Passage from Siddhartha Reading
"Siddhartha had started to nurse discontent in himself, he had started to feel that the love of his father and the love of his mother, and also the love of his friend, Govinda, would not bring him joy for ever and ever, would not nurse him, feed him, satisfy him. He had started to suspect that his venerable father and his other teachers, that the wise Brahmans had already revealed to him the most and best of their wisdom, that they had already filled his expecting vessel with their richness, and the vessel was not full, the spirit was not content, the soul was not calm, the heart was not satisfied. The ablutions were good, but they were water, they did not wash off the sin, they did not heal the spirit's thirst, they did not relieve the fear in his heart. The sacrifices and the invocation of the gods were excellent—but was that all? Did the sacrifices give a happy fortune? And what about the gods? Was it really Prajapati who had created the world? Was it not the Atman, He, the only one, the singular one? Were the gods not creations, created like me and you, subject to time, mortal? Was it therefore good, was it right, was it meaningful and the highest occupation to make offerings to the gods? For whom else were offerings to be made, who else was to be worshipped but Him, the only one, the Atman? And where was Atman to be found, where did He reside, where did his eternal heart beat, where else but in one's own self, in its innermost part, in its indestructible part, which everyone had in himself? But where, where was this self, this innermost part, this ultimate part? It was not flesh and bone, it was neither thought nor consciousness, thus the wisest ones taught. So, where, where was it? To reach this place, the self, myself, the Atman, there was another way, which was worthwhile looking for? Alas, and nobody showed this way, nobody knew it, not the father, and not the teachers and wise men, not the holy sacrificial songs! They knew everything, the Brahmans and their holy books, they knew everything, they had taken care of everything and of more than everything, the creation of the world, the origin of speech, of food, of inhaling, of exhaling, the arrangement of the senses, the acts of the gods, they knew infinitely much—but was it valuable to know all of this, not knowing that one and only thing, the most important thing, the solely important thing? "
My Understanding and view
To my understanding people (friends, family, loved one's and the community) sees him as a very clean, noble, honorable and also possessing goldly moral role but deep down in Siddhartha he felt he is as regular as everybody that sin and uncleaned as they see but it is just that he him self had train, kept and followed the elders advice that were said to him. That was what he believed in and had practice and worked towards that. There might be some god's but when it comes to down to doing whats right to gain something that is right in return its the individual self.
I chose this paragraph because of its intriguing sense it makes. and in simple sentence my this passage was depicting that in this life/world, WE JUST REAP WHAT WE SAW!!
Do you think that Siddharta is right to turn away from all rituals? Its an interesting choice of passage, what else do you think could be said? To say "we just reap..." means you get what you deserve in life, what did Siddhartha deserve you think?
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha may choose not to follow or practice rituals but in my opinion I think he shouldn't turn away from his religion as he may disappoint not just his family but the community as a whole even though he feels unclean within.
ReplyDeleteI may interpret "reaping what you saw" that in life we get what we give. Even though Siddhartha was just learning and listening he gave his time in as a true believer and worshiper and in-turn his community and ancestors saw in him as a purified one to lead the religion. It is the same way as how hard worked students gets A in class and an average student gets a C in the school society