KevinJSB

=Kevin'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 chocolate, because it's technically not something I ** need **. Technically.

[[image:milkchocolate.jpg width="305" height="190" align="left"]] Beginning of the Week
At the beginning of the week, it was not too difficult to give up chocolate. Although I wanted a piece, it felt good knowing I was able to give it up. I was convinced to "stand and wait" (Hesse 6). I was not going to give in so easily and was going to make it to the end of the week without eating chocolate.

Middle of the Week
By the middle of the week, I was feeling different. I was still avoiding chocolate, but I didn't really see any point in doing so. My "heart was not contented" (3). I did not see any clear benefit of avoiding chocolate and I was just ready to eat a piece. At school, I was distracted but as soon as I got home, I began thinking of the fact I could not eat any chocolate that night. I was reaching my breaking point.

[[image:111227022048-chocolate-candy-bar-story-top.jpg width="320" height="180" align="right"]] By the End
After the fifth day, I was dying to eat chocolate. I was not gaining anything by giving it up. I was taking something out of my life I really enjoyed and I was feeling cranky. The last days were also on the weekend, which made it a lot worse. I spent all day at home and every time I walked into the kitchen I noticed chocolate just sitting on the counter tempting me to eat it. All day I felt as if "life was torment" (7). The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Halloween was approaching and I would soon be able to eat all the chocolate I wanted.

= Awakening =

The Quote
What does Siddhartha's "Awakening" look like? Is this the same thing as reaching Enlightenment? In the text, Siddhartha becomes awakened to the world around him after leaving the Samanas and Gotama (the Buddha). He 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 the "yellow" of the sun, the "blue" in the "river" and the "green" of the "woods". I also drew Siddartha in the center at peace with the world. The setting impacts the story through symbolic archetypes. The yellow light of the sun represents life in the world as well as the knowledge that Siddartha has attained. The blue river shows that it is calm and refreshing. Finally, the green woods shows the peace and tranquillity of nature.

= Kamala =

Name:
Kamala

Location:
I live in a grove outside of town.

Eyes:
My eyes are "dark" and "clever"(28).

Hair:
My hair is black.

About Me (looks): I have a "very clever face"(28). I have red lips that are "like a newly opened fig"(28). I maintain my eyebrows and attract men with my beauty.

Hobbies / Profession (actions):
I spend time in my grove and I am an eloquent speaker. I teach men the "joys of love"(28). I am experienced and professional.

Looking For (speech, effect on others) : I am looking for men who have "handsome clothes"(30) and "plenty of money in his purse"(30). They must lavish me with gifts. They must have nice shoes and they must have something to give to me in return.

**Samsara**

My Daily life
The Comic! = Analysis: = I usually wake up for school around 7:30 in the morning. A lot of days I hit the snooze once because I am so tired in the mornings. I eat cereal for breakfast every day, usually cheerios. I also drink some orange juice with my cereal. Since my sister is a senior, she gives me a ride to school. We usually leave for school at 8:30. I sit through my morning classes, but nothing really happens until lunch. I have 2nd lunch every day. I sit through some more classes, then my sister gives me a ride home from school after the day. At night, I go to soccer practice. Finally, I come home, get ready for bed, and go to sleep. I often feel "dull and tired"(78) because I am used to doing the same thing everyday. By Thursdays I am just ready for the weeks to end. I feel as if I am in an endless, boring cycle that has no apparent end.
 * 1) Wake up
 * 2) Eat breakfast
 * 3) Go to school
 * 4) Eat lunch
 * 5) Finish school and go home
 * 6) Go to practice
 * 7) Go to bed

= The River =

media type="custom" key="24653454" Song: "Ocean" by Jay Z Lyrics: "Because this water drowned my family This water mixed my blood This water tells my story This water knows it all Go ahead and spill some champagne in the water"

Quote from the text:
"He felt as if the river had something special to tell him, something he did not yet know but was still awaiting him. In this river Siddhartha had wanted to drown; in it the old, tired, despairing Siddhartha had drowned that day"(54). Analysis: In this song Jay Z sings of the river and how it is so closely related to his life. He sings of how it was harmful but how it is also so meaningful to him. As in the song, Siddhartha's old self drowned by the river. However, it allowed his new self to thrive. Siddhartha learns to appreciate and love for the river for what it did to him. He heard his "newly awakened" voice tell him to "love this water"(54). media type="custom" key="24523274"

Lyrics:
"My name remains prisoner, Trapped and my world is gone And I'm the only one who still lives here And I've got all the light storms"

Quote from the text:
"For that, he had had to go on enduring those hateful years, enduring the disgust, the emptiness, the meaninglessness of a barren, lost life, to the very end, to the point of bitter despair, until Siddhartha the voluptuary and Siddhartha the avaricious man could also die"(54). Analysis: Soja writes of a storm in the song "Thunderstorm". He writes how he feels helpless and trapped. As Siddhartha sits by the river, he reflects on the last few years of his life. He recalls how he had to endure the suffering. Just as every thunderstorm is followed by sunshine, Siddhartha realized that it was time to live in peace. He felt as if "today he was young"(54) and that after the hardships of his life he was ready to live with joy.

media type="custom" key="24523356"

Lyrics:
"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 Wed ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

Wed go down to the river And into the river wed dive Oh down to the river wed 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

<span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">I got a job working construction for the johnstown company <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">But lately there aint been much work on account of the economy <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">Now all them things that seemed so important <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">Well mister they vanished right into the air <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">Now I just act like I don't remember, mary acts like she don't care <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">But I remember us riding in my brothers car <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">At night on them banks I'd lie awake <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take <span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse Quote from the text: "But today, of all the secrets of the river, he saw just one, which gripped his soul. He saw: this water flowed and flowed, it kept on flowing, and yet it was always there; it was always and at all times the same and yet new every moment!

**Analysis:**
Bruce Springsteen sings of a river he went to while he was growing up. He is reflecting on is his past and wishes he could have remained a kid. While Siddhartha is deep in thought by the river, he learns that there is "no such thing as time"(57). Bruce Springsteen gets caught up in his life as Siddhartha had while he was merchant. Where there was nothing, "there will be nothing"(58). They wish to be timeless like a river.

= Om =

The Big Ideas/Literary Analysis
= Works Cited = Hesse, Herman. //Siddhartha//. New York: Bantam, 1971. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =