The Son of the Brahmin

Awakening

The Son of the Brahmin

Gautama

With the Shramanas

Siddartha questions the effectiveness of the Shramanas lifestyle since many old Shramana have not achieved nirvana. He realizes he wants to leave and seek another way.

Siddartha realizes his dissatisfaction with the ritualistic teachings of the Upanishads and decides (along with Govinda) to live the ascetic lifestyle.

As Siddhartha walks away from Govinda and the Buddha, he begins to realize that he is completely alone (no teachers or Govinda). He decides to find his own path to enlightenment, and without the guidelines of how he was "supposed" to see the world, he begins to experience the world on its own terms. He feels as if he is seeing it for the first time, and this is his awakening.

Siddartha points out the flaw in the Buddhas teachings after realizing that the experience of finding Nirvana would differ from person to person.

"Only for myself, for myself alone must I judge, must I choose, must I decline. Deliverance from the I is what we shramanas seek, o Exalted One."

"O Govinda, I believe that among so many learned men, among so many Brahmins, among so many austere and venerable shramanas, among so many seeking, so many inwardly devoted, so many holy men, that no one should find the way of ways."

"I was seeking Atman, I was seeking Brahman, I was determined to carve up my I and peel it apart, in order to find in its unkown interior what was at the core of all husks, to find Atman, life, the divine, the ultimate. I myself, however, got lost in the process."

"He had begun to surmise that his venerable father and his other teachers, that these wise Brahmins had already conveyed the majority and the best part of their wisdom...."

By the River

Kamala

Samsara

Among the Child People

"What all the torment of these recent times, all the disillusionment, all the despair had not effected, the very moment the Om penetrared his consciousness had: he recognized himself in his misery and in his error. Om! he said to himself:Om! And he knew of Brahman, knew of the indestructibility of life, kneww again of everything devine, which he had forgotten."

Siddartha enters the city and becomes intrigued with Kamala. He wants her to teach him the art of love, believing that anyone can reach their goals.

"Then Siddartha kenw that the game was at an end, that he could no longer play it. A sudder ran over his body, then it entered inside him, and so he percieved that something had died."

Siddartha has lived a life of pleasure and feelings of superiority over the "child people". Over time, he realizes he is caught in the wheel of samsara and he is no different from them,

"Laughing, Kamala exclaimed,'No, my dear, he does not yet suffice. He must have clothing, lovely clothing, and shoes, lovely shoes, and lots of money in his purse, and gifts for Kamala. Do you understand now, Shramana from the forest?'"

Kamiswami takes in Siddartha as a merchant, who treats business like a game (no passion/motivation). Kamala continues to teach Siddartha about love, but he realizes that they do not love each other and only the child people can love.

"He saw people living their lives in childlike or bestial ways, which he loved and scorned at one and the same time. He saw them take pains, saw them suffer and go gray over things that to him seemed unworthy of hte price, over money, over small pleasures, trivial honors, he saw them chide and insult one another; he saw them lament over woes at which a shramana smiles, and suffer privations a shramana simply does not feel.

Siddartha leaves the city and goes to the river. There he attempts to kill himself by slipping away in the river, but is stopped when he hears Om and it revives him and his spirit. He resolves to stay by the river and try and learn from it.

Govinda

Om

The Ferryman

The Son

After meditating, Siddhartha looks into the river and realizes that life flows like a river. He discusses this with Vasudeva (described as being as enlightened as the Buddha), who invites him to look even closer. Siddhartha realizes that he is part of all the voices in the world singing Om.

Siddartha meets the ferryman that helped him cross the river long ago. Vasudeva, the ferryman, remembers Siddartha and takes him in after hearing that the river had spoken to him. Vasudeva and Siddartha work together as ferryman while Siddartha learns lessons from the river (time doesn't exist, how to listen, river has many voices, impermanence, everything is Om).

Siddhartha's teachings to Govinda explain the interconnectivity of life and how everything is sacred. The kiss on the forehead allows Govinda to experience this and he finally understands the way of Siddhartha's enlightenment.

"After he had been standing at thegarden gate for a long time, Siddhartha understood that the need that had driven him to this place was foolhardy, that he could not help his son, that he must not cling to him. Deep in his heart he felt the love he had for the runaway was like a wound, and at the same time he felt the wound was not given to him for probing, it was meant to blossom and be resplendent."

"The river taught me how to listen, from the river you too will learn how. It knows everything, he river, one can learn everything from it. Look here, from the water you have already learned it is good to strive for the bottom, to sink, to seek out the depths. The wealthy and elegant Siddartha will be a galley slave, the learned Brahmin Siddartha will become a ferryman: this too the river has told you."

After Kamala dies, Siddhartha tries his best to take care of his son. The son, however, resents him and his new lifestyle and decides to run away to the city. Despite Vasudeva's warning, Siddhartha tries to find his son, blinded by love. He reaches the city but realizes that he cannot help or reason with his son

"Everything all together was the flow of events, was the msuic of life. And if Siddhartha listened attentively to this river, to this song of a thousand voices, if he did not listen to the pain or the laughter, if he did not bind his soul to any one voice and enter into it with his I, but rather listened to all, the entirety, perveiving the unity, then the great song of the thousand voices of one single word, and the word was OM: perfection."

"The world, Govinda my friend, is not imperfect, not to be seen as on a slow path toward perfection: No, it is perfect in every moment, all transgression already bears grace within itself, all little children already have the aged in themselves, all sucklings death, all the dying eternal life."