"He bowed low, right down to the ground, in front of the man sitting there motionless, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, of everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life." (Page 122)
This quote basically represents the meaning of life. Govinda realizes that his choices have lead him down the path of enlightenment, just like Siddhartha. He comes away from life with an appreciation for what he loves and values. This relates to the entire book in the sense that enlightenment is what these men were searching for, and eventually found. All of their experiences, whether good and bad, taught them life lessons and a sense of spirituality.
"Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish." page 115.
I believe this book is all one life lesson and every chapter in a sense is just repeating itself. This chapter is talking about wisdom, truth and values. Siddartha teaches Govinda that there is no one thing that is completely true, there is always two sides to something and people will argue on both sides. This chapter just like all the others are life lessons taught by Siddartha
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." (115)
This quote shows the lesson that Siddhartha has learned throughout the book as a result of all of the different teachers he has had. Siddhartha was so focused on finding a path to enlightenment that he assumed the only way to do it was through someone who has already experienced enlightenment. However, in the end, he discovers that every person must find enlightenment and wisdom on their own.
"Siddartha bent down, lifted a stone from the ground and held it in his hand. "This," he said, handling it, "is a stone, and within a certain length of time it will perhaps be soil and from the soil it will become plant, animal or man. Previously I should have said: This stone is just a stone; it has no value, it belongs to he world of Maya, but perhaps because within the cycle of change it can also become man and spirit, it is also of importance."
pp. 117
This quote again reflects the importance of Siddartha's journey throughout the book. He grows both physically and mentally. The stone, and the thought process behind it tie into the progression of Siddartha's life living with the ascetics. It reflects his perception of earth, and his responsibilities and obligations as long as he is on it.
"I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary for me to sin, that I needed lust, that I had to strive for property and experience nausea and the depths of dispair in order to learn not to resist them, in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary world, some imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave it as it is, to love it and be glad to belong to it." (page 116)
This quote comes from Siddhartha after Govinda asks him for his thoughts. It is important because this is when Siddhartha finally finds that what he has been searching for he could only find by going through with the things that he did in his life. Without experiencing things he would have never been able to see the world through understanding eyes. This quote also allows us to finally see that Siddhartha has accomplished his goal and has fulfilled his sense of spirituality inside himself. From this we know that Siddhartha has obtained Nirvana.
"Inwardly, however, he thought: Siddhartha is a strange man and he expresses strange thoughts.HIs ideas seem crazy. How different do the Illustrious One's doctrines sound! They are clear, straightforward, comprehensible, they contain nothing strange, wild or laughable..Never, since the time our Illustrious Gotama passed into Nirvana have I ever met a man with the exception of Siddhartha about whom I felt: This is a holy man!" (120)
I feel that this quote represents some of the central themes throughout the book and at the same time it shows that Siddhartha has reached his higher goal of Nirvana. It shows that others now view him as holy and one could say that he has come to a sense to spirituality within himself and that he has attained a goal that many men throughout time wish to achieve. The book shows several life lessons, and I feel like it is a little repetitive, as it begins with Siddhartha yearning to learn more, and it ends with him still wanting to learn more about the world and surrounding people.
"he no longer saw the face of his friend siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces,many faces, a long series,a continous stream of faces-hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemsed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all siddhartha." pg 121 this quote shows that siddhartha has indeed finished his journey. Govinda sees all these faces when he looks at siddhartha which shows that he has accomplished his goal and concludes the book.
"I have had many thoughts, but it would be difficult for me to tell you about them. But this is one thought that has impressed me, Govinda. Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish" (115).
Here, Siddhartha talks about the inability to communicate wisdom, and wisdom (through implication) truly means. That is, knowledge is simply substance. Wisdom is something that one must experience and live in everyday. This has become a central struggle (knowledge v. wisdom) in Siddhartha's life and thus the novel.
"Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish...Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." (Page 115)
This talks about Siddhartha reflecting on the life lessons he has learned from each one of his teachers. He is saying that you must find wisdom on your own, and it cannot be taught to you.
"This, he said, handling it, is a stone, and within a certain length of time it will perhaps be soil and from the soil it will become plant, animal, or man." pg. 117
This quote reflects on the rest of the book because it the beginning of the book he would have looked at the stone as just a stone and nothing else that it had no significance other than being a stone. After finding enlightenment and all of the other lessons that he learned along the way Siddhartha then is able to look at items and realized the inner significance such as the stone turning into soil, plant, animal, or man.
"What could I say to you that would be of value, except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of yourseeking you cannot find." (pg, 113)
In this quote, Siddhartha is telling Govinda that he cannot teach the experiences that he has had. Siddhartha is saying that Govinda willnot gain knowledge or wisdom by seeking for it because in seeking for something, all else is forgotton. By focusing in one single goal, that is all that one will see and look for and therefore might miss important learning opportunities.
"Siddhartha took many travellers across the river who had a son or a daughter with them, and he could not see any of them without envying them, without thinking: So many people possess this very great happiness-why not I?" (pg. 105)
This quote shows how Siddhartha has changed from the beggining of the book to the end. In the beggining of the book he did not want to feel anything and thought bad of people and sorry for them when they felt envy or jealousy. It shows how he has finally learned to love and how he loves his son. And how he is wanting something that he does not have which throughout most of the book he is happy with what he has and even if he isn't he doesn't feel the need to change anything because everything happens for a reason.
