity and the capability to find who he is deep down inside himself. I know that there will be a change that will occur due to the lost of Govinda, Siddhartha's shadow. When I read this quote it made me question myself, and I just was in so much suspense, because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. This quote has taught me a lesson, and that is that even though you have lost something or a someone, it could be a car, a close friend, family member, or even a shadow, sometimes you have to look at the situation in a positive way, because sometimes it can bring about a positive change or something good. Who knows, in this book it can bring Siddhartha a friend that is a real friend and not just a shadow.
Monday, April 25, 2011
To make anew world - 93 pages
Slaves believed that the Civil War was going to set them free. Lincoln and others believed that the only way to break the South's resistance and end the war was to free the slaves. I believe that this is crazy. I say this because there would be a lot of conflicts between the African Americans and the Americans. Even though African Americans were already freeing themselves, when 1863 came, it was a day to rejoice because it was a day of Emancipation and I'm very sure that African Americans were very happy.
African Americans said that to be free was to be with your family, and to not be under the treat to be sold. If that is what they call freedom, then I feel like I don't know what freedom is anymore. To me, freedom was for a human being no matter the age or whatever to be able to do as they please and to not be told by anyone what to do. Being free is a situation where you tell yourself that I can do what I want. I'm not saying oh, since I can do whatever I want, I can go and drink or smoke."No", doing those things aren't good, at all. African Americans had the basic idea of what being free meant, bit they did not get the full concept of it, which was to be able to vote, and take office. I know that African Americans have forgotten about those two points. In order to have total freedom, you have to be able to vote, whether man or woman, and to take office, if you don't have the ability to do those things, then you don't have total freedom.
African Americans are asking themselves, what can they do in Order to be free, or to be equal to. During the Civil War, African Americans were coming up with ways to get even and have the same right as Americans. African Americans started asking themselves how do I get myself out of this. African Americans now tell themselves that they have to have a vote in order to be entitled a citizen. The freedom doesn't come until the rain, and snow go away. This means that their storm isn't over, and they have to keep fighting.
Quote- " Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot".( page 245, Lewis & Kelley)
Reaction
This quote is very strong. This quote tells you that freedom doesn't come to freed slaves until they are able to cast a vote. I don't like how women were excluded from this quote, because it says he. I'm so surprised that there hasn't been a big drastic change that has occurred. Life still goes on, and it's just so sad that women weren't apart of something that was so hard to fight for. Remember at this time period, women were excluded from basically many things and they had non opportunity to do as I please.
African Americans said that to be free was to be with your family, and to not be under the treat to be sold. If that is what they call freedom, then I feel like I don't know what freedom is anymore. To me, freedom was for a human being no matter the age or whatever to be able to do as they please and to not be told by anyone what to do. Being free is a situation where you tell yourself that I can do what I want. I'm not saying oh, since I can do whatever I want, I can go and drink or smoke."No", doing those things aren't good, at all. African Americans had the basic idea of what being free meant, bit they did not get the full concept of it, which was to be able to vote, and take office. I know that African Americans have forgotten about those two points. In order to have total freedom, you have to be able to vote, whether man or woman, and to take office, if you don't have the ability to do those things, then you don't have total freedom.
African Americans are asking themselves, what can they do in Order to be free, or to be equal to. During the Civil War, African Americans were coming up with ways to get even and have the same right as Americans. African Americans started asking themselves how do I get myself out of this. African Americans now tell themselves that they have to have a vote in order to be entitled a citizen. The freedom doesn't come until the rain, and snow go away. This means that their storm isn't over, and they have to keep fighting.
Quote- " Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot".( page 245, Lewis & Kelley)
Reaction
This quote is very strong. This quote tells you that freedom doesn't come to freed slaves until they are able to cast a vote. I don't like how women were excluded from this quote, because it says he. I'm so surprised that there hasn't been a big drastic change that has occurred. Life still goes on, and it's just so sad that women weren't apart of something that was so hard to fight for. Remember at this time period, women were excluded from basically many things and they had non opportunity to do as I please.
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