RahulScrapbook2

=__**Rahul Patel's Self -Realization Journey**__= While reading "Siddartha" by Herman Hesse, i will be completing my assignment in this document. The hope of this assignment is to develop my reading skils and understand more about Buddhism.

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 cereal, because I don't need it for survival, but it will be very difficult to give up.

[[image:http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/090/04/090-0413153423-woman-pulling-hair-out.jpg width="220" height="200" align="left"]]Beginning of the Week:
he beginning of the week was very easy because i was determined to achieve my goal. It was also easy because eating toast twice a day had not yet become a challenge. This is because it was something new and different in my diet, whereas in the middle and end of the week it became repetitive to eat toast. The first two days were Friday and Saturday. These days were not difficult because on Friday I was at school and then at my friends house all day. On Friday for breakfast I had toast with strawberry jam, and then for snack i had a granola bar. Saturday was the easiest day of the week. This is because I had a great breakfast of pancakes, egg, and sausage in preparation for my soccer game against the second best team in the league (my team obviously being first). Then I was out all Saturday in Nelson playing soccer.

Middle of the Week:
The middle of the week was where this assignment got difficult, this is because on Sunday and Monday I was working really hard on my schoolwork. On Sunday I spent the whole day studying for my history test. When I work hard like this, I tend to just eat, eat, and mindlessly eat even more. One of my favorite things to eat while studying was cereal, but i had to resist that urge and eat Cheez-It's instead. Also, breakfast on Sunday was cinnamon buns which I love, so Sunday breakfast was extremely easy compared to the rest of the day. Monday was also hard because i had to eat toast again for breakfast while everyone else in my family was eating my favorite cereals. This made me feel like Siddartha when, "He saw merchants doing business, princes leaving for the hunt, mourners lamenting the dead, whores offering their services, doctors busy with patients, priests determining the proper day to begin sowing, lovers in love, mothers nursing their children" (Hesse, 7). Of course I did not see these things, but all around me everyday life was going on while I changed. Also, "the world had a bitter taste" (7) during breakfast on Monday because my sister kept taunting me with her cereal. After school for snack on Monday, i had a gross cardboard-like cereal bar (don't worry, cereal bars are not nearly as good as or anything like cereal).

[[image:http://h2savecom.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/020110413041252.jpg width="174" height="342" align="right"]]End of the Week:
The end of the week got easier as I got into a routine. Both days I had toast for breakfast, while my sister taunted me with cereal. Then for snack on Tuesday, I had nutella with toast because I w anted to see if I craved the chocolate in cereal. However, I found out that it was just cereal in general and the full feeling it gives you that toast does not. Then, on Wednsday, I did not have a snack because I left for soccer immediately upon returning home from school. This really helped because I felt no tempation to eat cereal, it was like "every yearning and impulse in the heart was silent" (8) because there was no impulse to try and eat cereal.

==

__**Awakening**__==

There are the three major characteristics of this picture; the black and white section, the colors, and the landscape. To begin with, I have the black and white section before Siddartha because before he had been "deaf and obtuse" (22). What he meant by that was that he was not seeing the world. The second major characteristic of my picture is the colors, I chose these because when he awoke, he noticed "here was blue, here was yellow, here was green" (22). This is why the colored section of the picture has a blue river, green grass, dark green forest, and green mountains. Lastly, I chose the landscape of this picture because during his awakening he noticed that the "sky flowed, and river; forest justted upward, and mountains" (22). This is why I incorporated a river, a sky, a forest, and mountains into my picture.

__**Kamala**__

 * [[image:http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/WdL4UtUEfMjAGe6zaIAojw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00MDA7cT04NTt3PTUwMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/401/2012/06/12/indianprincess2-jpg_122337.jpg width="400" height="320" align="left"]]Name:** Kamala


 * Location:** A Beautiful, Shady Grove (28, 31)


 * Eyes:** Brown (28)


 * Hair:** Black (28)


 * About Me:** Physically I have long black hair, with dark brown eyes, and "bright-red lips like a newly opened fig" (28). Also, my body is "as lithe as a jaguar's or as a hunter's bow" (40). As you can see, from these features I am a very sought after woman, so you must be able to bring a lot to the table. I am also very rich, and love living in my grove of luxioury while my servants tend to my every need. Men tend to like the wealth that surrounds me, but they also like the fact that I am clever and do not let people change me as if I were a leaf zigzagging as I fell to the ground (39). This allows them to get to know me for who I am, but makes me difficult to love. Lastly, although I am rich, I am also kind because I will always smile and nod at even the poorest samana who sees me.


 * Hobbies/ Proffesion:** My job is technically a courtesan, but I like to call my self a professor of love. This is because I do not see my profession as foul and dirty, but rather, as an art that people must learn through people like me. I have had many students before and they agree that it is not as foul as the general people assume. Aside from my job, I have three hobbies, the first, is being carried on my decorated sedan chair by servants from my house in town to my grove in the morning, and then back in the afternoon. The second one of my hobbies is poetry, I do not write it, but I love to listen to it and am very passionate about beautiful poetry. Lastly, I love shopping, because how else is a lady supposed to get all of her expensive jewelry and clothes? This is probably my favorite hobby, because I get to use the wealth that I have obtained.