"I suspected this when I was still a youth and it was this that drove me away from teachers." (115) This is am important quote because it explains why Siddhartha was always changing whom he mentored under. He would constantly change because he would realize that, this teacher was unable to give him what he needed-wisdom. The kept moving and in the end realized that what he was searching for wisdom was unable to be taught or communicated. This explains why he kept moving on because Siddhartha realized the said teacher couldn't teach him the wisdom he longed for.
"At that moment Siddhartha stopped fighting with destiny, stopped suffering. On his face the serenity of knowledge blossomed, knowledge that no will can resist, that knows perfection, that arees with the flow of events, with the river of life, full of compasion, full of shared pleasure, devoted to the flowing, belonging to the oneness". Chapter Om Page 119
I feel that this quote gives a couple points. First the idea of the river keeps on being explained. It is throughout the whole book and seems to kind of be rapped up in this quote. The river is or was a represenation of his path through life. the idea of the FLOW, both life and rivers can be said to have that. How the river changed throughout the book and the changes Siddhartha went through on his path through life. The river is his journey, and the changes are the events that happen end the lessons he learns.
"..it is perfect at every moment;every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people-eternal life." pg 116
This quote could be taken in two different ways. The positive outlook is that every bad choice has no affect on the future. All children have to potential to live life to its fullest and become men. All people who pass away are beginning a new life in heaven. The second perception could be that all children grow old and pass away. Every young suckling is destined for death in the end. The overall message I came up with is to make choices that you will benefit from. If you make the wrong decision you will be forgiven in the end. Every person has the same chance in life, to make the most of them selves. If you live your life on earth to the fullest, you will live with God in heaven forever.
"They all became part of the river. It was the goal of all of them, yearning, desiring, suffering; and the river's voice was full of longing"(page 110)
This quote represents the idea in the book that everything all fits together. Everything travels like a river toward the same goal with the flow of time. Things are not constantly fighting against each other with some things needing to be resisted. Instead Siddhartha is realizing that he must flow with the river and accept everything as it is. One must accept all the emotions that make up human's interactions and accept them for what they are and how they make all life perfect.
"when someone is seeking," said Siddhartha, "it happens quiet easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose." Page 113
This relates to the whole book because it relates to Siddhartha constantly searching and changing. Throughout the book we see numerous different phases that Siddhartha seeks, and the different paths that he travels down. In the beginning he leaves home and then he travels down a path where he tries to fulfill his needs by depriving himself of food and love and other things in order to reach nirvana. Siddhartha is constantly seeking new things, yet it seems that he does not ever reach what he is looking for. However, when Siddhartha finally stops looking he actually finds peace and nirvana with the ferryman and his life in that way.
"It was nothing but a preparations of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life"(106). This was when Siddhartha realized that one can gain knowledge but wisdom isn't really something that you can learn. This shows Siddhartha's journey and basically sums up what he has learned along the way. Throughout the entire book Siddhartha is trying to find nirvana and he finally realizes in this quote that it can't be something handed down to him by someone else. But he has to find his own way to feel a nirvana and gain wisdom.
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it...Time is not real Govinda. I have realized this repeatedly. And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between good and evil, is also an illusion" (115)
This quote reflects on the idea that has been replayed throughout the entire book. Siddhartha had learned that he could not gain wisdom from others. Earlier on in the book, Siddhartha believed that if he found a teacher that was well informed, he could gain knowledge and wisdom from that person, but in this quote it is seen that he has come to realization that this is not true
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." (115)
I couldnt agree more with this statement. Over and over again I have dealt with people going through problems that to me would have simple solutions and I can tell them (give them knowledge) what they could do or what they should do. But at the same time I myself had to experience a lot of the same stuff to understand the point of the knowledge. Wisdom can only be earned through experience and sometimes trying to cummunicate wisdom just sounds stupid. I think this is what Sidhartha learns throughout this entire book.
"Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish(117)."-Siddhartha Throughout this short story Siddhartha learns and has experiences through the actions he does. Very little is achieved through words. His decision to have sex with Kamala, to learn the trade of a Merchant, to eat rich and well, to live with the Ferryman. If he had just talked about all of this he wouldn't have attained his peace of mind and nirvana. Thats the same with Kamala; she finally decides to make the pilgrimage by foot to go see the Perfect One, though she dies along the way, she attains complete peace of mind at the end.
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it" (115).
This quote sums up a major theme of the book. Siddhartha collects all sorts of knowledge from various groups on his journey through his life, but never can directly be taught wisdom. It is all of his knowledge that helps him discover what wisdom is by himself. This is the way that Siddhartha found himself throughout his path to enlightenment.
"I can love a stone, Govinda, and a tree or a piece of bark. These are things and one can love things. But one cannot love words. Therefore teachings are of no use to me; they have no hardness, no softness, nor colors, no corners, no smell, no taste- they have nothing but words." (p.117-118)
This quote is an extension of Siddhartha's ideal that wisdom cannot be taught, only you can learn it for yourself because words are imperfect and are not real or alive in the sense that things are. One must learn from things, like the river or the stones, not words from a teacher because as Siddhartha discovered with Gotama's teachings, while Gotama may have reached Nirvana, he is not able to instruct his followers on how to reach it for themselves.
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces -- hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which constantly changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha." (p. 121)
In this quote, Govinda comes to understand that by reaching Nirvana, or inner peace, one can come to understand the meaning of life, and when this occurs, one can understand that time may not be linear, but actually a series of snapshots, as proposed in the article we read.
