Siddhartha Response Part II

"Have you too, learned that secret from the river: that there is no such thing as time?"

I find this quote as a very interesting quote. It seems like an interesting philosophy. That time is merely something like shadows or another part of one's soul. He means that time doesn't exist, all it is is a thought or a memory that one would think of. There is no proof of time, but we are convinced it exists, due to the fact that it can be described in words, if not difficult. I find the symbolism to the river true, a river is exactly like the flow of time. However, I find this a bit odd that the book would introduce it as the river speaking to him. Even though time is just a memory or destiny, it doesn't seem like a part of your soul, in that sense, or that it doesn't exist, time is real, I do believe.

I think that we could incorporate this into our lives by not dwelling on the past or future in a negative sense, but that doesn't mean that we can't learn from our mistakes, or pay attention to the past.

"Of course I was taking a pleasure trip. Why else should I travel? I got to know people and places, I enjoyed friendliness and trust, I found friendship."

Siddhartha is telling him that not everything is about money, that joy and friendship is much more essential. I couldn't agree more, that the whole point of greed and selfishness is to be happy, is it not? But isn't it true that is is better to be seen from the other perspective, that joy and friendship will lead to money and wealth? That Joy is the reason for money, and Joy can lead to money, while money might lead to joy, but not directly? I find that a really true way to see things.

I think that this is a great way to see things, from doing something like this, and looking on the bright side, it isn't a waste of time, that the benefits far outweigh the losses.

"Perhaps that you are doing too much seeking? That your seeking prevents you from finding?"

Well, this happens to be absurdly true in Govinda's case. Be it This is true, that when one has a obsession with a goal, they rarely pay attention to what is going around them. Blind obsession with something ultimately leads to it turning back on you because you didn't see what was actually very important. That life is not just about one thing, but many different things, bad and good, interwoven together.

This is a good concept to keep in real life, when surrounded by many valuable or important things, it really is never the best thing to "keep your eyes on the prize".

"Words do no good to the secret meaning; everything always immediately becomes a little different when you express it, a little falsified, a little foolish"

Siddhartha is stating to Govinda that him telling him about enlightenment isn't going to enlighten him, or even make him see sense in the words. That is true, in my opinion, that is why there is more than one language, that no human language is able to convey exactly what one is feeling. If that was true, there would only be one language in the world. The brain converts feelings into words into language, which converts it into sound, which is heard by the other person as language, which is converted into words, into feelings, every conversion is different for every person, it becomes like a strange game of telephone.

I see this as another good philosophy, that you shouldn't take words or actions for granted, or as a way you view it. For the person who made it would have viewed it in a different way.

Siddhartha Response Part I

“The doctrine of the enlightened Buddha contains a great deal, it teaches many how to live righteously, to shun evil. But one thing this doctrine, so clear, so venerable, does not contain: it does not contain the secret of what the Sublime One himself experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands.”

Siddhartha is saying that no matter how much he learns or hears through teaching about how to live like the Buddha, he never actually has the experience. No matter how much you teach somebody about an experience, you do not actually attain it. It is like saying that as much as you tell somebody about a party, they haven’t actually experienced the party. (Unless they were there too.) He is saying that even that is true; the Buddha has shown him the path to awakening.

It reminds me of the High Tech style of teaching things in projects, instead of reading and listening to stuff about whatever we are studying, we actually experience it using hands on activities ( or as close as we can get ) I think that this rule applies to learning in general, you do math homework instead of just learning how to do it. It is a bit more pronounced in things where you have a spiritual or philosophical experience, such as enlightenment.

“When someone reads a piece of writing and wants to find out what it means, he does not feel contempt for the written signs and letters, calling them illusion, chance, and a valueless husk, but he reads them, he studies and loves them, letter by letter. But I, who wanted to read the book of the world and the book of my own nature, I have held the signs and letters in contempt, for the sake of a presumed interpretation; I called the world of phenomena an illusion, I called my eyes and my tongue an accident, valueless phenomena. No, that is all over, I have awakened, I have really awakened and I have just been born today.”

Siddhartha finds the truth for what he was seeking, he realized that the samanas’ way of teaching was wrong; he was hiding and trying to escape from himself, “I” to find out about his soul, instead of trying to understand himself. He relates it to a piece of writing, but it could be related to any sensory input in general, to try to understand the deep meaning or purpose of any music, artwork, action, or basically anything, one does not shun or escape from it, obviously. He realizes that it applies to the soul as well, ridding yourself of yourself or “I” is equivalent to trashing the music or artwork, or forgetting the action.

