EmmetHSB

Emmet Haden's Scrapbook In this scrapbook I will write about the path I follow in order to achieve wisdom and hopefully self enlightenment. As a guide of sorts I'm going to read and analyze the own mystical journey of Siddhartha, from the book Siddhartha, as he attempts to understand himself and the world around him. My journey and its adventures are described below.

With the Samanas


The Assignment
Siddhartha at first tried to reach enlightenment through traveling with old, Indian ascetics called the Samanas. Their approach on life was tough and often painful, and involved letting go of vital possessions. In order to understand Siddhartha's experience we gave up something important to us. In my case I gave up the social and fun side of the Internet. For a week  I didn't go on Facebook or Twitter, watch YouTube, check my email, listen to music on Spotify, or Google things for pleasure, only using the Internet for things I needed to do through school. I thought this would be a good thing to give up because of how often I tended to use these features.  Getting Started At the start of the week my task seemed near impossible. Everything I went to do seemed to involve the internet, making simple things a chore, as I didn't have the luxury of simply googling things. I questioned why I had even chose to follow this, as Siddhartha calls it, "path of self-denial through pain, through voluntary suffering and conquering of pain, through hunger, thirst and fatigue" ( Hesse 15). Though perhaps I wasn't dying of thirst or hunger, I began to feel slightly deprived through my own decisions to give up these seemingly not essential things.

Mid-Week
By the middle of my week I had overcome the temptation to use the Internet for mindless things, and I was starting to feel what I think Siddhartha was after, though in a different way. Siddhartha's goal was to "experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought" (14). In this he could become empty inside, and apart from himself. As I decreased my use of technology I began to feel somewhat along these lines, with my mind not constantly being distracted and pulled aside, and I began to have time to actually think about things in depth, giving me more free time and seemingly the ability to get work done faster. However it also left me disconnected from my friends, making for an array of missed opportunities, while giving me opportunities to fill my life with things other than technology.

By The End
By the end of the week I had accepted the large role the Internet plays in my life. I had also accepted the fact I could, but in way could not, go without it. I could leave luxuries like YouTube behind easily, as they played no major role in my life. However by the end of a week of giving it up I went throughout my days feeling the same thing as Siddhartha felt, the "Torment of the onerous life cycle" (15). Each day I knew there was that thing I could go back to and it weakened me. I simply wanted it to end and to go back to my normal ways. Even though I saw the values of giving it up, like increased efficiency, I still wanted it constantly, making me wonder at the will power of the Samanas.

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=<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Awakening =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Quote
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">As Siddhartha leaves the Buddha (Gotama), he is awakened to the fullness of the world around him, though clearly Siddhartha was not yet fully enlightened. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Seeing the world like this for the first time, he describes it, saying "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....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). And in this moment Siddhartha was awakened to the world around him.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Image
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Analysis
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">As Siddhartha awoke to the world around him, he realized that the true meaning of all things were hidden within the actual objects. In this he began to came to see the importance of the natural world around him, and he came to embrace it. With this in mind, I tried to depict the natural world in a way of simplicity and solidarity. I used the three basic colors he described as the main aspects of the painting, which in a way helped divide the painting into sections of grass, trees, river, and sky, based on their colors and simply the way they are. The image i ended up was just the portrait I imagined when i read the passage, portrayed on paper. I think the author uses the setting to help further show the wonders of enlightenment and how it lend an awareness to the natural world. In this way the setting becomes important, because it holds all things natural and understandable, such as the river, grass, and bright sky.

=<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Kamala =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Name:
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Hair:** My locks have been described as "heaped up black hair" (51).

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Eyes:** I have large, "dark eyes," that compliment my hair (51).

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Location:** Pleasant grove, surrounded by trees and by a flowing river.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**About Me:** I'll try to keep myself modest in describing myself, but i must say I'm quite beautiful, and I'm sure my many customers can attest to this. You can take away the fact that I'm "clever and observant" (51) by simply looking into my beautiful eyes. I hold my lips in high regard, as they are a glorious red, as a ripe fig would be, as well my slim and smooth body. I also love to decorate myself with jewelry, like "broad gold bangles" (51) which demonstrate my fascination with little baubles.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Profession:** In order to make a living I serve as a professional courtesan. I spend much of my time in a small grove, attended by my many servants in luxury. I meet with my customers at my house or venture out to find them elsewhere. The people I serve include "many young men, including Brahmins' sons...in fine clothes, in fine shoes...and money" (54). Because I spend much of my time serving customers I have become very skilled in the art of kissing, among other things, leading to my collections of "clothes, shoes, bangles, and all sort of pretty things" (57). This has transformed me into a very passionate person, and I value the riches I can earn in my profession.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Looking for:** I'm simply searching for a strong, rich man, though I do have a certain number of requirements. In order to be suited for me he must have "clothes, fine clothes, and shoes," (54) for I value the way a man looks. Also, in order to be the one for me he must have "plenty of money in his purse and presents for Kamala" (54). This is because I simply love to spoil myself, and particularly favor the presence of money in a relationship, especially when spent towards me. If you fit all of these requirements, you may indeed be the man I have been searching for.

