1. What do you think of Kamala? Does she seem like a positive character or not? Why?
2. Knowing how to think, how to wait, and how to fast are Siddhartha's three skills. Can you see how these would be enough to succeed at anything? Or do you disagree that these are the only skills a person really needs?
3. In Siddhartha's opinion, "writing is good, thinking is better" (59). What do you think of this opinion?
4. In Siddhartha's opinion, "cleverness is good, patience is better" (59). What do you think of this opinion?
5. Siddhartha learns the art of love from Kamala. How is it possible for the art of love to have any spiritual benefit or spiritual value? Or is it impossible for the art of love to have a spiritual benefit or spiritual value?
6. In what way(s) is (are) Siddhartha and Kamala alike?
7. Over time, Siddhartha grows to care about samsara, the things of this world, such as material possessions, wine, and gambling. How do you explain his growing to care about such things?
8. Siddhartha is warned about the meaningless life he is leading by a dream. What might this say about where truth comes from, according to the author?
12 comments:
Sang Eun
3. In Siddhartha's opinion, "writing is good, thinking is better" (59). What do you think of this opinion?
He handed him the sheet and a pen, and Siddhartha wrote and returned the sheet. Kamaswami read: " 'Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better.'
I think that the sentence that Siddhartha had written, 'Writing is good, thinking is better' includes what he thinks about himself. Siddhartha said that he has abilities of thinking, waiting, and fasting. Kamaswami wasn't actually convinced at that answer at first, so Siddhartha is trying to convince him that himself is capable of some important abilities. Thus when Kamaswami was impressed at the fact that Siddhartha was able to write, Siddhartha said that writing is good, but thinking, which he can do, is better in order to convince Kamaswami of his abilities. In addition, I personally agree to Siddhartha, because even though a person knows how to write, if he/she doesn't have any idea of what to write, then his/her ability of writing can't be acknowledged by other people. Other people won't be able to actually see his/her writing because the person can't write about anything. On the other hand, if you can think, but can't write, you still can speak out loud about your thoughts to others. Therefore, I think that what Siddhartha said makes sense.
Heather Rhee
Q4
A
Siddhartha wrote 'Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better' on a sheet. I alrealy knew this quote before I read the book because this qoute is one of the famous quotations from Hermann Hesse.
I agree with the 'cleverness is good, patience is better' part of the quote. I believe that Cleverness is always a good quailty to have. It helps people to make wise dicisions and solve every probelms they have in their lives in a easier, faster way. I also believe that patience is a good quailty to have. This quailty helps people to work consistently to reach their goals. Sometimes people fail and have a hard time in their minds. In these kind of cases, patientness can help them to remain their works by making them to relax and wait more.
Even though I think that both of the quailties are very important, I agree to Siddhartha that patient is better than cleverness. Cleverness can help a person to make right dicisions but it will not help that person to continueously work toward his goal and follow the dicisions he had made.
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration" is a famous quote from Tomas Edison. This quote is showing that putting an effort all the time with out giving up is a better way to success than making a great dicisions coming from the person's own talent.
Putting an effort for a long period of time can effect the results all the time. If a non-talented person works hard, he can improve and get a better results than the talented person who didn't worked hard. This is why it is meanless to be a clever person with no patient.
People who is patient can always get a good results even though they are not clever enough than others. The quality 'patient' they have encourages people and make them to put their effort for a long time without having a panic feelings. Thus, I think Siddhartha is right.
Ka Yeon Nam
Question 6
In what way(s) is (are) Siddhartha and Kamala alike?
"You are like me, you are different from most people. You are Kamala, nothing else, and inside you there is a stillness, a sanctuary that you can enter at any time and be at home in, just as I can inside myself. Few people have that, and yet all people could have it."
"...they have a fixed course, no wind reaches them, they have their law and their course inside them."
Siddhartha and Kamala is alike because they both have a goal, a fixed course that they choose to go to and do not get distracted by other things. Siddhartha left his family, Samana, the buddha , and Gautama to reach his goal, which was to find out who he is. When Kamala decided to teach Siddhartha love, she really does.
3. In Siddhartha's opinion, "writing is good, thinking is better" (59). What do you think of this opinion?
When Siddartha goes to Kamaswami's house to learn from him, Kawaswami askes Siddartha what he is able to give. When Siddartha tells him that he is able to read and write, he askes Sidartha to write something for him and siddartha writes "writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better."
I think someone being able to write is good but someone who is able to think is better because if someone cannot think but can write will not write a thoughtful, creative things. For example, during English class, we write essays every week and Mr.Durning tells us to think more and more inorder to write a good essay. So, if someone who can think is better than someone who is able to write because inorder to write, you have to be able to think.
2. Knowing how to think, how to wait, and how to fast are Siddhartha's three skills. Can you see how these would be enough to succeed at anything? Or do you disagree that these are the only skills a person really needs?
I believe that in the bare bone of one's personality, these traits would actually be the only three one needs. In whatever one chooses to do, and whatever life one chooses to pursue, these three characteristics are absolutely vital. For example, in the theatre, one's ability to think well is absolutely necessary before one even begins to work. One needs to consider and understand every aspect of a character in order to live truthfully in the imaginary circumstances of whatever piece is being performed. If one is not thoughtful and prepared, the work suffers. In addition, the ability to wait, or the characteristic of patience, is absolutely necessary in the business side of the art of theatre. A job will not always be available, and when one does poorly in an audition and doesn't get a lead or even a callback, giving up is absolutely never the solution. One has to persevere and always wait for his or her next opportunity to arise so he or she can take full advantage of it. And third, the ability to fast, or make sacrifices, is always necessary in theatre. A severe and powerful dedication to the art means a willingness to make social, and often financial, sacrifices in order to succeed and benefit from the work.
