Siddhartha - Herman Hesse

 

The way I’m going to summarize this book is by recounting what I wrote down as I read through it, rather than try to recount everything from memory. 

- I remember in high school a teacher attempted to have us read this book. She gave up after about a week because it seemed her lesson plans weren’t easily digested by majority of the class. She gave the rest of us the option to continue reading it, I didn’t want to put it down. I saw it as important to read in our adolescence - in my perspective, it’s a lesson in finding happiness your own way, not your parents, teachers, or peers way. Try a bunch of different things til something feels right. Never stop growing, learning, and experiencing.

- When he’s with the samanas and his soul is experiencing different phases of life cycles from different things and animals, it reminds me of this scene from bobs burgers (my brain works exclusively in memes and pop culture references). https://youtu.be/1VVlNCPH19E

- What an interesting perspective - to have the time and privilege to do what Siddhartha is able to do. To be able to leave a privileged life and explore other means of living is still a privilege most don’t have. 

- We can’t control what anyone else does, thinks, or says”.

- How can you understand anything if you don’t understand yourself?

- Enjoy life - don’t obsess over the negative things that happen - love makes life worth living. 

- Material possessions mean nothing. Only reason he stuck around in that facade of a rich persons reality is for the love of Kamala. 

- Honestly, I cried a little at the thought that he left the rich life before knowing he had a son on the way. Ouch my emotions. 

- Again.... I read this book in high school... I forgot Kalama died like that. Damnit, fricken emotions again.

- I know it’s a different time period while all this is taking place, but a fricken 11 year old just runs away and they give up after 1 day. I understand he can’t control the child and he can’t make the child see the world as he sees it, but from a parenting aspect this is like the weirdest episode of jerry springer ever. 

- Vasudeva’s approach is very interesting. Give advice, honest advice, and still offer support even if they don’t take the advice. 

- I know vasudeva is going into the oneness and what that means from a spiritual aspect, from a literal aspect though, is he just going to wander til he dies or lay down and die somewhere? I know it’s not important to the core of the story but I weirdly wanna know. 

- like I said earlier with that bobs burgers video, everything is connected by energy and life. 

- The Beatles had it right man, all you need is love. 

- The universe is just infinitely flowing energy, that’s what I picture the “love” they talk about. The feeling of love in everything is the every flowing energy that runs through everything we know to be existing.