New Aphorism

"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." -Euripides 

     You should go through life taking chances and standing up for what you believe in. You should be a fighter. You may be disliked or persecuted when you live this way, but it is better than living in someone else's shadow and never taking up life's opportunities. 
     That is how I interpret this quote, and I believe it has a lot to do with Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero's journey. Campbell said that the hero goes through trial and error, hardships, and even a resurrection. He believes a child must "die", leaving all of their dependency and immaturity behind them, and are later "reborn" as an independent adult. The quote above states just that. This quotes describes the hero. Someone who dies on their feet has gone through challenges, has been judged, has been resurrected, and is still fighting. They are still going through their journey. One who has lived on their knees has avoided the hardships. They haven't been resurrected. They're missing out on the opportunity of the hero's adventure! 
     Personally, I don't want to live on my knees. I want to die on my feet, like so many heroes before me. I'm not saying that I am a hero, or that I'll become one, but I'll try my best to embark on a similar journey. I think Joseph Campbell would encourage me to do so. 
   

A New Day (Aphorism)

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. "
-Eleanor Roosevelt 

     Eleanor Roosevelt was right. No, Eleanor Roosevelt is right. When I have horrible days, or I go to bed feeling like everything has gone wrong, I will wake up the next morning with a clear head and high hopes for a better day. 
     When you get into a chain of pessimistic thoughts it is often hard to pull yourself out of that deflated state. There are days when I feel like life is a living hell, but the truth is all I usually need is a bit of sleep to make that hell feel closer to heaven. Problems, whether social or those associated with schoolwork, that were tormenting me the day before feel so trivial after a good night's sleep. With a fresh outlook I can handle problems that had been too stressful the day before. With a body replenished with energy, I can "seize the day" and take on anyone and anything. 

Siddhartha Reading Blog (Section 4)

     After Siddhartha gave up wealth and riches, he decided he wanted to stay by the river that had saved him from suicide. The ferryman, who Siddhartha had met years before when he was still a Samana, allowed him to become his apprentice.   
     The 2 became very close. The ferryman, Vasudeva, was very wise and knew all the secrets of the river. He didn't talk much, but his eyes were full of joy and peace. 
     When Siddhartha had left Kamala she started following the Buddha while raising her son (who at this point was about 10). When she was making the pilgrimage to see Gotama as he was dying, she was bit by a snake by the ferry and died. She had been reunited with Siddhartha before she passed. The son was left with Siddhartha, but he was very unhappy. Although he was a bratty child, Siddhartha loved him and wanted to teach him. One morning Siddhartha woke and the boy had gone. He went looking for his son but Vasudeva told him that the boy needed to start his own life. 
     After his son ran away, Siddhartha was in pain for a very long time, his wound never healing. One day when his wound was at it's worst, Vasudeva told him to listen very closely to the river. As Siddhartha listened he began to hear the Om, and understood. His wound healed, and his face took that of the look of Vasudeva's. 
     When Vasudeva saw that Siddhartha understood the river he went into the woods and passed away. A few weeks later Govinda arrived at the ferry, and he and Siddhartha were reunited once more. Govinda saw that Siddhartha's smiling face was the same as Gotama's, and knew that Siddhartha had become the Buddha.    
      Towards the end of his story Siddhartha explains that to reach tranquility he had to go through each faze of his life, including becoming rich and greedy. He sinned, and he made mistakes, but he wouldn't take any of it back because he needed to know what that life was like to be able to reject it. I believe this to be a very true philosophy. People say you learn from your mistakes and you do. The Tao says knowledge comes from experience, and this is represented a lot throughout Siddhartha. He felt frustration, then revulsion, love, happiness, and deep sadness until he finally reached a point of what I believe was Nirvana. I think I understand what Nirvana is now. It's when you feel at peace with yourself and all of your surroundings, and are no longer bothered by the trivial details of life.
          I feel that achieving this state of being would be pretty difficult, because I'm always annoyed by something. This story, if it has truth behind it, proves that at least someone has done it.  

Siddhartha Reading Blog (Section 3)

     Siddhartha became the very thing he had despised and looked down upon for so long. When he first promised to become a merchant and wear fine clothes for Kamala, he only wanted to do such a thing so he could understand love and the "ordinary" people that surrounded him. This lifestyle proved to be infectious as he grew accustomed to the luxuries that surrounded him. He dined on expensive food, took perfumed bathes every day, ordered servants around, drank wine, gambled. He did this for a very long time until one day he realized he was disgusted with himself. He was so revolted that he almost committed suicide, but at the last minute he heard the holy Om, the old voice that had once led him down a righteous path. He fell asleep, and when he awoke he was a new man.    
     This part of Siddhartha's life strongly reminded me of Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. Scrooge, like Siddhartha, had a happy beginning to his life. They both knew what they wanted and how to get it. The problem is, once they started achieving their goal, it turned them into greedy, selfish men. They lost the ability to love. They lost friends and family. They lost more and more until one day they rethought their lives. Once they thought things out, they both realized how unhappy they were and how they had inflicted this unhappiness upon themselves. They decided to make some major changes, and these changes helped them realize how trivial material objects are. 
     Both of these stories,(and others) make it pretty clear that  money isn't everything, and you certainly can't buy happiness.            