"If they are illusion, then I also am illusion, and so they are always of the same nature as myself....That is why i can love them." (page 118)
This quote is said by Siddhartha in response to Govinda saying that: what does it matter because everything is an illusion. Siddhartha's answer is very calming to me because it means that if everything is real or fake it doesn't matter because you will be either real or fake too. so everything will be real to you regardless. This relates to the book because Siddhartha was always searching for what was real in the world and trying to find meaning in life.
“ His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetics, how he had taken leaves of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father also suffered for his son? Had not his father died long ago, alone, without having seen his son again?” pg. 107 This quote resembles Siddhartha’s search for himself and how he wants to search for himself. The important part of this quote is how Siddhartha is trying to please his father by seeing himself within his reflection. But the most important part of this quote is Siddhartha questioning himself about how he did not please his father and why all of his fathers suffering for nothing.
"And Govinda saw that this mask-like smile, this smile of unity over the flowing forms, this smile of simultaneousness over thousands of births and deaths-this smile of Siddartha as exactly the same as the calm, delicate, impenetrable, perhaps gracious, perhaps mocking, wise, thousand-fold smile of Gotma, the Buddha, as he perceived it with awe a hundred times." pg.122
Govinda's moment of enlightenment concludes the struggle to find one's enlightenment, like Siddartha. The steps needed to be taken to find yourself.
"During deep meditation it is possible to dispel time, to see simultaneously all the past, present and future, and then everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman. Therefore, it seems to me that everything that exists is good -- death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly. Everything is necessary" (116). This quote reflects on the Buddhist ideal that everything is united: 'everything that exists is good... Everything is necessary', this basically says that everything is united so if one thing is important then everything else is because they're related. Also when I read this quote I thought about the existentialist view that what shapes your character and who you are is determined by the decisions you have made in the past. Every little decision you've made from the past and what you're doing in the present determine the decisions you will make in the future and who you are. So basically everything, even the little things most people consider negligible are important because they're all related. Molly Riegel
"He had often heard all this before, all these numerous voices of the river, but today they sounded different. He could no longer distinguish the voices."(Page 110)
This quote references the ever appearing symbol of the river and how it is symbolic of Siddhartha's life. He is talking about how he met many different people and had different paths he took throughout his life. He changed his personality and worked to discover who he was as a person. But his different identities all blended together, similar to how a river flows from smaller water bodies into one larger body and continues flowing as if it has no end. He talks about that he can no longer pick out the different times and personalities of his life, but he had now become just one person and blended all his discoveries of himself together info one.
"He bowed low, right down to the ground, in front of the man sitting there motionless, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, of everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life." p 122
This quote is very significant because it explains how both Siddhartha and Govinda obtain nirvana through love. Govinda always loved Siddhartha dearly and when he was reunited with him at the end of the book he realizes that his true happiness always came when he with by Siddhartha's side. Siddhartha feels the same toward Govinda and also feels the love for his son. Although he lets his son go, he understands that letting someone go is part of loving them.
"I know that," said Siddhartha smiling radiantly, " I know that Govinda, and here we find ourselves within the maze of meanings, within the conflict of words, for I will not deny that my words about love are in apparent contradiction to the teachings of Govinda. That is why I distrust words so much…" 199
What Siddhartha said here that relates to the beginning of he book is that at the beginning Siddhartha was the one who was confused on what to believe, Buda, the Illustrious One, or something or someone else. However, now Siddhartha knows what he believes and knows that he have found peace. And Govinda still is unsure of what path he should take.
"He bowed low, right down to the ground, in front of the man sitting there motionless, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, of everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life"(122).
This quote is significant to the story because it sums up the whole of the book. It talks about love and how love is possible for those who think its impossible and what love really is.
"Time is not real, Govinda. I have realized this repeatedly. And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion" pg 115 I think this is a really important quote to the book as a whole, in that it is Siddhartha explaining how he found peace within his own world, and it helped him understand the feeling and meaning behind the path to enlightenment, and how when you experience it, you are at peace, in a happy middle, where there is no time, and no extremes.
"Sidddhartha," he said, "we are now old men. we may never see eachother again in this like. I can see, my dear driend that you have found peace. I realize that I have not found it. Tell me one more word, my esteemed friend, tell me something that I can concieve, something I can understand! Give me something to help me on my way, Siddhartha. May path is often hard and dark" (Hesse 120)
This quote reflects the fact that the speaker, Govinda is constantly going to Siddhartha and others for guidence and help. Unlike Govinda, Siddhartha realized early that enlightenment cannot be shown or taught, it is more like a self discovery. A journey that one most travel alone. Govinda is quick to be a follower, so he struggles to discover things for himself.
"I can love a stone, Govinda, and a tree or a piece of bark. These are things and one can love things. But one cannot love words. Therefore teachings are of no use to me; they have no hardness, no softness, nor colors, no corners, no smell, no taste-they have nothing but words. Perhaps that is what prevents you from finding peace, perhaps there are too many words, for even salvation and virtue." pg. 118.
This quote demonstrates one of the themes in the book that is demonstrated again and again throughout the book. That theme is that teachers can only communicate knowledge to others, and that they can never communicate pure wisdom and understanding. This reminds me of the Matrix when Morpheus tells Neo that he can only show him the door, and that in the end, he himself is the one who has to walk through it.
"When someone is seeking," said Siddhartha, "it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worhty one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose." Pg.113.
This quote basically represents the meaning of life. It describes life passing you by when you are seeking toward a goal or goals, instead of you allowing life to help guide you towards further understanding and more learning along the way as you learn to grow and understand about life itself. Also, in order for oneself to fullfilledly experienced life, he or she ought to seek towards anything that comes its way instead of focusing on one particular thing. No one can not grow when holding onto the past. You ought to let go off the past in order to grow as to, you can not fullfilledly forgive someone if you can not learn to forget the past.