 * What I Am Looking For:** There are four things that the a man must have in order to be in the competition for my hand in marriage, "he must have clothes, handsome clothes, and shoes, good-looking shoes, and a lot of money in his purse, and gifts for Kamala" (30). If you have all these things then I will consider you, but I also like men who "are stronger than otheres, more supple, more willing". If you are like this then you can consider yourself in a good position to win me over. However, if you are the perfect man for me then " your veses are beautiful" because then "truly I lose nothing if I give you a kiss for them" (32). This is because one my hobbies is poetry and I love a man who can write beautiful poems for me.

__//**Samsara**//__
My day is probably a lot like others teenagers typical daily routines. To begin with, everybody including me wakes up (at 7:00 A.M.) to start their day, but if you are like me then you are not a morning person and is usually not a happy camper. This is why in my first picture I am dinosaur, because I am not a morning person, therefore I am irritable and grumpy. Then I get up and eat breakfast, I know that lots of people do not eat breakfast, but for me I need a substantial breakfast or else I do not have energy for the rest of the day. Next, I go to school and start my classes. I ride the bus to school, but this means that I get there thirty minutes before class starts, so I usually hang out with friends or do homework until class starts. The next thing I do is go eat lunch, this is usually a good time because I get to talk to friends, but it would be better if the school lunch was enjoyable. After this I go back to class, when I go back to class I usually fell pretty tired from eating. Then I go home and do my homework, this is the most stressful time of the day because I am under a lot of stress to do all my homework in a limited amount of time while still putting a lot of effort into it. However, the reward to this is that I get to go to soccer practice from 7:30 to 9:00 P.M. which is the best part and most relaxing part of my day. Soccer practice usually leaves me pretty tired which helps with the last part of my daily routine, sleeping, I usually go to bed at around 10:00 P.M.. I feel as if my daily routine has a positive effect on my life because it always keeps me busy and it always keeps things interesting. However, this also has a negative effect on my life because sometimes with learning and schoolwork i feel as if "they were no longer a game or toy to him (me), but had become a chain or a burden" (42). This is because sometimes all the work, takes away from the fun in gaining knowledge.

**__By The River__**
media type="youtube" key="S34hOJE-DpU" height="360" width="480" align="left"**Song:** "Big River" by Johnny Cash


 * Lyrics:** "and I followed you, Big River, when you called"


 * Quote:** "For some among those thousands, however - just a few, four or five - the river ceased to be an obstacle; they heard its voice, they listened to it."(57)


 * Analysis:** When the song said that the man followed the Big River, I immediately thought of Siddartha. This is because Siddartha was on the verge of killing himself in the river until he heard its call or its voice, and he answered it. Therefore, Siddartha did exactly as the lyrics say, he heard the rivers call and he followed it.

media type="youtube" key="rbirnz5LAk0" height="360" width="640" align="left"


 * Song:** "Meeting Across The River" by Bruce Springsteen


 * Lyrics:** "Got a meeting with a man on the other side (of the river)"


 * Quote:** "When he reached the ferry, the boat was just in readiness, and the same ferryman who had once taken him across the river was standing in the boat."(55)


 * Analysis:** This song is about a man who has not done very well in life, but he has one last chance to correct it. To get this big score he has to meet a man on the other side of the river. This is like how Siddartha felt that he hadn't been living life the right way and wanted to drown himself in the river, until he met the man on the other side of the river (the ferryman).

media type="youtube" key="saeS2Fup9-4" height="360" width="480" align="left" **Song:** "Listen to the River" by Luka Bloom

Listen to the river Open your heart now Listen to the river"
 * Lyrics:** " Close your eyes


 * Quote:** "the river taught him. He never stopped learning from it. Above all it taught him how to listen with a quiet heart, with an open, expectant soul" (57)


 * Analysis:** This is very similar to what Siddartha did in order to learn from the river. As it says in the book, the river taught him to listen with an open soul which is similar to the lyric that says "open your heart now". Also, the song says to listen to the river, which is exactly what Siddartha does in order to reach enlightenment.

