Monday, January 10, 2011
Siddhartha: By the River (wed 1/12)
At this point in the book, Siddhartha "was full of disgust, full of suffering, full of death, until nothing in the world allured him, gave him joy, or comforted him." Compare this with the description of life with the Samanas. "Everything was a lie, everything stank, everything stank of lies, everything feigned meaning and happiness and beauty, and yet everything was decaying while nobody acknowledged the fact. The world tasted bitter; life was agony." Both seem quite similar, yet Siddhartha hadn't considered suicide after leaving the Samanas. How is Siddhartha's attitude and situation different from before?
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How Siddhartha feels about life now than when he did when he was with the Samanas is differnt because he is absolutely disgusted by it. Up until that point in the story Siddhartha never thought of considering suicide. Even though life with the Samanas was no better. Siddhartha had everything as a wealthy merchant and as a Samana he had nothing. His attitude now has been enlightened because he is back in touch with his spiritual self because he was awakend by the OM which reminded him of the whole purpose of his journey.
ReplyDeleteThis point Siddhartha is at in the book is similar to life as a Samana because that was a life of suffering and giving up everything to feel as if he wasn't human. Siddhartha's attitude and situation is different because he has become disgusted with the man he has become. He has lost his oneness and fails to hear that "voice" anymore. When Siddhartha realized how big of a sinner he had become he wanted to commit suicide. Although life was any prettier as a Samana he was satisfied with who he was as a Samana. Now by repeating OM Siddhartha had found his spiritual self again.
ReplyDeleteAt this point in the book Siddhartha has a lot of stuff on his mind:hischild,Kamala,his father,where his inner voice went,& etc.Going through all of these things he has never thought about considering suicide until now.I mean the life he had with the Samanas was not good.He went through weird & crazy things for being a Samana but never considered suicide.Going all the things he went thourgh Siddhartha thought he would come out a better man but he didnt.He lost his inner voice which hurted him the most.Out of nowhere the OM comes back to him & now he has found his self again.
ReplyDeleteAt this point in the book, Siddhartha "was full of disgust, full of suffering, full of death, until nothing in the world allured him, gave him joy, or comforted him." Compare this with the description of life with the Samanas. "Everything was a lie, everything stank, everything stank of lies, everything feigned meaning and happiness and beauty, and yet everything was decaying while nobody acknowledged the fact. The world tasted bitter; life was agony." Both seem quite similar, yet Siddhartha hadn't considered suicide after leaving the Samanas. How is Siddhartha's attitude and situation different from before?
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha is going through a phase in his life right now in which he feels there is no more need of being here. He feels that there is no more need of finding an awakening! He feels this because, as it states in the book, "He was tightly entangled in samsara; he had imbidied disgust and death from all sides, as a sponge soaks up water until it is full." Siddhartha had felt that he had faced all the sin that he would. He had slept with Kamala, lived and explored the samanas, etc. He felt that his life had been lived and that he didn't feel the need to discover the awakening, because he'd ratheer be dead ("If only there were a wine, a poison, that could bring him unconsciousness, oblivion, and sleep without anymore awakening."). Siddartha was facing a point in his life where his attitude was death-worthy. He was ready to die, and didn't have any thoughts to life, ("Was it possible to go on living?") with which he expressed eagerly and willingly.
-Andrew Pryor