"In every truth the opposite is equally true. For example, a truth canonly be expressed and envelopped in words if it is one-sided. Everything that is thought and expressed in words is only one-sided, half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity." (p. 115)
This relates back to the rest of the book because up until the point that Siddartha actually had this epiphany, he had only been seeing one side of things. This is what caused him to endure many struggles throughout the book and made him feel that he was lacking some knowledge. Yet once he came to the realization that to each thing there is another that is equal and opposite, these troubles no longer existed.
When someone is seeking it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking." Pg. 113
This just shows that when you go in search of something you only pay attention to what you are looking for. You don't see or take in any of the important things that you are surrounding yourself with. Siddhartha was constantly in search of something else and until the end he didn't realize the things that were really important.
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces -- hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which constantly changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha." (p. 121)
I feel that this quote is not about how there may not be time and that there are billions and trillions of “nows.” I believe the fact that Govinda saw all the other faces in Siddhartha’s face is that Siddhartha has finally been able to be enlightened. He understood and felt all the pain, happiness, sorrow and all other feelings that others where feeling. He was in harmony with all around him and could know their stories and see what they saw.
I found the most meaning in the first paragraph of this chapter. Govinda "had lived his life according to the rule and was also regarded with respect by the younger monks for his age and modesty," and yet "there was still restlessness in his heart and his seeking was unsatisfied."(112) I thought that this was a beautiful way to begin the ending of this story. It is a tale of seeking, both of Siddhartha and of Govinda, and this quote shows that even after you spend your life searching for the truths of life and for peace and happiness and whatever else you may want, there is always more room in your heart and head for new answers and more seeking. The journey that Siddhartha and Govinda set out on is one that is never finished and begins and ends as each new generation is tought by the ones before it.
" 'When someone is seeking,' said Siddhartha, 'it happens quite easily taht he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to absorb anything, becuase he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to ahve no goal.' " (113)
I think that this quote not only relates to the rest of the book by showing everything that Siddhartha has learned throughout his life but also gives a good life lesson as well. When he says that you should not be seeking all the time, he speaks from experience becuause each stage of his life he was looking to learn something and it was not until he sat back and let the river teach him that he reached enlightenment.
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw many other faces, many faces, a long series, a continous stream of faces- hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themslves and which were yet all Siddhartha." p.121 This quotes greatly signifies and represents Siddartha's life and the entire novel's theme. As his dear old friend Govinda stares at the newly changed and enlightened Siddartha, he sees all of the past Siddartha character changes. And most importantly, he sees the experiences that Siddartha went through to find spiritual enlightment. This is important because in the plot to the book was Siddartha's adventures and experiences in finding his goal of reaching enlightment.
His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved and even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetic, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father also suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son? pg 10
Siddhartha accepts that he cannot teach his son about life and show him everything liek he wants. He knows it was the same with Siddhartha and his father. He rebeled too in search of his own meaning. This begins to make him feel that life is a river and that things repeat and u cannot go against the flow of the river.
"This stone is just a stone; it has no value, it belongs to he world of Maya, but perhaps because within the cycle of change it can also become man and spirit, it is also of importance."
This quote is important to the end of the story because it sums up the whole meaning of the story in one sentence. It is representing the journey of Sidhartha physically and spiritialy. Also how a man grows with nature like a rock Sidhartha had a river as one of his teachers..
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw the faces, many faces, a long series, a continuous stream of faces-hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha." Pg 121
This quote expresses the journey and learning experiences that Siddhartha has accomplished. It basically signifies how people can change and learn new things, but still be themselves and live and learn to what they want to accept. The quote also recognizes the challenges that were accompanied by Siddhartha's journey and how he over came them.
"Not in speech or thought do I regard him as a great man, but in his deeds and life." Pg. 119
This quote represents Siddartha's way of life that has consumed him for his life. This also represents Siddartha's philosophy. Siddartha doesn't care about what people say about Nirvana, you have to learn about it through life experiences and you must experience Nirvana yourselfe. Siddartha's experience's help him in the end as well, whereas Govinda's years of learning and listening don't get him anything until he finds Siddartha.
"No longer knowing whether time existed, whether this display had lasted a second or a hundred years, whether there was a Siddhartha, or a Gotama, a Self and others, wounded deeply by a divine arrow which gave him pleasure deeply enchanted and exalted, Govinda stood yet a while bending over Siddhartha's peaceful face which he had just kissed, which just been the stage of all present and future forms."
It shows how the author is trying to show Siddhartha exists in a world outside of time, as he has reached a higher point of thinking where mortal laws of the world do not apply to him. He has in a sense reached nirvana.
"His ideas seem crazy. How different do the illustrious One's doctrines sound! They are clear, straightforward, comprehensible; they contain nothing strange, wild or laughable."
This quote shows the difference between Siddharta's path to enlightenment and Gotama the Buddha's path. Siddharta has done it all his way through living as a merchant, to fatherhood, to life as a beggar, and lover of a courtesian. Siddharta has reached peace because he has seen everything.
"he no longer saw the face of his friend siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces,many faces, a long series,a continous stream of faces-hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemsed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all siddhartha." pg 121
this quote shows that siddhartha has indeed finished his journey. Govinda sees all these faces when he looks at siddhartha which shows that he has accomplished his goal and concludes the book.
