driddleAHSSRScrapbook

=Ms. Riddle's Self-Realization Digital Scrapbook= toc 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 coffee, because it's technically not something I **need**. Technically.

[[image:coffee_mug.png width="200" height="147" align="right"]]Getting Started
The first few days of giving up coffee was quite challenging. I think a large part of this was because it was a central part of my routine. It was the thing I did right after my shower every morning, almost without fail. Brunch just seemed empty without a warm mug to hold on to, and I genuinely missed the taste of my morning brew. To me, "the world tasted bitter. Life was pain" (Hesse 14). Giving up one of my greatest pleasures certainly made my life seem more on the bitter side.

Mid-Week
It wasn't just an emotional feeling of emptiness that I received either. I began to get headaches from caffeine withdrawal. I imagine this was something like the hunger pains that Siddhartha must have felt when he went for such long periods without eating. This helped him lose his Self, though, as "he traveled along the path of self-denial through pain, through voluntary suffering and conquering of pain, through hunger, thirst, and fatigue" (15). I suppose if I had tried going without coffee a bit longer I would have been able to begin losing my Self, but I'm not sure the extent of my self-denial allowed for losing myself. Perhaps I did not even know that I was losing myself during the process, though.

[[image:siddharthaascetic.jpeg align="left"]]By The End
After a sold five days of caffeine withdrawal, classes that seemed empty without a mug in my hand, and mornings that lasted eons, I had to give in. I was not strong enough to deny myself my beloved coffee for a whole week. I believe this is okay, though, because even Siddhartha asks, "are we gaining knowledge? Are we approaching salvation?" (17). This also mirrors the path of the Buddha, Siddhartha, who thought that too much self-denial was not the path to Enlightenment. The Middle Way, between asceticism and hedonism, is the correct path. In that light, I have cut back from three cups of coffee in the morning to just one. Well, sometimes I might have two if the mood strikes me. But the point is, I see that while I learned something this week about the Samanas, my conclusion was the same as Siddharthas: this self-denial is certainly not the path for me.

=Awakening=

The Quote
What does Siddhartha's "Awakening" look like? Is this the same thing as reaching Enlightenment? In the text, Siddhartha becomes awakened to the world around him after leaving the Samanas and Gotama (the Buddha). He sees "the world for the first time. The world was beautiful strange and mysterious. Here was blue, here was yellow, here was green, sky and river, woods and mountains, all beautiful, all mysterious and enchanting, and in the midst of it, he, Siddhartha, the awakened one, on the way to himself. 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. Meaning and reality were not hidden somewhere behind things, they were in them, in all of them" (39).

The Image
I borrowed this from Sarah Alshawi as it does a beautiful job illustrating the quote.

Analysis
Explain why you drew your scene like you did - why you included different parts and colors. Incorporate parts of the quote. EX: I chose to include the "mountains" and "trees" with lots of "green" and "blue" because that's what Siddhartha sees.

Also explain how the setting impacts the story, and analyze why Hesse might have chosen THIS spot and THIS description of Siddhartha's awakening. HINT: look at symbolic archetypes...

=Kamala= (WRITE FROM FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW)
 * Name**: Kamala


 * Location**: I live in...


 * Eyes**: My eyes are... (pg).


 * Hair**: My hair is...(pg).

**About Me (looks):**
What is Kamala like? What other details about her looks might she include in her profile? What makes her so appealing to Siddhartha? What __character traits__ do we learn about her from her appearance? Include at least one PROPERLY INTEGRATED quote.

**Hobbies / Profession (actions):**
What does Kamala do for a living? How does she like to spend her time? What __ character traits __ do we learn about her from how she spends her time? Include at least one PROPERLY INTEGRATED quote.

**Looking For (speech, effect on others) :**
What does Kamala want in a man? Look at her requirements for Siddhartha - what does she tell him he needs? What __character traits__ do we learn about her from what she says and how she effects Siddhartha? Include at least one PROPERLY INTEGRATED quote.

=Samsara=

My Daily Life
//Write down a list of things you do every day or every week. What are your routines? What does a day in your life look like? Be sure to include at least 6 things.// 1. Wake up. 2. Actually wake up, after hitting the snooze button a few times. 3. Drive the same, traffic-filled route to school. 4. Teach. 5. Eat frozen meal. 6. Teach more. 7. Drive same, traffic-filled route home. 8. Watch TV. 9. Grade papers / etc. 10. Go to sleep.