__**"OM" - The Childrens Story**__
It was summer break and Jimmy had just gotten out of New Heights Boarding School. Jimmy hated the place, he was always learning from the best teachers in New York, yet he could never learn enough. Although it was summer break, Jimmy still wanted to learn, but not about science, math, or history. Jimmy wanted to learn about himself. Jimmy search on the internet for some camps that could teach him how to learn about himself but he couldn't find any. Finally, he decided that he would spend time with all the different types of people in New York City (where he lived when he wasn't at New Heights) and decided which group he related to the most. He told his parents about his plan right when he got in the car, and them being the workaholics they were, agreed because it kept him out of their business over the summer. Jimmy immediately called up his best friend Graham and told him about his plans. Graham's parents were also workaholics and they agreed to let Graham meet all the different types of people in New York City. The first week they stayed with some hippies. Life with the hippies was tough, they didn't have much money or food, and instead of walking they were always meditating and going on peace walks. Living with the hippies taught Jimmy and Graham about the problems with the world and how they could escape this world through meditation. When the week was done Jimmy and Graham said goodbye to the hippies and spent the day walking around the city. While they were walking they spotted a large crowd of people outside of Madison Square Garden. They went over to see what was causing all the commotion. It turns out that the crowd of people were buying tickets to meet the Dalai Lama. Jimmy and Graham were intrigued, and they decided to buy tickets. That night they returned to the arena and listened to the holy man give his speech. Graham enjoyed it so much that he converted to Buddhism and decided to live in a monastery. However, Jimmy did not like what he heard and could not decide if he wanted to convert, he walked around "the garden" for a long time thinking about what it would be like without Graham. That night he left Graham and set out looking for shelter. He devised a great plan in order to attain this shelter, "what if I just got on the Staten Island Ferry and slept on it all night" he thought. Jimmy followed up on that plan and got on board the ferry. However, Jimmy got lost and ended up somehow finding his way into the control room where the captain was driving the boat. The captain turned around and said, "well hello there son, my name is Mr. Hankerson, but you can call me Ricky how are you today?" "I am doing well, thank your, what are these buttons for?" Jimmy responded while gazing at all the lights, switches, and monitors in the room. Ricky said, "let me show you what they do." Jimmy spent the whole day learning about the different functions of the different systems on the boat, he even got to steer the boat! At one point, Jimmy asked, "how do you know when to use what?" Ricky responded, "when you work on the water like me, the river starts to tell you what to do, and if you listen to it, you can learn a lot." When it came to the last ride, Ricky asked, "shouldn't you be getting home?" Jimmy responded, "I don't have a home right now, I was just going to sleep right here, on this ship." "Well, the least I can do is set you up in a hotel," Ricky responded. So that night, Jimmy rested well in the comfortable hotel bed, with dreams of the river entertaining his thoughts. The next morning Jimmy woke up and went to the hotel lobby, "what type of people should I observe today?", thought Jimmy. At that moment a beautiful, rich girl walked by and caught Jimmy's eye. "Wow, I know who I want to hang out with today. And why not I spent time with the poor, why not spend time with the rich," Jimmy thought. However, he was not groomed enough to be in contention for this girl. So he went to the store, bought a razor, showered, shaved, got dressed up, and by the time the girl returned to the hotel Jimmy was ready. That night there was going to be a ball for all the guests and Jimmy smoothly asked her to be his date. The girl blushed and responded "yes". That night at the ball, Jimmy asked her, "So, I was looking for a job, do you know anywhere I could get one?" She responded, "well my dads friend has a law firm and he is looking for a high school student, I could put you in touch." The next morning Jimmy went to the Simpson, Simpson, Simpson, and Simpson Law Firm where he got the job and started the next day. Working at the law firm was boring, and the people took it way to seriously for Jimmy, who had more of a relaxed personality. Eventually Jimmy got into his work, this was not good though because Jimmy started to get stressed and spend late nights at the office. This annoyed the rich girl from the hotel because he wasn't spending time with her, and their relationship quickly went south. After about a month, Jimmy couldn't deal with it anymore and he dissappeared into the city leaving no trace. Jimmy was sad, lost, and had nowhere to go. Eventually he made his way to the Staten Island Ferry and applied for a job as captains assistant. He got the job and the next day he dressed in the traditional sailors uniform and went tot the control room.Jimmy hit the lucky jackpot with this job, because Ricky, whom he had spent a day with a month earlier, was his boss from now on. Jimmy worked on the ferry for about a month, and in that time, Ricky tought him everything that he needed to know about the controls and most importantly about how to read the water. Jimmy loved the water and felt as if every day it was talking to him, telling him how it felt. Some days it was in a bad mood and thus it was choppy. Other days it was content, and as a result it was clear and glassy. Then on August 15th just a week and a half before the start of school, Jimmy realized what the river was trying to tell him just by looking at it and hearing it. He no longer need maps, graphs, charts, and data to tell him what the river was feeling, he could just look out onto the Hudson and see for himself. At last Jimmy had mastered his job. He told Ricky about how he had learned to read the river with just a look. Ricky stood up, and to Jimmy's surprise, Ricky said "well then son, my job here is done. I have tought my heir and now he may take my position." With that the Captain left and he did not return the next day. It was rumored that the old man had retired and gone to Florida where the weather was warm and the water was always happy. The New York Department of Transportation named Jimmy captain of the Staten Island Ferry and he decided to not enroll in his next semester at New Heights Boarding School. During the middle of October, Jimmy got a very surprising visit. It was from his friend Graham, Graham had a sad look on his face. "Hey buddy, whats the matter?" said Jimmy. "Buddhism just wasn't for me. So I left the monastery and am just hanging around the city until the start of the next semester," responded Graham, "why are you smiling?" "You see, you sought happiness in the enlightenment that Buddhists experience, while I found happiness here on the river," responded Jimmy. Graham spent the next few days with Jimmy on the ferry, he then said his farewell and he went to New Heights Boarding School for the start of the second quarter. While Jimmy spent the rest of his days in happiness working every single day of his life steering the ferry and listening to the river.