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"He bowed low, right down to the ground, in front of the man sitting there motionless, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, of everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life." (Page 122)
This quote basically represents the meaning of life. Govinda realizes that his choices have lead him down the path of enlightenment, just like Siddhartha. He comes away from life with an appreciation for what he loves and values. This relates to the entire book in the sense that enlightenment is what these men were searching for, and eventually found. All of their experiences, whether good and bad, taught them life lessons and a sense of spirituality.
"Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish." page 115.
I believe this book is all one life lesson and every chapter in a sense is just repeating itself. This chapter is talking about wisdom, truth and values. Siddartha teaches Govinda that there is no one thing that is completely true, there is always two sides to something and people will argue on both sides. This chapter just like all the others are life lessons taught by Siddartha
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." (115)
This quote shows the lesson that Siddhartha has learned throughout the book as a result of all of the different teachers he has had. Siddhartha was so focused on finding a path to enlightenment that he assumed the only way to do it was through someone who has already experienced enlightenment. However, in the end, he discovers that every person must find enlightenment and wisdom on their own.
"Siddartha bent down, lifted a stone from the ground and held it in his hand. "This," he said, handling it, "is a stone, and within a certain length of time it will perhaps be soil and from the soil it will become plant, animal or man. Previously I should have said: This stone is just a stone; it has no value, it belongs to he world of Maya, but perhaps because within the cycle of change it can also become man and spirit, it is also of importance."
pp. 117
This quote again reflects the importance of Siddartha's journey throughout the book. He grows both physically and mentally. The stone, and the thought process behind it tie into the progression of Siddartha's life living with the ascetics. It reflects his perception of earth, and his responsibilities and obligations as long as he is on it.
"I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary for me to sin, that I needed lust, that I had to strive for property and experience nausea and the depths of dispair in order to learn not to resist them, in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary world, some imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave it as it is, to love it and be glad to belong to it." (page 116)
This quote comes from Siddhartha after Govinda asks him for his thoughts. It is important because this is when Siddhartha finally finds that what he has been searching for he could only find by going through with the things that he did in his life. Without experiencing things he would have never been able to see the world through understanding eyes. This quote also allows us to finally see that Siddhartha has accomplished his goal and has fulfilled his sense of spirituality inside himself. From this we know that Siddhartha has obtained Nirvana.
"Inwardly, however, he thought: Siddhartha is a strange man and he expresses strange thoughts.HIs ideas seem crazy. How different do the Illustrious One's doctrines sound! They are clear, straightforward, comprehensible, they contain nothing strange, wild or laughable..Never, since the time our Illustrious Gotama passed into Nirvana have I ever met a man with the exception of Siddhartha about whom I felt: This is a holy man!" (120)
I feel that this quote represents some of the central themes throughout the book and at the same time it shows that Siddhartha has reached his higher goal of Nirvana. It shows that others now view him as holy and one could say that he has come to a sense to spirituality within himself and that he has attained a goal that many men throughout time wish to achieve. The book shows several life lessons, and I feel like it is a little repetitive, as it begins with Siddhartha yearning to learn more, and it ends with him still wanting to learn more about the world and surrounding people.
"he no longer saw the face of his friend siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces,many faces, a long series,a continous stream of faces-hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemsed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all siddhartha." pg 121
this quote shows that siddhartha has indeed finished his journey. Govinda sees all these faces when he looks at siddhartha which shows that he has accomplished his goal and concludes the book.
"I have had many thoughts, but it would be difficult for me to tell you about them. But this is one thought that has impressed me, Govinda. Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish" (115).
Here, Siddhartha talks about the inability to communicate wisdom, and wisdom (through implication) truly means. That is, knowledge is simply substance. Wisdom is something that one must experience and live in everyday. This has become a central struggle (knowledge v. wisdom) in Siddhartha's life and thus the novel.
"Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish...Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." (Page 115)
This talks about Siddhartha reflecting on the life lessons he has learned from each one of his teachers. He is saying that you must find wisdom on your own, and it cannot be taught to you.
"This, he said, handling it, is a stone, and within a certain length of time it will perhaps be soil and from the soil it will become plant, animal, or man." pg. 117
This quote reflects on the rest of the book because it the beginning of the book he would have looked at the stone as just a stone and nothing else that it had no significance other than being a stone. After finding enlightenment and all of the other lessons that he learned along the way Siddhartha then is able to look at items and realized the inner significance such as the stone turning into soil, plant, animal, or man.
"What could I say to you that would be of value, except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of yourseeking you cannot find." (pg, 113)
In this quote, Siddhartha is telling Govinda that he cannot teach the experiences that he has had. Siddhartha is saying that Govinda willnot gain knowledge or wisdom by seeking for it because in seeking for something, all else is forgotton. By focusing in one single goal, that is all that one will see and look for and therefore might miss important learning opportunities.
"Siddhartha took many travellers across the river who had a son or a daughter with them, and he could not see any of them without envying them, without thinking: So many people possess this very great happiness-why not I?" (pg. 105)
This quote shows how Siddhartha has changed from the beggining of the book to the end. In the beggining of the book he did not want to feel anything and thought bad of people and sorry for them when they felt envy or jealousy. It shows how he has finally learned to love and how he loves his son. And how he is wanting something that he does not have which throughout most of the book he is happy with what he has and even if he isn't he doesn't feel the need to change anything because everything happens for a reason.
