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=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, I gave up something I enjoy for a week. I chose to give up looking at my phone during school, because it's a distraction and something I felt I needed to limit anyways.



Getting Started
For my first two days I kept forgetting that I could not look at my phone. "Truly I was filled with longing," (17 Hesse) Hesse writes. I kept wanting to look at my phone, and it was very hard not to. I use my phone for so much, and not just texting. I realized that I use it as a clock in classrooms that do not have one. I also use it to communicate with my mom and friends about rides after school and various other things. Hesse puts it very well however, "He then experiences temporary escape," (17). I found that I did not have to worry about trivial things such as waiting for someone to reply to my text or how my phone freezes.

Mid-Week
I forgot during some of my classes that I was not supposed to use my phone, but by the fourth day I lost my phone. I had stuck it in a desk in my Spanish classroom so that I would not use it. I then forgot I had put it in there and left it for the remainder of the assignment. I did find myself wanting to have it though. And as it says in //Siddhartha, "//He returns from the illusion and finds everything as it was before," (17). This quote shows how I realized I did not really need my phone because when I got it back nothing in the world had drastically changed because I lost it.

By The End
I did look at my phone a few times, but overall I thought this really helped me give it up for the most part. Losing it did help because even if I wanted to, I could not have had it out during school. I realized it was not the biggest crisis in the world if I didn't have my phone and that I could get by without it. The only problem was trying to communicate with people. Sometimes I felt like if someone needed to get in touch with me I wouldn't be able to reply and get them the answers they needed. Overall I felt like it was good to see how I could get by without it and it was a fun challenge!

= = = = = The Awakening =

I saw Siddhartha's awakening as him finding himself. I pictured it that once he found himself a path would show before him guiding him along his journey. I drew my image based on one sentence for the most part, "Here was blue, here was yellow, here was green, sky and river, woods and mountains," (39). I also took inspiration from Hesse as he wrote, "no longer looking backwards," (42) which is why he continues to walk forward. Lastly, Hesse writes, "Siddhartha, the awakened one, on the way to himself," (39), which is why I drew him in a shadow because he still has not fully found himself.

= Kamala =
 * Name**: Kamala


 * Location**: The Pleasure Grove (52)


 * Eyes**: "dark eyes" (51) that are underneath "artful eyebrows painted in a high arch," (51).


 * Hair**: Dark Brown


 * About Me:** I am a courtesan of high stature. I spend my time in The Pleasure Grove and teach the physical art of love.

**Hobbies / Profession:** I am a "well-known courtesan," (52). I teach men the art of love in The Pleasure Grove.

**Looking For:** I am looking for men with "fine clothes, in fine shoes...and money in their purses," (54). Maybe one day I can have a child of my own.

= Samsara =

Daily Routine: 1. Wake up 2. Take a shower and brush my teeth 3. Eat my breakfast 4. Drive to school 5. Struggle Through the School Day 6. Go Home and Do Homework

media type="custom" key="21415078" I generally have the same routine. It obviously changes occasionally but it stays the same for the most part. As it says in //Siddhartha,// "I am not going anywhere. I am only on the way." I think this speaks much truth about modern society. I feel that sometimes we get so caught up in the future and how to reach our end goal that we forget to live in the present. For most high schoolers, the end goal is college. That is why we do all of our homework and practice writing essays and so on. My daily routine I feel like expresses that. In //Siddhartha// one of the themes is finding yourself and I feel it is hard to do that if you are constantly looking at the future instead of the here and now.

= The River =

media type="custom" key="21324806" align="center"

Hold my hand
 * Down to the Bottom of the River - Delta Rae**

Ooh, baby, it's a long way down to the bottom of the river Hold my hand, Ooh, baby, it's a long way down, a long way down

If you get sleep or if you get none The cock's gonna call in the morning, baby Check the cupboard for your daddy's gun Red sun rises like an early warning The Lord's gonna come for your first born son His hair's on fire and his heart is burning Go to the river where the water runs Wash him deep where the tides are turning

And if you fall

Hold my hand Ooh, baby, it's a long way down to the bottom of the river Hold my hand, Ooh, baby, it's a long way down, a long way down