Siddhartha Reading Blog (Section 2)

     Siddhartha heard Buddha's teachings and thought they were very wise. Yet when Govinda pledged to become one of Buddha's disciples, Siddhartha did not. He said goodbye to his best friend. The morning he left camp, he came across the Illustrious one, and was allowed to speak in his presence. Siddhartha told Gotama that he understood and appreciated his teachings, but he could not become one of his followers. Buddha had been enlightened, and taught his monks of his enlightenment. Siddhartha recognized that these teaching were valuable, but to become enlightened you must look deep into yourself, not deep into what someone else has experienced. Deep in thought, he went on his way. He thought and thought until suddenly he looked around him and saw the beauty of the earth. He had been ignoring it, thinking it fake the entire time he was a Samana in the woods. While he was trying to rid himself of "the Self", he had looked at the world as another illusion, another temptation. He realized that he'd been afraid of his Self, and that he no longer wanted to escape Siddhartha. He wanted to be Siddhartha. From that moment on he recognized and enjoyed the world's beauty. He saw kindness in people and wanted to teach them. He found Kamala and promised to prove himself to her. By the end of this section, he is no longer a Samana and is planning to become rich so he can be with Kamala. 
     Up until now, all we've read about Siddhartha has been about ridding himself of the "Self", and that includes being non-materialistic. I agree with Siddhartha that trying to escape your true self is not the answer to anything, but he is now promising Kamala to to become wealthy and shower her with presents. This troubles me. I think Siddhartha has made a lot of progress, but if he is planning on throwing it all away for riches, then he's regressing. I'm hoping that if he does become wealthy later on, then he'll use that wealth for something worth while. 
     Since Siddhartha has left Buddha and his monks, I'm wondering how the 2 are still connected. Will they meet again? Will Siddhartha start his own religion? Maybe section 3 will provide some answers.     

Siddhartha Reading Blog (Section 1)

     Before we started reading Siddhartha we made a "blueprint" of what we thought the book would be about. I thought Siddhartha would grow so frustrated with his already planned out life that he would rebel and run away. That's not at all what happened. Siddhartha was very calm when he asked his Father's permission to become a Samana, and waited very patiently until his father finally agreed to let him go. He and his friend Govinda started their new life that morning. 
     With the Samanas Siddhartha learned to overcome the pain he inflicted upon himself. He starved himself. He learned how to become a different creature, and forget about everything for a little while. Even with these achievements, Siddhartha was still frustrated. He always came back to his old self. His goal was to become "empty", but he never could. His "thirst" was never quenched. This made him bitter towards the world. Every glimpse of happiness he saw angered him. The Samanas had not taught him what he thought they would. He was unhappy. It was for this reason he begrudgingly accepted Govinda's offer to hear some of Buddha's teachings. The rumor of Buddha had been spreading all over the country. Siddhartha didn't believe in him, but since nothing else had quenched his thirst, he decided to give it a try. 
     Siddhartha reminds me of both Confucius and the Tao. Siddhartha and Confucius both had a great thirst for knowledge, even if the knowledge they wanted to acquire was very different. They also went to great lengths to get this knowledge. Confucius read and studied and learned from the world at any moment possible. Siddhartha starved himself, froze himself, burnt himself, and crouched in a pile of thorns, bleeding, until he couldn't feel pain anymore. One way is obviously a little more extreme than the other, but they both had the same goal. 
     The Tao talks a lot about non-action, being in tune with nature, and learning through experience. Siddhartha spends his time in the forest meditating, fasting, and waiting for the moment to come when he is no longer attached to his "Self". This seems Taoist to me because he is away from society, is very patient, and tries to attain Nirvana through experiences like meditation and pain.    
     If I could make an educated guess, it would be that Siddhartha's thirst will be quenched by Buddha. I think Buddha will help him realize that there are other ways of becoming non-materialistic and overcoming one's sins than whipping yourself. I look forward to hearing what Buddha has to say.  

Visual Paradoxes and Oxymorons

 

     This is a paradox because the block in the right hand corner is drawn on top of the block that it is supposed to be behind. When you first look at the cube it seems like the block in the right hand corner is both where it should and shouldn't be. The closer you look you notice that it is positioned incorrectly, tricking your eyes into seeing 2 seemingly possible structures, but the structures you see can't both be true.  

 

     These are the materials needed to create invisible ink. Invisible ink is an oxymoron. The whole point of ink is to write out something that can be read. Invisible ink cannot be read, because it's invisible. The 2 terms are contradictory, ink being something you can see while invisibility is, well, invisible. They are put together to create a new idea/invention, but the words used have opposite purposes. 

 

     This is another paradox. There are stairs that seem to be going down because one side of the structure gives it the appearance of having height. But from the other sides the platform looks like it's at an even height, which makes it impossible for the stairs to be leading downwards if the whole platform is equal. At first glance it seems as if the man will eventually walk down the stairs, but when you study the structure you find that this is impossible.