**Samsara**
**My Daily Life** 1. Wake up 2.Get ready for school 3. Travel with my carpool to school 4. First half of school! 5. Lunch with my friends in the band room 6. Last, tiring half of school 7. Ride home! 8. Snack! 9. Do homework, while listening to music 10. Watch YouTube videos for a bit 11. Go to bed

=The Comic=

=Analysis= My day starts out normal, though perhaps annoying, with me waking up at the crack of dawn to head to school. Through my long drive in I'm accompanied by my carpool, and usually reach school on time. With my arrival begins what I feel is the real task of the day, all my classes for school. The school day feels near endless, and I end up looking forward to my few breaks between classes and lunch where I have little free time. However when I get home from school is when I feel the real stress starts, with me doing my homework. Though I know my homework helps prepare me for all my classes, it's hard to appreciate it with the constant looming pressure and the many tasks it puts upon me. Sometimes I even feel like it separates me from my family, and even my friends when I have assignments. At some points I begin to feel like Siddhartha, "wearing [my]self out in this senseless cycle, be[coming] old and sick" (80). And after my homework, I tend to relax myself by either listening to music, or watching YouTube videos. All this makes for me getting a feeling that my time is almost being wasted with constant homework or senseless doings, leaving me no way to live a seemingly worthwhile life.

=The River=

media type="custom" key="24519922"
And as its waves go rolling in, I know, you love me."
 * The Song: "The River" By Second Draw**
 * Lyrics:** "Don't you know the river's flowing, always flowing towards the sea
 * Quote from text:** "[The] secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time" (106).
 * Analysis:** This song is actually is written and performed by one of our family friends in his band. Within the song he describes looking out over the river and watching it roll by in it's relentless passage, "always flowing towards the sea" (Second Draw). He then compares the always traveling river to the love with his wife, which like the river, won't ever cease. Likewise, Siddhartha realizes the eternalness of time within the river, with the fact that it exists in the present, existing at all places at all times, and coming to the conclusion that the for the river, " there is no such thing as time" (106). This lets Siddhartha place all of his life in the present, to examine it, just as the singer puts the love of his wife in the present as it lasts on.

media type="custom" key="24651720" <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Is a dream a lie if it don't come true <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Or is it something worse that sends me <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Down to the river though I know the river is dry <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Down to the river, my baby and I"
 * The Song: "The River" By Bruce Springsteen **
 * Lyrics:** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse
 * Quote from text:** "Were not all difficulties and evil in world conquered as soon as one conquered time, as soon as one dispelled time" (107).
 * Analysis:** In this song by Bruce Springsteen he looks back on his relationship with a girl named Mary. Throughout their relationship they spent a lot of time down by the river, and it became to symbolize the good times and fun of their friendship. However as he grows older he leaves behind these fun times and begins leading a saddening life, making the memories "come back to haunt [him]...like a curse" (Springsteen). This is very unlike Siddhartha simply because Siddhartha realizes that the river symbolizes constant passage of time, and stresses the importance of the present. With this he puts all of his past and future into the present tense, realizing that " all difficulties and evil in world [can be] conquered..., as soon as one dispel[s] time" (107). Essentially while Springsteen's feelings and memories come back to hurt him, Siddhartha applies his to the present world around him.

media type="custom" key="24651740" <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">I'm crossing you in style some day <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Wherever you're going, I'm going your way <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Two drifters, off to see the world <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">There's such a lot of world to see <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">We're after the same rainbow's end, waiting, round the bend <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">My Huckleberry Friend, Moon River, and me"
 * The Song: "Moon River" By Andy Williams **
 * Lyrics:** "<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Moon river, wider than a mile
 * Quote from text: ** "They have heard its voice and listened to it, and the river has become holy to them" (106).
 * Analysis:** In this song by Andy Williams, he describes his "Moon River" (Williams) as destination, as he says "I'm crossing you in style one day" (Williams), but he also says that "wherever you're going, I'm going your way" (Williams). This makes it seem like the river is both a destination and a path to follow, in order to guide him. This is very similar to Siddhartha, who looks on the river as an entity to listen to and learn from it, to an extreme that from an outside view it would appear as if the "river has become holy to [him]" (106). With this both Andy Williams and Siddhartha hold the river in very high regard, as a friend and teacher.