The wolves will chase you by the pale moonlight Drunk and driven by a devil's hunger Drive your son like a railroad spike Into the water, let it pull him under Don't you lift him, let him drown alive The good Lord speaks like a rolling thunder Let that fever make the water rise And let the river run dry

And I said

Hold my hand Ooh, baby, it's a long way do wn to the bottom of the river Hold my hand, Ooh, baby, it's a long way down, a long way down

This song is similar to the part in //Siddhartha// when Siddhartha is contemplating suicide. Siddhartha thinks to himself, "He wished passionately for oblivion, to be at rest, to be dead," (87) and "he could fall headlong and finally go under," (89). The second quote shows how Siddhartha thought about drowning himself in the river, and this song discusses the very same idea.

media type="custom" key="21324844" I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young They bring you up to do like your daddy done Me and Mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green
 * The River - Bruce Springsteen**

We'd go down to the river And into the river we'd dive

Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote And for my nineteen birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle No flowers no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river And into the river wed dive On down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown company But lately there a'int been much work on account of the economy Now all them things that seemed so important Well mister they vanished right into the air Now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts lik e she don't care But I remember us riding in my brothers car Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir

At night on them banks I'd lie awake And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse Is a dream a lie if it don't come true Or is it something worse that sends me Down to the river though I know the river is dry Down to the river, my baby and I Oh down to the river we ride

This song by Bruce Springsteen tells a similar story to that of Siddhartha and Kamala. Springsteen writes, "then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote," which relates to //Siddhartha// because Siddhartha finds out that Kamala gave birth to his son, "my son has been given to me," (115). Siddhartha says this moments after Kamala dies and he meets his son.



I got a job working construction for the johnstown company But lately there aint been much work on account of the economy media type="custom" key="21324898" align="center"


 * At the Beach - Avett Brothers**

I know that you're smiling, baby, I don't even need to see your face Sunset at the shoreline, we are laughing, breaking up, Just like the waves Are you feeling, feeling, feeling like I'm, feeling Like I'm floating, floating, up above that big blue ocean Sand beneath our feet, big blue sky above our heads, No need to keep stressing from our everyday life on our minds We have got to leave all that behind

Well, I have got a sister, And she has got a baby with brand new eyes And her daddy is an engineer, And they just took her to the sea for the first time Now they're under, under, underneath a big umbrella

Summer, summer, summer time to help us forget, nine to fives We have got to leave all that behind

I have worries to give to the sea We can walk dear the pier is farther than it seems

Midnight at the shoreline, fireworks above us A screaming bloom They're sent by some teenager and kid whoever you are I am thanking you Now we're dancing, dancing, dancing with no music What is happening, happening, happening and no feelings Except this is right We just had to leave all that behind

Simlar to Siddhartha, the Avett Brothers discuss the idea of letting go and moving forward with your life. In //Siddhartha,// Hesse explains "and [Siddhartha] knew only one thing -- that he could not go back, that the life he had lived for many years was past..." (87). This explains as Siddhartha had to let go of city life and Kamala just as the Avett Brothers sing, "We just had to leave all that behind".

But I remember us riding in my brothers car Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir At night on them banks I'd lie awake And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse Is a dream a lie if it don't come truOr is it something worse that sends me Down to the river though I know the river is dry Down to the river, my baby and i Oh down to the river we ride  Hold my hand Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river Hold my hand, Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way down If you get sleep or if you get none The cock’s gonna call in the morning, baby Check the cupboard for your daddy’s gun Red sun rises like an early warning The Lord’s gonna come for your first born son His hair’s on fire and his heart is burning Go to the river where the water runs Wash him deep where the tides are turning And if you fall, and if you fall Hold my hand Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river Hold my hand, [ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/bottom-of-the-river-lyrics-delta-rae.html ] Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way down The wolves will chase you by the pale moonlight Drunk and driven by a devil’s hunger Drive your son like a railroad spike Into the water, let it pull him under Don’t you lift him, let him drown alive The good Lord speaks like a rolling thunder Let that fever make the water rise And let the river run dry And I said Hold my hand Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river Hold my hand, Ooh baby it's a long long way down Hold my hand, Ooh baby it's a long way down a long way d Read more: [|DELTA RAE - BOTTOM OF THE RIVER LYRICS]