1. What do you think of Kamala? Does she seem like a positive character or not? Why?
On page 74 Siddhartha is consderng his and Kamala's relationship. He's thinking about how it is nd how it was. He thinks: "Kamala alone had been dear to him, precious to him--but was she still? Did he still need her or she him? Were they not playing a game without end?"
In this part of Siddhartha's life, he is considering wha is next for him. He sees that he is stuck in the life of a rich man and slowed by greed and bordom. His soul has become "slow." However, he looks back and sees all that he has learned. He sees all that Kamala has taught him about love. I think that because he sees all that she had taught him through their one relationship, he believes there is more to learn from more people. He is greatful for the knowledge Kamala has given to him, and he feels that that part of his life is over. He needs to move on. Kamala shows him a part of life that he would never have known without her help. She is definitely a possitive character.
Also, on page 76 it says, "After a time she realized that she was pregnant from her last meeting with Siddhartha."
This, I think, is a very possitive thing. Now, Siddhartha will be with ehr forever, he will not be forgotten. In a way, when he leaves, I was sad because I was afraid Kamala would find another lover and she would be heartbroken over Siddhartha. However, she sees only that it was his time to move on, and he left a piece of himself behind with her. Siddhartha leaves a mark on her after she leaves a mark on him. His genes will live on, even if he never loves another woman like he loved Kamala. He has a child, an "offspring" for want of a better word, so he cannot be forgotten. For this, too, Kamala is a possitive character.
3. In Siddhartha's opinion, "writing is good, thinking is better" (59). What do you think of this opinion?
I think this is an ok opinion. Siddartha is a man who throughout the book so far, is looking for the right teaching and teacher and to loose his ego. This involves loosing all train of thought, and desire and to live in the moment. Now this opinion for him is to me not correct. This is because first of all all his life he has been searching for the teaching of non desirable thoughts. In order to think, you must have the desire to think and the desire to think about something. To me this is puzzling. I do not understand how someone cannot think without any desire. Now to me, there is such a thing, where people or any person chooses not to think at all. Now one might think at first that this is without any desire as to this person would not have the desire to think, but in fact, they have the desire not to think. This is a very confusing subject. I believe that no matter what there is always an existing desire in someone's life. Whether it is the desire to paint or not to paint whether it is the desire to sing or not to sing, your choice is always your desire. A desire is a choice a decision, an act of personal feeling.
Also another conflict with this opinion is that in order to write you must think. To me the two are the same. Thinking is the desire to think about something using your mind while writing is thinking only adding another concept to the process. Instead of just thinking, you write down what you are thinking of.
3. In Siddhartha's opinion, "writing is good, thinking is better" (59). What do you think of this opinion?
I think that this opinion makes sense. You can not have the ability to write unless you have the ability to think. I know that sounds simple but it is true. Writing is definitely a complex matter and requires many skills. But I feel that the art of thinking is more valuable and is harder to achieve. To learn how to think requires many years of training and is very hard to grasp. If you know how to think then I feel like you do and become anything. Siddartha knew how to think, and look how far he came. He went from being a homeless man on the street to a wealthy man with a nice house and a job. It was because he knew what to do and how to do it. He is a good thinker. He didn't get where he was by writing, even though having the skills to write is a plus and is helpful but it is not necessary.
8. Siddhartha is warned about the meaningless life he is leading by a dream. What might this say about where truth comes from, according to the author?
For me, this says that true human beings are always different than the outside view. He is wealthy and really happy with everything, but always there will be a time where it reminds themselves what they truly are and what they were before. Even though for a while he was enjoying and living just like other people. But he always has the heart of samana, his own, and real life of being different than others that lives easily.
Yeena Sung
7. Over time, Siddhartha grows to care about samsara, the things of this world, such as material possessions, wine, and gambling. How do you explain his growing to care about such things?
As time goes by, Siddhartha grows his care to other things such as materialistic things instead of having care with the spiritual. I believe that he grows care for things like this because he gets attached to it and finds his greediness to want more. In short, he discovers his desires and since he can’t achieve it or he wants more after he reached his goal, he gets greedier about his possessions. Then he starts to forget about the spiritual and letting go of things because he has too much things that he has to care about and it is hard to let go and be empty in mind.
Answer to #8:
"It was not before the glow of the morning and the first bustle outside his town house that he fell asleep, that he found a half numbing, an inkling of sleep for a few moments. And in those few moments he had a dream."
Up to this point in the book, Siddhartha is intoxicated by the game of samsara. Slowly, he becomes more and more depressed until he has this epiphany. This makes me think that the author believes that truth comes from the subconscious, or from one's conscience.
Siddhartha has his epiphany in a state on inebriation and sleep. In this state of incapacitation, he realizes the truth. This is very interesting, and says a lot about the beliefs of the author. For example, it shows that the author believes that the truth comes from the deepest, most basic parts of the mind, which (I am only somewhat sure of) are present in subconsciousness, such as the id. In this state, the author believes that ultimate truth will present itself. In Siddhartha's case, it seems to also be brought about by desperation and depression. Overall, the concept of the presentation of truth from the subconscious seems almost counter intuitive, since most of Siddhartha's truths comes from deep cognition.
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