PeterKSB

= Peter'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 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 Xbox, because it's technically not something I **need**.


 * 1) **Beginning of the Week -** During the beginning of the week I had a tough time with giving up the Xbox, especially when I finished my homework. Usually when I don't have anything else to do I can just hop on for a little while, but this week I had to just find other stuff to do. I was alone in my thoughts, and would leave my mind running, daydreaming for a while. I felt like Siddhartha when, " thus ran (his) thoughts, this was his thirst, his sorrow"(Hermann Hesse, 4). I would finish my homework and start to think about stuff that I usually try not to worry about, because I had nothing to distract myself with. This was the hardest part about the earlier part of the week.
 * 2) **Middle to the End of the Week -** Towards the latter part of the week I was learning to do other things besides play video games. I also had a very crowded weekend that made it easier to avoid. Once I started my project that I needed to work on, and went to play tchoukball with friends, I did not worry to much about the things that I had earlier in the week. During this time I was reminded of a place in the book where Gotama was walking with, "the calmness...in which there was no seeking, desiring, imitating, or striving, only light and peace" (15-16). Once I didn't think too much about my want to play Xbox, and started to be more busy, I felt much more calm with everything I did. I didn't think about stuff that I had been worrying about earlier in the week.
 * 3) **Afterwards -** Once I got to the end of the week I had learned other things to do with my time that are probably much more productive than video games. However, I felt like the Buddha, who, "... had formerly been an ascetic and had lived in the forest, but had now returned to luxuries..." (12). Even though I didn't give up everything like Buddha, it was still very nice to end the week and be able to play my games when I wanted to. It isn't that I couldn't live without them, it's just nice to be able to use them for relaxation and fun. Knowing that I could get on and off as I pleased just gave me a sense of relaxation that I didn't feel when I had nothing to do.

Awakening
Quote - He saw, "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).

[[image:Peter's Siddhartha Drawing.jpg width="800" height="450"]]
=== Analysis - I drew my scene this way because it's what I pictured from the quote. The "woods and mountains" are both two large parts of what Siddhartha saw, and I decided to keep the majority of the picture the "green" of the grasslands he saw. The "blue...river" that he saw seemed to be a large part of the description to me. I think that Hesse used this scene as what Siddhartha saw because the earth is something that is good and water shows clarity and pureness. Green is a large part of the colors that he saw, and symbolizes calmness which Siddhartha found to be very prevalent in his experience. ===

Location: I Live in a "beautiful grove", outside of town. (Pg 29)

 * Eyes: My eyes are "dark" and "alert" (Pg 28) **

**Hair: My hair is "black", and "High piled" (Pg28)**

**About Me: I am one of the most beautiful women in my town. My face is "bright, clever, and sweet" face (Pg 51). My eyebrows rise at a "high, and artful" arch and my mouth, "bright red" like a "fig"(Pg 51).**

**Hobbies: I teach love and how to love people, however the people I help must look a certain way. I am a courtesan, and I "entertain many young men"(Pg 54).**

**What I am Looking For: I need a good man, who wears "fine clothes and shoes" and has "plenty of money". (Pg 54) My man must be able to take care of me and have all of those traits, otherwise they have no chance.**

My Daily Life

 * 1) Wake Up
 * 2) Take A Shower
 * 3) Get Dressed
 * 4) Eat Breakfast
 * 5) Get School Stuff Ready
 * 6) Go To School
 * 7) Ride The Bus Home
 * 8) Watch YouTube Videos
 * 9) Homework
 * 10) Dinner
 * 11) More Homework
 * 12) Sleep

Comic:
(Pixton.com)

Analysis
Usually in the mornings I get up around 7:15, unless I have my piano lesson, on Mondays, or eat breakfast with some friends. Anyways, after I wake up I go straight to a shower since it really helps me wake up in the mornings. After my shower I get dressed and go downstairs to eat breakfast, usually around 7:30. After I eat I get my school stuff together and head to the bus stop for a long day at school. I spend most of my day at school, and after I get home spend a while on homework. Once I finish my homework I Have usually eaten dinner already, so I relax for a while, then get ready for bed. My sleep, like Siddhartha's, is, "deep," and it feels like, "ten years had gone by" (Page 48). When I sleep this well I end up with enough energy to actually make it through the rest of the up coming school day.