Friday, September 16, 2011
Final Siddhartha Comments
Your task this week is to make a comment in response to the comments of one of your classmates. Choose one person's ideas from either post to discuss in your post. You may agree with him/her, disagree , or extend the idea your classmate began. Please refer to specific points in the post within your discussion and relate those points to your own interpretation of the book.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In response to Arielle's post "Samsara and Nirvana are only words."
ReplyDeleteArielle's post gave me quite a bit of food for thought. The biggest thought provoker was the definition of the words Samsara and Nirvana. Each word had a different meaning depending on which religion was viewing it. It was shocking to see how different the words meant, especially because Buddhism and Hinduism are so closely related. As Arielle said "both definitions for each word contradict the other word perfectly". For to "sibling" religions, it does not make any sense. The reason why they are so different, is because they are just words.
Samsara and Nirvana are just words that take the place of a feeling or experience. They can not be defined, because it is something that can not be put into words. How can you relay a one of a kind, unexplainable, unique feeling? You simply can't, let alone restrict it to one word. I agree with Arielle that "Nirvana is something different for everyone" and because of that "each person must find his own understanding of the concept the word." It is different for everybody, so each individual person has to find the meaning for themselves. If they manage to find it, it is impossible to teach because "enlightenment cannot be taught." Trying to confine those feelings and experiences to words just confuse people, and can make finding them more difficult. I can now see why Govinda had so much trouble grasping it, anyone would. There is no one way to find enlightenment. Some things just can not be taught, and can only be found on your own.
I chose Joey’s post, ““He was sometimes afraid of these thoughts and wished he could also share their childish daily affairs with intensity, truly to take part in them, to enjoy and live their lives instead of only being there as an onlooker.”
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joey when he said Siddhartha “…has always considered himself unique, and has not associated with “normal people.” Siddhartha has always seen himself as an outsider. When he begins to look for the answers to enlightenment among the normal people, he cannot seem to “lower” himself to their standards. Siddhartha envies the seemingly simple and easy lives of the common people, but he feels unable to join them in their ignorant bliss. As Joey said, Siddhartha “…feels above them, superior.” He does not seem to realize that slowly, little by little, he is joining in their world. He gradually ceases to play “…with his business, with the people around him,” and begins to actually invest and believe in the world around him (71).
Joey was completely right when he said that Siddhartha “… chose his own path, and he is plagued by the unknown.” Many years after he invested in the world, he realizes that he has left this path, but because he chose the path, he cannot fully immerse himself in the commoners’ world. Some part of Siddhartha realizes that it is not his destiny to enjoy the cos. This realization, as Joey put it so well, “…shows he can no longer be among them, and sets him on his path, into the unknown.”
In response in Mason's post, "Debate the arguments of Govinda and Siddhartha in this chapter. What are Govinda’s arguments and thesis? What is Siddhartha’s?"
ReplyDeleteI think Mason has an excellent depiction of the contrast relationship between Siddhartha and Govinda. Siddhartha seeks more than what the Samanas have taught him, while Govinda is convinced they are achieving a great deal of knowledge in their quest for Nirvana. Mason's statement, "...Siddhartha believes he is on a quest to find his inner self, but comes to the realization that the exact opposite is unfolding, he is escaping himself for short times." describes Siddhartha's realization of his whole life journey with the Samanas. Siddhartha cannot find the enlightenment he wishes the achieve if he lives in a way of life that requires him to lose his Self. Govinda disagrees and finds Siddhartha's thoughts troubling, but when he hears of the Illustrious One, Gotama, he agrees to follow Siddhartha down a different path from the Samanas. Throughout this whole story Siddhartha always reaches for something more until the very end, while Govinda is always following someone and in the way always searching for personal enlightenment through someone else.
I chose to respond to Mason's post "Samsara and Nirvana are only words."
ReplyDeleteI feel that Mason really nailed the reasons that Nirvana and Samsara are only words, but necessary words. While belief in Nirvana inhibits one from reaching it, it does help one realize what the true meaning behind the words. Once Siddhartha realized the futility of searching for Nirvana, he was finally able to enlightenment, rather than just relief from Samsara, another useless yet necessary word that only leads him to reach his own conclusions. These conclusions in turn are a major step in his quest for enlightenment.
Jacob brought up a strong point in his discussion about the fact that Siddhartha can not find true happiness until he humbles himself. He could not be truly at peace until he discovers that he is not above the world, but is a part of it and must feel the emotion of love in order to love the world for its faults and not judge the world for what is wrong with it. Jacob mentioned that Siddhartha believed himself to be above the world and that was true until he reached the point of.nearly killing himself because he had lost what he was looking for but in humbling himself, he found enlightenment.
ReplyDelete