ColeScrapbook2

=Cole's Scrapbook=

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 sarcasm, because it's technically not something I **need**. Technically.

Beginning of the Week:
The first day went great. I didn't slip up once and it was as easy as i thought it would be. I actually enjoyed not making snide comments constantly. The following day began the downhill descent. Much like Siddhartha "saw merchants doing business, princes leaving for the hunt, and the dead mourning their lost" (Siddhartha 7), I was surrounded by the sarcastic remarks of those around me with no way to defend myself from the poisonous volley of insults and jokes hurled my way.

Middle of the Week:
The third day i started questioning my ability to keep my comments filtered. Throughout the middle of the week i asked myself "have we made any progress" (9) in a mental sense, by partaking in this self deprivation activity? I wondered if it was worth the struggle to do this and wondered what i would gain in doing so.



End of the Week:
By the end of the week I was going insane.My efforts to keep my mouth shut were completely futile. I stood no chance against my many quips and my witty nature. I had to give up. My need to make snippy remarks was too great for my will not to. I went back to my earlier ways and my life returned to normal without any enlightenment or wisdom gained, other than the fact that I'm too funny for my own good...



"When Siddhartha left the grove where Buddha, the perfected one, stayed behind, and where Govinda stayed behind, he felt that in this grove his past life also stayed behind." Hence I chose to draw Siddhartha's past life as dull, black and white, and lifeless. I drew how he saw the world after as a colorful, vibrant, new world awareness, because Siddhartha reached awakening after he talked to the Buddha. Siddhartha "looked around, as if he were seeing the world for the first time. The world was beautiful and colorful." my vision consisted solely of Siddhartha to make one feel that "the world melted away all around him, and he stood alone like a star in the sky".

Kamala



 * Name ** : Kamala
 * Location ** : The grove
 * Eyes ** : Dark
 * Hair ** : Dark

**About Me** My charm and intellect can bend the will of many. Quick and powerful with my words am I. ** Hobbies / Profession** I am "a well-known courtesan." (p29) I am good at what I do and I'm quite wealthy as a result. **Looking For** I am looking for a man with nice things. "He must have good clothes, handsome clothes, and shoes, good-looking shoes, and a lot of money in his purse, and gifts for [me]" (p30).



Analysis My life is almost the same on a day to day basis, but I do so in order to maintain my sanity and time. I sleep, I eat, I go to school, and after that my evening consists of drums or guitar along with talking to friends.

media type="youtube" key="HTTGTcGUh3k" height="315" width="420" Baptized in the river I've seen a vision of my life And I wanna be delivered In the city was a sinner I've done a lot of things wrong But I swear I'm a believer Like the prodigal son I was out on my own Now I'm trying to find my way back home Baptized in the river I'm delivered I'm delivered

Analysis: Siddhartha was changed by the river in the book much like the subject of "The River" was "Baptized in the river." Just like Siddartha was burdened by his past mistakes, the subject had "done a lot of things wrong". The river symbolizes a place of rebirth and renewal in both instances.

media type="youtube" key="foSkPjvuRv0" height="315" width="560" I've been around this world, Yet I see no end. All shall fade to black again and again. This storm that’s broken me, my only friend. Yeah

In this river all shall fade to black In this river ain't no coming back In this river all shall fade to black Ain't no coming back

Withdraw a step away, just to find my self The door is closed again, the only one left

Quote from Text: "Siddhartha walked through the forest, was already far from the city, and knew nothing but that one thing, that there was no going back for him, that this life, as he had lived it for many years until now, was over and done away with" (46)

Analysis: Siddhartha and the man in the song have both been around the world and seen all there is to see. Both want to find themselves, but they both feel broken by life. They both know that they can't unsee or undo what has happened in there lives and that to go back is not an option, so they choose to carry on and progress.

media type="youtube" key="K9Qs8-BkiLw" height="315" width="420" Take me back to my boat on the river I need to go down, need to come down Take me back to my boat on the river And I won't cry out any more Time stands still as I gaze in her waters She eases me down, touching me gently With the waters that flow past my boat on the river So I don't cry out anymore

Oh the river is wide the river it touches my life like the waves on the sand all roads lead to Tranquillity Base Where the frown on my face disappears Take me down to my boat on the river and I won't cry out anymore

Quote from Text: "Passionately he wished to know nothing about himself anymore, to have rest, to be dead. If there only was a lightning-bolt to strike him dead! If there only was a tiger a devour him! If there only was a wine, a poison which would numb his senses, bring him forgetfulness and sleep, and no awakening from that!" (46)

Analysis: The writer of this song and Siddhartha both wished for an end, for closure. Siddhartha wanted nothing more than death and the songwriter wanted rest on his boat.

Om- Cole Woods 11.19.2012

I should probably introduce myself. my name is Sid. My dad is a wealthy business owner and I had seen only the best in my childhood. It wasn't enough though. One day I told my dad, "Father, . I have come to tell you that i desire to leave your house tomorrow and to go [live the life of those who have little.]" (Hesse 5) My dad was shocked. he didn't know what would possess me to do this and even I wasn't entirely sure. But my friend, Glen, and I embarked on our journey. We took only the clothes on our backs and lived with the homeless for a while. I found myself questioning what purpose living this way served. I asked Glen, "what do you think? have we made any progress? Have we reached any goals?" (9) I felt that I had gained nothing so I left the life of an ascetic.

Glen and I wandered through the city and found a man who we later came to know as Bobby. There was something different about him. Everyone respected and listened to his teaching attentively. Glen seemed transfixed, but I wasn't sold. I departed from my dear friend and continued on in search of my higher purpose.

I can't explain it, but it was as if someone entered my mind for a moment and when I opened my eyes, my lease on life was radically different. "[I] looked around as if [I] were seeing the world for the first time. The world was beautiful," (21) and indescribably so. It was as if I was asleep and something had awoken me

After my "awakening" I continued on. I came across a girl named Katherine. She possessed beauty like no other. She had bright red lips like a newly open fig, eyebrows well tended and painted in the form of high arches, dark eyes clever and alert, [and] a long, fair neck." (28) I came to find out that she was a little easy, but it didn't matter to me. She said that she only liked guys with nice things so I shaved, bought a nice shirt, and some nice kicks. I came back and I entranced her with my beautiful songwriting. Then she left and I started walking towards town. I got a job from her buddy Keith so I could afford to be her boyfriend. Keith asked if I was having financial problems and I told him no, and that I never had. Also that I lived among the homeless for a time. He frankly questioned how I could say I had no financial trouble while I was homeless. Working for Keith was the life. I had a bunch of people under me to help me out. But despite all my money, I still felt empty. So I left. I didn't know at the time that I had gotten Katherine pregnant.

I didn't know where I was headed, just that I wasn't there. I began thinking of all the wrong I had done and I was sick with myself. I got over it and I slept for the night. I woke to find none other than Glen, my old friend who stayed with Bobby. He didn't even recognize me. We caught up then he continued on his walk with Bobby's friends.

I called a taxi off the streets. I told him I wanted to go to the other side of town. We began driving when he recognized me from a previous drive. He introduced himself as Vincent and took me under his wing and I essentially became his apprentice. The depth and intensity of our conversations as he drove was unfathomable. Finally, in one of our conversations, something clicked. My higher purpose was simply to be.

Eventually The taxi driver became old and no longer drove so I took over. I once again saw Katherine, and met my son. Later my girlfriend died and I had my son. I didn't know what to do. Vincent told me to take him to his mother's old home and have her workers take care of him. I felt like I was abandoning him, but Vincent assured me that the universe sought not to bring him my suffering, but his own. In the end he ran away so I had no choice in the matter. I saw Glen once more and I taught him to be content in his circumstances. That was the legacy I left.