The Comic!
//One of the following sites:// Pixton (requires sign up) (can use your @student.k12albemarle.org email to sign up) MakeBeliefsComix (no sign up required) Bitstrips (no sign up required)

(from Pixton.com)

Analysis
//After you have your routines and your comic strips, explain your comic strip here. Compare your life and routines to those of Siddhartha. Do you think your routines have a positive or negative effect on your life?//

My life is fairly routine. I wake up around 7:00... or 7:30 each weekday. After warming up my car, I follow the same route to school each morning, and try not to let the other drivers bother me. This is hard. People love to tailgate and not follow basic traffic rules on their way to work. Granted, I usually forget to brew my coffee at home and end up driving like a space cadet myself, but that is beside the point. Teaching is always new and exciting, and I get to have control over what we do each day. But time is flying - I feel like Siddhartha at times because "the years [pass] by... [and I] hardly [notice] their passing" (75). I also feel like people like me and come to me for advice or other favors. This weekend, for example, I'm throwing a baby shower for my friend who just had twins; this summer, I'll be a bridesmaid at one of my best friend's wedding. All of this contributes to the feeling that time is passing too quickly, though. I suppose that is what my routines have done to my life - made it all one blur where I am always just looking to the next big event to get to and get through. Perhaps I am stuck in Samsara.

=The River= media type="custom" key="11156134"

**Song:** "The River" by Atmosphere
"If I could run through the woods and speed like the light I'd find the answers to why and be back by tonight" "'Yes,' said the ferryman, 'It is a very beautiful river. I love it above everything. I have often listened to it, gazed at it, and I have always learned something from it. One can learn much from a river'" (49). When Wikipedia suggested that this song was inspired by //Siddhartha//, I had to find it. Atmosphere is a favorite artist of mine and I hadn't heard this song before. In the song, the narrator is searching for "the answers to why" (Atmosphere). This is the same for Siddhartha; at one point he travels through the woods looking for the same answers. When he comes to the river for the first time and meets the ferryman, he (without realizing it) sees the river where he will find all of his answers. Like the Buddha, he finds that the middle path - embodied by the river - is the way to enlightenment and freedom from the drudgery of Samsara. The ferryman speaks a deep truth at this point, that "one can learn much from a river" (Hesse 49).
 * Lyrics:**
 * Quote from the text:**
 * Analysis:**

media type="custom" key="11116400"

**Song:** "Aqueous Transmission" by Incubus
"Further down the river Two weeks without my lover I'm in this boat alone Floating down a river named emotion Will I make it back to shore Or drift into the unknown" "Siddhartha reached the long river in the wood, the same river across which a ferryman had once taken him when he was still a young man and had come from Gotama's town. He stopped on this river and stood hesitatingly on the bank... Why should he go any further, where, and for what purpose?" I have always loved this song, both because it is musically soothing and creative, and because the lyrics speak to me. The idea that a "river named emotion" is the path we flow down, and that this river often takes us "into the unknown" (Incubus) is an appealing thought. I am not scared of the unknown, I relish it. Siddhartha seems to both embrace and fear the unknown. He always wishes to have a purpose and meaning - reaching enlightenment - but at one point he questions himself, asking "why should he go any further, where, and for what purpose?" (Hesse 88). Embarking on the journey to enlightenment alone was necessary for Siddhartha, as well; it seems that the path down the figurative river of knowledge and emotion is a solo journey.
 * Lyrics:**
 * Quote from the text:**
 * Analysis:**

media type="custom" key="11157412"

**Song:** "Green River" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Well, take me back down where cool water flow, yeh. Let me remember things I love. Stoppin' at the log where catfish bite, walkin' along the river road at night, barefoot girls dancin' in the moonlight.
 * Lyrics:**

I can hear the bull frog callin' me. Wonder if my rope's still hangin' to the tree. Love to kick my feet way down the shallow water, shoe fly, dragon fly, get back t your mother. Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River.

Up at Cody's camp I spent my days, oh, with flat car riders and cross-tie walkers. Old Cody, Junior took me over, said, you're gonna find the world is smolderin' an' if you get lost come on home to Green River." "In his heart he heard the newly awakened voice speak, and it said to him: "Love this river, stay by it, learn from it." Yes, he wanted to learn from it, he wanted to listen to it. It seemed to him that whoever understood this river and its secrets, would understand much more, many secrets, all secrets" (101). Siddhartha makes the river his home. He decides to "stay by it" (Hesse 101) and learn its secrets. Much like the lyrics of the song, it seems like any time Siddhartha "get[s] lost [he] come[s] on home to [the] River" (CCR). The idea of a river being a place of homecoming, spirituality, and growth seems to be a common theme throughout literature and music alike. Perhaps this is because is so fluid - literally and figuratively. It is always in a state of movement, change, and growth. This is especially true for a river, which can even carve stone with its rushing path. Like the river, Siddhartha pushes along to carve his own way to enlightenment.
 * "Quote from the text:**
 * Analysis:**

=Om=

The Big Ideas / Literary Analysis
Topics to be announced.

=Works Cited= Hesse, Herman. //Siddhartha//. New York: Bantam, 1971.