JackRSB

Jack's Self-Realization Digital Scrapbook This is the place where I will write about the journey I follow to self-realization. My goal is to gain wisdom and takes steps towards enlightening myself. I will be following the journey of Siddhartha, the title character of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, as a model for my own journey. The steps I have taken follow.

**With the Samanas** **The Assignment** To get a feeling for how the Samanas, Indian ascetics that are found in the novel Siddhartha, try to reach enlightenment, we gave up something we enjoy for a week. I chose to give up YouTube, because it's technically not something I need. Technically.

Getting Started
The first few days of giving up YouTube was not too difficult. Since I started earlier in the week, I was more focused on my homework than being on the internet. I did think about it a few times, but I never overcame my self control. Like Siddhartha was the one goal I had to achieve: "Siddhartha had one goal- to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow- to let the Self die" (Hesse 14). I wasn't exactly at the level of emptiness that Siddhartha was at, but it did feel like I was missing something, in a good way.

Mid-Week
As the week went on, it became harder and harder to resist the temptation of getting on YouTube. I thought that not getting on the internet at all would help me stay of YouTube. However, I was getting my homework faster and more efficiently and was getting to be at a reasonable each night. This is probably the way Siddhartha felt while he was fasting or meditating, "The sun or moon shone, he was again Self, swung into the #|life cycle, felt thirst, conquered thirst, felt new thirst" (15). In a way, this is very similar to what I was going through during the week. Each time I got on my computer, it became harder and harder to control myself from getting on YouTube, or even social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Although it would be difficult, I knew I was going to be ablt to get through the end of the week.

** By the End ** As the weekend drew closer, I knew that this was going to be the hardest part so far. This was the homestretch of the race. the most important part, the hardest part. I was very much missing YouTube, but it was something in my life I could live without. For me, "It is a flight from the Self, it is temporary. 

The Quote
The first time Siddhartha leaves the Samanas and Govinda, he is able to see what the world looks like. He has "woken up" and sees and mysterious and beautiful world. "All this, all this yellow and blue, river and wood, passed for the first time across Siddhartha's eyes. It was no longer the magic of Mara, it was no more the veil of Maya, it was no longer meaningless and the chance diversities of the appearances of the world, despised by deep-thinking Brahmins, who scorned diversity, who sought unity. River was river, and if the One and Divine in Siddhartha secretly lived in blue and river, it was just the divine art and intention that there should be yellow and blue, there sky and wood -- and here Siddhartha." (39) **The Image** **Analysis** My #|picture does a good #|job of conveying something Siddhartha may have seen during his awakening. In the book, Hesse writes, "Here was blue, here was yellow, here was green, sky and river, woods and mountains, all beautiful and enchanting..." (39). The picture I drew does a good job of incorporating the three colours that Siddhartha describes, blue, yellow, and green. I also incorporated the mountains, river and trees that Siddartha saw during his awakening.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Name
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Kamala

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Location
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pleasant Grove

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.5;">**Eyes** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dark brown

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.5;">**Hair** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Black

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">About Me
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The very first time Siddhartha saw me, he found me very attractive. As he stood watching me, "he saw a bright, very sweet, very clever face, a bright red mouth like a freshly cut fig, artful eyebrows painted in a high arch, dark eyes, clever and observant, and a clear silver neck above her green and gold gown" (51). I am quite intelligent, as you can tell from my eyes, and I have a very sweet face. Siddhartha found me so beautiful in fact, that he cut his beard and approached me. It was odd for someone like him to approach me, which means he must have found me very beautiful.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Hobbies / Profession
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I work as a courtesan, or a prostitute for wealthy and high-class people. I am doing quite well for my self, "the well-known courtesan, and that besides the grove she owned a house in the town" (52). As you can see, I make a good income from my profession, and I keep my clients happy. I also enjoy dressing up and having the most expensive jewelry and clothing.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Looking For
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I am looking for a well-dressed, well-groomed man who is presentable. He must be someone who doesn't have to be very wealthy, but has to have money. I am looking for men who "come to me in fine clothes, in fine shoes" (54). When Siddhartha first approached me, I told him to get fine clothes, fine shoes, money in is purse, and presents for me. These are the things that I expect from all men who approach me.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">My Daily Life
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">1. Wake up <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">2. Turn off alarm <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">3. Take shower, get dressed <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">4. Eat breakfast (waffles) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">5. Brush teeth and pack backpack <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">6. Leave for school <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">7. Learn <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">8. Eat <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">9. More learning <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">10. More eating <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">11. Go home and do home <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">work <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">12. Swim practice <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">13. Dinner then bed

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Analysis
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I live a fairly simple lifestyle. I usually wake up at about 7:30 a.m. and do my morning routine: take a shower, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and leave for school. I arrive at school about 8:30 a.m. and school begins at 9:00 a.m. I enjoy most of my classes, and I like all of my teachers. School ends at 3:45 p.m. and that's when I start walking home, I live fairly close to the school. I get home at 4:00 p.m. and eat and snack and do my homework. I go to swim practice from 6:00-8:15 p.m. I get home around 8:30 p.m. and eat dinner that my mom cooks. I then finish up my homework, watch some TV, and I go to bed by 10:30 or 11 p.m. In a way, I feel like Siddhartha, I feel like "The years passed by. (75)" My life is passing me by without me even noticing, my life is the same thing everyday, and I haven't truly experienced living until something changes.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The River
media type="custom" key="24520304"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lyrics:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Reach, It's not as bad as it seems I cleanse in the river for somebody else, For anyone but myself <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">"They have heard its voice and listened to it, and the river has become holy to them" (106) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.5;">**Analysis:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this song by Imagine Dragons, they describe being cleansed by the river, and how the river can help people. In the book, the river is not only a symbol as a river but a path that Siddhartha travels down. Throughout the book, he became more and more connected to it and it became holy to him.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.5;">Quote from the book: **

media type="custom" key="24519940"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lyrics:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">If all you want are answers to your questions <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And you can't seem to find no love for free

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Quote from the text:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.066em;">It seemed to him as if the river had something special to tell him, something which he did not know, something which still awaited him" (100).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Analysis:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Siddhartha believed that the river could give him all the answers to the questions, and it did. Siddhartha learned a lot from the river, and it helped to guide him through his journey to enlightenment. This is just like how the artist of the song wants to help guide us to the right answers.

media type="custom" key="24520034"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lyrics:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">We'd go down to the river <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And into the river we'd dive <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Oh down to the river we'd ride

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Quote from the text:
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">"Love this river, stay by it, learn from it," (101) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.5;">**Analysis:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Siddhartha had a strong connection with the river and with nature. The river learned a lot from Siddhartha, and he learned even more from the river. Siddhartha went to the river when he had nowhere else to go, and the river helped him and strengthened his faith. Like in the song, Siddhartha went down to the river, and into the river he'd ride (not literally).