post about siddhartha

_posts/2016-01-30-siddhartha.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: Siddhartha
+date: '2016-01-30 10:01:52'
+categories: book
+tags: book fiction good life
+---
+
+I am not sure where I had first heard of [*Siddhartha*][sid-amazon],
+but it has been in the back of my head as a book that I should
+read at some point. Originally written in German in 1922, this is
+truly an odd book.
+
+The entire story must have multiple layers of meaning otherwise
+it would really just be a boring story about the life of a guy
+in India. Much of the book is trying to tell you some deeper truth
+about life through metaphors, but also blantaly just saying certain
+ideas. Thus it is hard to really grapple with what is happening
+and what you are feeling unless you consciously take a step
+back and really think about the meaning behind what you are reading.
+
+All that being said, I had two big takeaways from the book that were
+just said pretty clearly. Although you need to read the book and get
+the reasoning behind these ideas and the metaphors that go along with them,
+these two quotes capture a lot of the main essence of what I think
+the author was trying to get across. First,
+
+> Searching means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open,
+> having no goal.
+
+The problem with trying to accomplish a goal as your search for meaning
+in life is that you will not be able to see the end of your search even
+if it is staring you in the face. You will not be open to having to goal
+while still searching and hence your search will be eternal and fruitless.
+Something like that. This comes across as contradictory or even leading to
+hedonism, but there is a deeper truth here that has some real wisdom,
+however the next bit will explain why this is hard to explain.
+
+> Wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom which a wise man tries to pass on
+> to someone always sounds like foolishness.
+> ...
+> Knowledged can be conveyed, but not wisdom. It can be found, it can be
+> lived, it is possible to be carried by it, miracles can be performed with
+> it, but it cannot be expressed in words and taught.
+
+So all is for naught then. This sentiment while extreme is backed up by
+my own experience so I found it believeable. It is a bit of a runaround
+though as this idea is wisdom in itself so it is almost like the
+contradiction "This sentence is a lie". I have found the wisdom I have
+gained over each year to be something that, even if told to me when I was
+younger, I would not have believed. I needed the experience to win the
+wisdom to fully internalize it. Now that I know that, I try to take a
+different view when I hear tidbits of information, try to see if it is
+something that I can learn now without having to learn myself the hard
+way. Even being aware of that possibility, it is a hard feat to accomplish.
+
+*Siddhartha* was a good book for getting me to think about some ideas
+and ways of living. This particular edition was horrendous in terms of
+grammar and editing, so maybe steer clear of the Kindle edition. Additionally,
+it is short and to the point, so unlike some other philisophical stories, this
+did not put me to sleep as often.
+
+
+[sid-amazon]:     http://amzn.com/B00OARFNBU
+