This was a very interesting book about the search for truth or meaning in life. There were passages which rang true with me. There were also passages which were intriguing to think about...juicy morsels to chew on, and some passages that just seemed to go round and round in the reasoning used. Definitely a novel to inspire thought. Here are some of the passages that stood out to me with some commentary on them.
“We find consolations, we find numbness, we learn skills with which to deceive ourselves. But the essential, the Path of Paths, this we do not find.” p.17
"Skills with which to deceive ourselves"...which keep us from finding the Path of Paths...or the truth. What might those skills be? Propeganda? The attitude that seeing is believing? The limitations of the scientific method? For most of us, I would suspect that we are blind to those skills we use to deceive ourselves.
“Always I have thirsted for knowledge, always been filled with questions. Year after year I questioned the Brahmins, year after year questioned the holy Vedas. Perhaps, O Govinda, it would have been just as well, just as clever and salutary, had I put my questions to the rhinoceros bird or the chimpanzee. It has taken me long to learn this, Govinda, and still I am not quite done learning it: that nothing can be learned! There is in fact—and this I believe—no such thing as what we call ‘learning.’ There is, my friend, only knowing, and this knowing is everywhere; it is Atman, it is in me and in you and in every creature. And so I am beginning to believe that this knowing has no worse enemy than the desire to know, than learning itself.” p.17
I love the way this begins..."Always I have thirsted for knowledge and been filled with questions." Is it true, however, that nothing can be learned, but only known? True once you understand something, you know it...but when we understand something that we didn't before, isn't that learning? This one seems to go round and round as I try to understand what the author is really trying to say, and I can't quite get my mind wrapped around how the worst enemy to knowing is the desire to know.
“He who immerses himself in Atman, pondering with pure spirit—The joy of his heart cannot be expressed in words.” p. 18
Here is one that rings true to my soul. To me, Atman is God or his Holy Spirit. I have felt this joy that cannot be expressed in words. Perhaps in music, but not words...much as I love words.
“Immersed in deep contemplation of this feeling, which had taken hold of him completely, he walked slowly away, allowing himself to sink to the bottom of this feeling as if through deep water, down to where the causes lay. Recognizing the causes, it seemed to him, was just what thought was; it was only in this way that feelings gave rise to insights and, rather than being lost, took on substance and began to radiate what was within them.” p. 33
This kind of thought takes labor. I think it is what was meant by whomever said "thinking is hard...one of the hardest things we do...which is why we avoid it" Most of us...most of the time...tend to skim the surface with our thoughts. What understandings and solutions might we find if we let our thoughts sink to the bottom and the root causes where true insight may be found.
“You see, Kamala, when you throw a stone into the water, it hurries by the swiftest possible path to the bottom. It is like this when Siddhartha has a goal, a resolve. Siddhartha does nothing—he waits, he thinks, he fasts—but he passes through the things of this world like a stone through water, without doing anything, without moving; he is drawn and lets himself fall. His goal draws him to it, for he allows nothing into his soul that might conflict with his goal.” p. 53
This passage makes me think of a favorite scripture...D&C 121:46 When we reach the point where we are full of charity and virtue garnishes our thoughts unceasingly, then shall the Holy Ghost be our constant companion, that with which we rule our world will be righteousness and truth, and our dominion everlasting..."and without compulsory means it shall flow unto [us] forever and ever." It also reminds me of the premise in "As a man thinketh" that we attract that which we are. It sounds so easy. It probably really is. The trouble is that we TELL ourselves that we have one goal, but inwardly we are seeking something else which is in conflict with that goal. Once our goals are truly purely in line with what we want, it flows easily to us. Perhaps it is so...
“…one cannot receive pleasure without giving pleasure…” p. 57
I thought I was reading that one cannot give pleasure without receiving it, but if one is true, then so is the other.
“He listened much and spoke little…” p. 57
An important key to learning much. Most of us just need to close the mouth and open the ears and we would learn much.
“Never has anything been achieved by scolding.” p. 59
I must admit, this one makes me uncomfortable, and I'm still not sure it's true. It seems so...intuitively. But doesn't the Lord chasten us...because he loves us? Is this the same thing as scolding? Or is scolding just a form of useless complaining about someone else's behavior? I suppose that chastening has a goal. scolding really doesn't. Chastening is to help the child or other person to improve...scolding is just to make ourselves feel better...sort of. Probably the reason I'm uncomfortable is that I scold too much. A good one for me to ponder and watch within myself.
“…within you there is a stillness and a refuge into which you can withdraw at any moment and be at home with yourself…” “Kamaswami is just as clever as I am, but he has no refuge within himself. And there are people who have one whose minds are like those of little children. Most people, Kamala, are like a falling leaf as it twists and turns its way through the air, lurches and tumbles to the ground. Others, though—a very few—are like stars set on a fixed course; no wind can reach them, and they carry their law and their path within them.” p. 63
"LOVED this. We must all reach for that stillness within. We must all be at home with ourselves. And we must all reach the point where we carry our law and our path within us.
“…you heard the bird singing in your breast and followed it!” p. 82
Oh that we all truly followed the "bird singing in our breasts".
“It was the river that taught me to listen, and it will teach you as well. It knows everything, the river, and one can learn anything from it. You too, after all, have already learned from the river that it is good to strive for downward motion, to sink, to seek the depths.” p. 89
Again...learning deeply...not just skimming the surface of the things we would know.
“…he was joyful over all he learned…” p. 90
All learning should be joyful! If it is not, then I wonder if it is really learning?
“Siddhartha began to understand that it was not happiness and peace that had come to him with his son but, rather, sorrow and worry. But he loved him and preferred the sorrow and worry of love to the happiness and peace he had known without the boy.” p. 99
What parent doesn't understand this one? Mary was told by Simeon that "a sword shall pierce though thy own soul also" (Luke 2:35). I think this may be true with all parents to some degree. But still, we love our child and prefer the sorrow and worry to not having the child.
“You do not force him, do not strike him, do not command him because you know that soft is stronger than hard, water stronger than rock, love stronger than violence.” p. 100
Eternal truths here...and faith is also stronger than fear.
“When a person seeks, it can easily happen that his eye sees only the thing he is seeking; he is incapable of finding anything, of allowing anything to enter him, because he is always thinking only of what he is looking for, because he has a goal, because he is possessed by his goal. Seeking means having a goal. Finding means being free, being open, having no goal. You, Venerable One, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for, striving to reach your goal, you overlook many things that lie close before your eyes.” p. 117
So is it good to have the goal or not? Maybe it depends on the goal. With this kind of focus, we'd better be sure that it is a good and right goal. Also, perhaps we need both at different times. A balance of strong focus on the goal...and not seeing anything else for some things and at some times, and being open to discover what one might just find at others. Some things just aren't conducive to goal setting. If I try too hard and focus too much on enjoying the sunset, I can easily...and probably will...miss the mark.
“Wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to pass on always sounds like foolishness.” “One can pass on knowledge but not wisdom. One can find wisdom, one can live it, one can be supported by it, one can work wonders with it, but one cannot speak it or teach it.” p. 119
True, I think. We must all come to wisdom by ourselves...through thinking deeply and observing carefully.
“Words are not good for the secret meaning; everything always becomes a little bit different the moment one speaks it aloud, a bit falsified, a bit foolish—yes and this too is also very good and pleases me greatly: that one person’s treasure and wisdom always sounds like foolishness to others.” p. 121
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