"I suspected this when I was still a youth and it was this that drove me away from teachers." (115)
This is am important quote because it explains why Siddhartha was always changing whom he mentored under. He would constantly change because he would realize that, this teacher was unable to give him what he needed-wisdom. The kept moving and in the end realized that what he was searching for wisdom was unable to be taught or communicated. This explains why he kept moving on because Siddhartha realized the said teacher couldn't teach him the wisdom he longed for.
"At that moment Siddhartha stopped fighting with destiny, stopped suffering. On his face the serenity of knowledge blossomed, knowledge that no will can resist, that knows perfection, that arees with the flow of events, with the river of life, full of compasion, full of shared pleasure, devoted to the flowing, belonging to the oneness".
Chapter Om
Page 119
I feel that this quote gives a couple points. First the idea of the river keeps on being explained. It is throughout the whole book and seems to kind of be rapped up in this quote. The river is or was a represenation of his path through life. the idea of the FLOW, both life and rivers can be said to have that. How the river changed throughout the book and the changes Siddhartha went through on his path through life. The river is his journey, and the changes are the events that happen end the lessons he learns.
"..it is perfect at every moment;every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people-eternal life." pg 116
This quote could be taken in two different ways. The positive outlook is that every bad choice has no affect on the future. All children have to potential to live life to its fullest and become men. All people who pass away are beginning a new life in heaven.
The second perception could be that all children grow old and pass away. Every young suckling is destined for death in the end.
The overall message I came up with is to make choices that you will benefit from. If you make the wrong decision you will be forgiven in the end. Every person has the same chance in life, to make the most of them selves. If you live your life on earth to the fullest, you will live with God in heaven forever.
"They all became part of the river. It was the goal of all of them, yearning, desiring, suffering; and the river's voice was full of longing"(page 110)
This quote represents the idea in the book that everything all fits together. Everything travels like a river toward the same goal with the flow of time. Things are not constantly fighting against each other with some things needing to be resisted. Instead Siddhartha is realizing that he must flow with the river and accept everything as it is. One must accept all the emotions that make up human's interactions and accept them for what they are and how they make all life perfect.
"when someone is seeking," said Siddhartha, "it happens quiet easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose." Page 113
This relates to the whole book because it relates to Siddhartha constantly searching and changing. Throughout the book we see numerous different phases that Siddhartha seeks, and the different paths that he travels down. In the beginning he leaves home and then he travels down a path where he tries to fulfill his needs by depriving himself of food and love and other things in order to reach nirvana. Siddhartha is constantly seeking new things, yet it seems that he does not ever reach what he is looking for. However, when Siddhartha finally stops looking he actually finds peace and nirvana with the ferryman and his life in that way.
"It was nothing but a preparations of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life"(106).
This was when Siddhartha realized that one can gain knowledge but wisdom isn't really something that you can learn. This shows Siddhartha's journey and basically sums up what he has learned along the way. Throughout the entire book Siddhartha is trying to find nirvana and he finally realizes in this quote that it can't be something handed down to him by someone else. But he has to find his own way to feel a nirvana and gain wisdom.
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it...Time is not real Govinda. I have realized this repeatedly. And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between good and evil, is also an illusion" (115)
This quote reflects on the idea that has been replayed throughout the entire book. Siddhartha had learned that he could not gain wisdom from others. Earlier on in the book, Siddhartha believed that if he found a teacher that was well informed, he could gain knowledge and wisdom from that person, but in this quote it is seen that he has come to realization that this is not true
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." (115)
I couldnt agree more with this statement. Over and over again I have dealt with people going through problems that to me would have simple solutions and I can tell them (give them knowledge) what they could do or what they should do. But at the same time I myself had to experience a lot of the same stuff to understand the point of the knowledge. Wisdom can only be earned through experience and sometimes trying to cummunicate wisdom just sounds stupid. I think this is what Sidhartha learns throughout this entire book.
"Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish(117)."-Siddhartha
Throughout this short story Siddhartha learns and has experiences through the actions he does. Very little is achieved through words. His decision to have sex with Kamala, to learn the trade of a Merchant, to eat rich and well, to live with the Ferryman. If he had just talked about all of this he wouldn't have attained his peace of mind and nirvana. Thats the same with Kamala; she finally decides to make the pilgrimage by foot to go see the Perfect One, though she dies along the way, she attains complete peace of mind at the end.
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it" (115).
This quote sums up a major theme of the book. Siddhartha collects all sorts of knowledge from various groups on his journey through his life, but never can directly be taught wisdom. It is all of his knowledge that helps him discover what wisdom is by himself. This is the way that Siddhartha found himself throughout his path to enlightenment.
"I can love a stone, Govinda, and a tree or a piece of bark. These are things and one can love things. But one cannot love words. Therefore teachings are of no use to me; they have no hardness, no softness, nor colors, no corners, no smell, no taste- they have nothing but words." (p.117-118)
This quote is an extension of Siddhartha's ideal that wisdom cannot be taught, only you can learn it for yourself because words are imperfect and are not real or alive in the sense that things are. One must learn from things, like the river or the stones, not words from a teacher because as Siddhartha discovered with Gotama's teachings, while Gotama may have reached Nirvana, he is not able to instruct his followers on how to reach it for themselves.
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces -- hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which constantly changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha." (p. 121)
In this quote, Govinda comes to understand that by reaching Nirvana, or inner peace, one can come to understand the meaning of life, and when this occurs, one can understand that time may not be linear, but actually a series of snapshots, as proposed in the article we read.
