SIDDHARTHA DISCUSSION OUTLINE

It’s going to be a beautiful day, so let’s go outside.

Our meditation today: listening to music
By focusing our upper-mind on listening to repetitive, calming sounds, we can better focus our lower thoughts, or our subconscious thoughts, and perhaps reach a state of focused, calm, energy.

AND NOW TO CONTEMPLATE SIDDHARTHA’S JOURNEY TO INNER PEACE:

What is the significance of Siddhartha’s pilgrimage and how does it relate to your life?

His position afforded him luxuries which many people can’t have which undeniably altered his path
-Katherine

If Siddhartha had not acted on his decisions, if he had not lived with the Samanas or merchants, he never would have been able to make his own judgments on life
-Helen

As how Siddhartha learned an immense amount of wisdom from listening to the river, we can learn from keeping an open mind and listening to the ones we meet on our pilgrimage
-Jade

He had spent his entire life on a journey seeking spiritual enlightenment, just as I had spent my entire life on a journey to become an Olympic swimmer. I felt so much pressure to please the people around me, to not let them down, that I tortured myself to reach that goal
-Spin

This idea of unified change throughout life, of one person really transforming into many different people, is not a completely unfamiliar one
-Lauren

I do not think I could achieve enlightenment just following this simple path
-Emily

What did Siddhartha’s pilgrimage accomplish? Was it a necessary path to take?

I think that the human ability to transform ourselves, to mature, to become (hopefully) better, more caring people as we grow older, to gain wisdom through living life, though "it can't be expressed or taught in words" (Hesse, 132), is special.
-Lauren

We will be continuously seeking. Yet while obsessing over achieving a goal, we will not be open to the answers all around us
-Jade

Siddhartha spends a majority of the novel over thinking his life, tackling everything with a philosophical and spiritual approach. Eventually, he learns the wisdom of just letting things “be”
-Chris

Siddhartha and I both realized that this journey we were so desperately trying to make reach a “perfect” climax was not something that can be forced. It is something that - when you let go, relax, and just let it flow like a river - comes naturally.
-Spin

There is no “right!” We can search all we want for the true path, but we’ll “never stop searching.”
-Katherine

Is suffering necessary to reach a state of inner peace? What constitutes suffering?

Oftentimes we must go through hardships to find what our true beliefs are
-Jade

I am not entirely dissatisfied with the world—I see room for improvement, but I understand that I am a part of this world and I can work to improve it instead of setting myself apart.
-Emily

“I’ve had to experience despair […] in order to be able to experience divine grace,” (Hesse, 91) and it has definitely been worth it.
-Spin

Is suffering a byproduct of love? Is this why the ‘childlike’ people cannot escape from their suffering?

Siddhartha’s struggles with his son mirrors lovesickness in many ways–the devotion, envy of others’ happiness, loss of self
-Molly

How does unity lend itself to all encompassing love?

I continue to seek to see all things, all beings of the world, with love and appreciation
-Helen