It is a good philosophy and attitude to have, a simple and effective way to describe it is to have an open mind, and learn from your mistakes.

(Took me forever to write this, but it was a really enlightening and helpful activity which I did a lot of contemplation and reflection. )

Feng Shui

Before:



After:

I Feng Shui'd a room! Feng Shui is a belief that by arranging and keeping certain items in your home, you create a positive flow of chi energy and let the elements exist in harmony. This distributes luck into your life (somehow) and leads to a life full of money, luck, and romance. I moved certain elements in and arranged them to create a "productive" flow of chi in the room.

I moved the chair so that it had a view of the door, moved the plants away from the metal lamp and put them near the fireplace, put glass vases on the table near the lamp, put a scuba diving book on the table with a plant, and moved the metal lamp nearer to the vases.

I felt that this didn't do things like make my family's life more lucky, it seems just like a superstition. All the luck that is generated should only be from feeling more lucky, rather than the fact that a room's arrangement that is miles away is majorly affecting all the major events in your life.

First Socratic Seminar

How did you and your classmates perform in seminar today?

I think that we performed great in the seminar. In addition to the fact that Ms. Golub flattered us by saying that we were the best class that she had ever done a seminar with, I felt that it moved smoothly, and everybody did participate full heartedly, in fact, I noticed that nobody passed, or said anything that they didn't put effort in.

How do the Tao Te Ching’s ideas related to our lives and the world around us?

I think that his ideas are very important in the world and environment around us, especially today. Unstable diplomatic ties with nations in the Middle East and Russia, global warming, unstable economies, and other issues in the present news are all balances, like the Tao Te Ching and the Ying Yang tell us. Also, in more personal detail, with all the distractions such as video games and fast food, balance is especially important.

5 Elements

Fire 46 %
Water 19 %
Wood 3 %
Earth 23 %
Metal 7 %

WOOD ARCHETYPE: The Pioneer.............................. 4
FIRE ARCHETYPE: The Wizard.................................... 11
EARTH ARCHETYPE: The Peacemaker......................... 10
METAL ARCHETYPE: The Alchemist.............................. 5
WATER ARCHETYPE: The Philosopher......................... 2

I feel that this process describes me more well then most other personality quizzes I have tried. It is interesting that I had around the same ratio in both quizzes, even though that the questions were dramatically different. I would like to learn more about how these elements are incorporated into culture. I find this way of seeing the world very symbolic, and spiritual.

Qi Gong Lesson

I found the lesson in Qi Gong very fascinating. I thought it was a very interesting and philosophical thing to learn about. It it a rational way to explain things such as energy, and I already feel that it has a calming experience whenever you do it. I would like to learn more about this amazing subject, and how it ties in to both the way we see the world in modern life, and the practices of Buddhism and Taoism. I hope we explore this type of philosophy more, later in class. In all, I found it as a way to see the world, and to look at your own health and energy more accurately, which could help make you make more bountiful decisions in life, and mainly have a more happy and long life.

Vocab Part 1

There is an idea that is growing popularity, of farming domestic plants and animals in city buildings! The idea is a sedentary way to transport food, without taking much space either. Dr. Despommier’s created the concept in 1999, with his students. The cultivated land and crops are all inside the building. We have the technology to have a sustainable and fertile land in the inside of a vertical farm, full with irrigation from the materials in the city. There is already a small scale of the farm, in downtown Seattle. It would create a third of the the food for the people that live there. The economic determinant is to be considered, however. Space is expensive and competitive in a city, a fruit will have trouble outbidding other buyers. The idea is a large technological advancement from our start as primitive farmers, which was a great discovery to us as nomadic hunters.

I think that this would be a great solution to the energy crisis if we would ignore the economic factor. We could cultivate so much more food from domesticated animals and plants in the area needed for an average farm, a ten story farm could have ten times the output. This could be an interesting way to make something like ethanol, or ease up the economy by supplying food more easily. It would also reduce the cost needed for transportation.

I think that if the benefits outweigh the costs, this would be a viable idea. For sure however, is that if we do not colonize another planet, or find ways to increase our space, eventually we would have to do something like this to still have land for our increasing population.