"If they are illusion, then I also am illusion, and so they are always of the same nature as myself....That is why i can love them." (page 118)
This quote is said by Siddhartha in response to Govinda saying that: what does it matter because everything is an illusion. Siddhartha's answer is very calming to me because it means that if everything is real or fake it doesn't matter because you will be either real or fake too. so everything will be real to you regardless. This relates to the book because Siddhartha was always searching for what was real in the world and trying to find meaning in life.
“ His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetics, how he had taken leaves of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father also suffered for his son? Had not his father died long ago, alone, without having seen his son again?” pg. 107
This quote resembles Siddhartha’s search for himself and how he wants to search for himself. The important part of this quote is how Siddhartha is trying to please his father by seeing himself within his reflection. But the most important part of this quote is Siddhartha questioning himself about how he did not please his father and why all of his fathers suffering for nothing.
"And Govinda saw that this mask-like smile, this smile of unity over the flowing forms, this smile of simultaneousness over thousands of births and deaths-this smile of Siddartha as exactly the same as the calm, delicate, impenetrable, perhaps gracious, perhaps mocking, wise, thousand-fold smile of Gotma, the Buddha, as he perceived it with awe a hundred times." pg.122
Govinda's moment of enlightenment concludes the struggle to find one's enlightenment, like Siddartha. The steps needed to be taken to find yourself.
"During deep meditation it is possible to dispel time, to see simultaneously all the past, present and future, and then everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman. Therefore, it seems to me that everything that exists is good -- death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly. Everything is necessary" (116).
This quote reflects on the Buddhist ideal that everything is united: 'everything that exists is good... Everything is necessary', this basically says that everything is united so if one thing is important then everything else is because they're related. Also when I read this quote I thought about the existentialist view that what shapes your character and who you are is determined by the decisions you have made in the past. Every little decision you've made from the past and what you're doing in the present determine the decisions you will make in the future and who you are. So basically everything, even the little things most people consider negligible are important because they're all related.
Molly Riegel
"He had often heard all this before, all these numerous voices of the river, but today they sounded different. He could no longer distinguish the voices."(Page 110)
This quote references the ever appearing symbol of the river and how it is symbolic of Siddhartha's life. He is talking about how he met many different people and had different paths he took throughout his life. He changed his personality and worked to discover who he was as a person. But his different identities all blended together, similar to how a river flows from smaller water bodies into one larger body and continues flowing as if it has no end. He talks about that he can no longer pick out the different times and personalities of his life, but he had now become just one person and blended all his discoveries of himself together info one.
"He bowed low, right down to the ground, in front of the man sitting there motionless, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, of everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life." p 122
This quote is very significant because it explains how both Siddhartha and Govinda obtain nirvana through love. Govinda always loved Siddhartha dearly and when he was reunited with him at the end of the book he realizes that his true happiness always came when he with by Siddhartha's side. Siddhartha feels the same toward Govinda and also feels the love for his son. Although he lets his son go, he understands that letting someone go is part of loving them.
"I know that," said Siddhartha smiling radiantly, " I know that Govinda, and here we find ourselves within the maze of meanings, within the conflict of words, for I will not deny that my words about love are in apparent contradiction to the teachings of Govinda. That is why I distrust words so much…" 199
What Siddhartha said here that relates to the beginning of he book is that at the beginning Siddhartha was the one who was confused on what to believe, Buda, the Illustrious One, or something or someone else. However, now Siddhartha knows what he believes and knows that he have found peace. And Govinda still is unsure of what path he should take.
"He bowed low, right down to the ground, in front of the man sitting there motionless, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, of everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life"(122).
This quote is significant to the story because it sums up the whole of the book. It talks about love and how love is possible for those who think its impossible and what love really is.
"Time is not real, Govinda. I have realized this repeatedly. And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion" pg 115
I think this is a really important quote to the book as a whole, in that it is Siddhartha explaining how he found peace within his own world, and it helped him understand the feeling and meaning behind the path to enlightenment, and how when you experience it, you are at peace, in a happy middle, where there is no time, and no extremes.
"Sidddhartha," he said, "we are now old men. we may never see eachother again in this like. I can see, my dear driend that you have found peace. I realize that I have not found it. Tell me one more word, my esteemed friend, tell me something that I can concieve, something I can understand! Give me something to help me on my way, Siddhartha. May path is often hard and dark" (Hesse 120)
This quote reflects the fact that the speaker, Govinda is constantly going to Siddhartha and others for guidence and help. Unlike Govinda, Siddhartha realized early that enlightenment cannot be shown or taught, it is more like a self discovery. A journey that one most travel alone. Govinda is quick to be a follower, so he struggles to discover things for himself.
"I can love a stone, Govinda, and a tree or a piece of bark. These are things and one can love things. But one cannot love words. Therefore teachings are of no use to me; they have no hardness, no softness, nor colors, no corners, no smell, no taste-they have nothing but words. Perhaps that is what prevents you from finding peace, perhaps there are too many words, for even salvation and virtue." pg. 118.
This quote demonstrates one of the themes in the book that is demonstrated again and again throughout the book. That theme is that teachers can only communicate knowledge to others, and that they can never communicate pure wisdom and understanding. This reminds me of the Matrix when Morpheus tells Neo that he can only show him the door, and that in the end, he himself is the one who has to walk through it.
"When someone is seeking," said Siddhartha, "it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worhty one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose." Pg.113.
This quote basically represents the meaning of life. It describes life passing you by when you are seeking toward a goal or goals, instead of you allowing life to help guide you towards further understanding and more learning along the way as you learn to grow and understand about life itself. Also, in order for oneself to fullfilledly experienced life, he or she ought to seek towards anything that comes its way instead of focusing on one particular thing. No one can not grow when holding onto the past. You ought to let go off the past in order to grow as to, you can not fullfilledly forgive someone if you can not learn to forget the past.
