KatieGSB

=Katie's 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 who are found in the novel, //Siddhartha//, try to reach enlightenment, we gave up something we enjoy for a week. I chose to give up Twitter because I spend too much time on that website.

The Beginning
 The first few days of the week it was not as difficult to resist going on Twitter as I thought it would be. I usually use the app on my phone to access Twitter and it was easy to ignore the small icon. My phone alerts me when certain people tweet (specifically the band members of One Direction), so a few times I was tempted to open the app and see what was happening after reading the first few words. I could have, "filled with anger, with anxiety, with fear, with sorrow," (Hesse 11) about what was happening on Twitter, like Siddhartha's father did with Siddhartha, but I did not.

Mid Week
The middle of the week was only slightly harder than the beginning. More tweets were being sent to my phone because One Direction is promoting their new album, so I was extremely tempted to check out what was happening. Once I got over ignoring one tweet, another would appear. I felt as though I had, "conquered thirst, [then] felt new new thirst" (15). I did surprise myself, however, by how it became easy to ignore the constant feed of tweets to my phone. It was difficult, but by the end of the middle of the week I was able to overlook the incessant buzz of new tweets.

Ending
The end of the week was a lot less difficult than I had anticipated. I predicted the week would get harder as I went along. It seems, though, that after ignoring the tweets for so long I did not feel a need to read them anymore. The day after the week of self-deprivation I did not even think to go on Twitter. Unlike Siddhartha, who tells Govinda his, "thirst has not grown less" (18-19), my thirst for Twitter was extremely miniscule or perhaps completely gone. As I write this a few days later I have only been on Twitter a few times for about 10 minutes each, which is a large improvement from before. Also, I realized I could have turned off the setting that sends tweets to my phone. The beginning of the week would have been so much easier.

Awakening
**Quote**

In the book Siddhartha 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).

Analysis
I drew this picture to represent Siddhartha's "awakening" in the book. I drew the trees and the river because Siddhartha saw " all this yellow and blue, river and wood." I made the mountains colorful because "all [was] beautiful" (39) even things that could be considered boring such as mountains. The river is a main point in the picture because Siddhartha notices a lot about the river. He notices that "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). He finally found beauty in the world.

Name:
Kamala

Location:
Pleasure Garden

Eyes:
Deep Brown Eyes

Hair:
Brownish-Black

About Me:
I am a very passionate woman and this transfers into my expressions. I have bright red lips and warming eyes. My eyes tend to show my intelligence. I am slender and stay fit for my job. I have "firm and smooth [hands]" and often wear "broad gold bangles on [my] wrists" (51). Men always say I am very beautiful and stare at me often.

Hobbies/Profession:
I enjoy sitting quietly and reading or listening to poetry. My profession is to entertain men. They may not steal from me, though. Many try to "kiss [my lips] against [my] will, [and] not one drop of sweetness will you obtain from them" (55) and I cannot allow this. I am proud of my job because I like to think about myself as a teacher.

Looking For:
I love for my men to dress well wearing "in fine clothes, [and] in fine shoes; [and to have a] scent in their hair and money in their purses" (54). I also cannot promise to be with one man, for I am a loving person and wish to share my love with all. To be good enough they also must be able to care for me financially.

[[image:driddle10h/Screen Shot 2013-11-19 at 9.02.51 PM.png width="594" height="716" align="right"]]
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">1.Wake Up. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">2.Lay in bed for a while. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">3.Shower, get dressed, and eat food. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">4.Get a ride to school with my dad. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">5.Sit and usually pay attention in two classes. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">6.Food. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">7.Sit and usually pay attention in two more classes. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">8.Get a ride home with my dad. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">9.Watch TV and eat food. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">10.Play tennis. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">11.Eat dinner. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">12.Do homework. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">13.Watch TV. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">14.Go sleep.

Analysis
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">My life is pretty routine. I get up at six every morning, take a shower, get dressed and ready to go, then go to school. In school, classes are all different, but the class structure is the same. Lunch is my only break in the day and I always look forward to it, but then it's back to the same, structured classes. I get home and relax for a bit, then usually go play tennis. After all of this I do homework and go to bed, which is at the end of my comic. Life passes very quickly on these routine days. Like Siddhartha "[I] hardly notice [the days] passing" (75). I am unlike Siddhartha, though in that I do live my life with a "sense of importance" (77) to get through school and have a good future. I think my routine is a positive part of my life because without my routine I would feel unorganized and might not know what to do with my time.

The River
media type="custom" key="24573706"

Lyrics:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Watchin' the tide roll away, ooh <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Wastin' time

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">I left my home in Georgia <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Headed for the Frisco bay <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">I have nothing to live for <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Look like nothings gonna come my way <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%; line-height: 1.5;">(metrolyrics.com)

Quote from Text:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">"He stopped at this river and stood hesitatingly on the bank . . . There was no more purpose" (88).

Analysis:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">In Otis Redding's "(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay" he describes having no purpose in life but to sit and waste time. After Siddhartha sunk into Samsara he had no other purpose but to waste time with his daily routine, so when Siddhartha reached the river he decided he had no purpose left. The line from the song, "I have nothing to live for" (Redding) is similar to Siddhartha stating "there was no more purpose" (Hesse 88). Both of these statements describe giving up and having nothing worth making an effort for in one's life. media type="custom" key="24573920"

Lyrics:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Baptized in the river <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">I've seen a vision of my life and I wanna be delivered <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">(metrolyrics.com)

Quote from Text:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">"My path once led from his hut to a new life which is now old and dead. May my present path, my new life, start from here . . . How he loved this river, how it enchanted him" (101).

Analysis:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Being baptized in Christian faiths generally means forgiveness and sometimes starting over. In the song it says they've "seen a vision of [their lives] and [they] wanna be delivered" (Good Charlotte). Siddhartha decides to start over and wants to be delivered on his "present path, [his] new life" (Hesse 101). They both are starting over, or turning to a new page in their lives. The baptism in the song is also like the ferryman Siddhartha encounters. It helps with the path to discover this new life.

Lyrics:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Meet the lazy river with the noon day sun <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Linger in the shade of a kind ole tree <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Throw away your troubles-- <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> (metrolyrics.com)

Quote from Text:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">"There is no such thing as time . . . That the river is everywhere at the same time . . . that the present only exists for it" (106-107). **Analysis:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">These connect in that, in the song, the river is being described as lazy and the book says that when it comes to the river, and most things, there is no such thing as time. These two things involve taking it easy and living life so that "the present only exists for it" (107). Living in the present often involves staying in one place until something is completed or "lingering in the shade of a kind ole tree" (Armstrong). Siddhartha "meet[s] the lazy river" (Armstrong) and learns from it. He "throws away [his past] troubles" (Armstrong) and starts over.