~~Mea Pen~~
"In every truth the opposite is equally true. For example, a truth canonly be expressed and envelopped in words if it is one-sided. Everything that is thought and expressed in words is only one-sided, half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity." (p. 115)
This relates back to the rest of the book because up until the point that Siddartha actually had this epiphany, he had only been seeing one side of things. This is what caused him to endure many struggles throughout the book and made him feel that he was lacking some knowledge. Yet once he came to the realization that to each thing there is another that is equal and opposite, these troubles no longer existed.
When someone is seeking it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking." Pg. 113
This just shows that when you go in search of something you only pay attention to what you are looking for. You don't see or take in any of the important things that you are surrounding yourself with. Siddhartha was constantly in search of something else and until the end he didn't realize the things that were really important.
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces -- hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which constantly changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha." (p. 121)
I feel that this quote is not about how there may not be time and that there are billions and trillions of “nows.” I believe the fact that Govinda saw all the other faces in Siddhartha’s face is that Siddhartha has finally been able to be enlightened. He understood and felt all the pain, happiness, sorrow and all other feelings that others where feeling. He was in harmony with all around him and could know their stories and see what they saw.
I found the most meaning in the first paragraph of this chapter. Govinda "had lived his life according to the rule and was also regarded with respect by the younger monks for his age and modesty," and yet "there was still restlessness in his heart and his seeking was unsatisfied."(112) I thought that this was a beautiful way to begin the ending of this story. It is a tale of seeking, both of Siddhartha and of Govinda, and this quote shows that even after you spend your life searching for the truths of life and for peace and happiness and whatever else you may want, there is always more room in your heart and head for new answers and more seeking. The journey that Siddhartha and Govinda set out on is one that is never finished and begins and ends as each new generation is tought by the ones before it.
" 'When someone is seeking,' said Siddhartha, 'it happens quite easily taht he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to absorb anything, becuase he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to ahve no goal.' " (113)
I think that this quote not only relates to the rest of the book by showing everything that Siddhartha has learned throughout his life but also gives a good life lesson as well. When he says that you should not be seeking all the time, he speaks from experience becuause each stage of his life he was looking to learn something and it was not until he sat back and let the river teach him that he reached enlightenment.
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw many other faces, many faces, a long series, a continous stream of faces- hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themslves and which were yet all Siddhartha." p.121
This quotes greatly signifies and represents Siddartha's life and the entire novel's theme. As his dear old friend Govinda stares at the newly changed and enlightened Siddartha, he sees all of the past Siddartha character changes. And most importantly, he sees the experiences that Siddartha went through to find spiritual enlightment. This is important because in the plot to the book was Siddartha's adventures and experiences in finding his goal of reaching enlightment.
His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved and even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetic, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father also suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son?
pg 10
Siddhartha accepts that he cannot teach his son about life and show him everything liek he wants. He knows it was the same with Siddhartha and his father. He rebeled too in search of his own meaning. This begins to make him feel that life is a river and that things repeat and u cannot go against the flow of the river.
"This stone is just a stone; it has no value, it belongs to he world of Maya, but perhaps because within the cycle of change it can also become man and spirit, it is also of importance."
This quote is important to the end of the story because it sums up the whole meaning of the story in one sentence. It is representing the journey of Sidhartha physically and spiritialy. Also how a man grows with nature like a rock Sidhartha had a river as one of his teachers..
"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw the faces, many faces, a long series, a continuous stream of faces-hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha." Pg 121
This quote expresses the journey and learning experiences that Siddhartha has accomplished. It basically signifies how people can change and learn new things, but still be themselves and live and learn to what they want to accept. The quote also recognizes the challenges that were accompanied by Siddhartha's journey and how he over came them.
"Not in speech or thought do I regard him as a great man, but in his deeds and life." Pg. 119
This quote represents Siddartha's way of life that has consumed him for his life. This also represents Siddartha's philosophy. Siddartha doesn't care about what people say about Nirvana, you have to learn about it through life experiences and you must experience Nirvana yourselfe. Siddartha's experience's help him in the end as well, whereas Govinda's years of learning and listening don't get him anything until he finds Siddartha.
"No longer knowing whether time existed, whether this display had lasted a second or a hundred years, whether there was a Siddhartha, or a Gotama, a Self and others, wounded deeply by a divine arrow which gave him pleasure deeply enchanted and exalted, Govinda stood yet a while bending over Siddhartha's peaceful face which he had just kissed, which just been the stage of all present and future forms."
It shows how the author is trying to show Siddhartha exists in a world outside of time, as he has reached a higher point of thinking where mortal laws of the world do not apply to him. He has in a sense reached nirvana.
"His ideas seem crazy. How different do the illustrious One's doctrines sound! They are clear, straightforward, comprehensible; they contain nothing strange, wild or laughable."
This quote shows the difference between Siddharta's path to enlightenment and Gotama the Buddha's path. Siddharta has done it all his way through living as a merchant, to fatherhood, to life as a beggar, and lover of a courtesian. Siddharta has reached peace because he has seen everything.
"he no longer saw the face of his friend siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces,many faces, a long series,a continous stream of faces-hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemsed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all siddhartha." pg 121
this quote shows that siddhartha has indeed finished his journey. Govinda sees all these faces when he looks at siddhartha which shows that he has accomplished his goal and concludes the book.
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