Siddhartha, Chapter 7: Question 3

Why is S’s wealth seen as a burden? Isn’t wealth and prestige what most persons seek? Aren’t these the things that make a person happy?

In today’s society, the wealthy have more power, generally. I have noticed that most of the people I encounter who have more money, tend to have a higher comfort level. However, this comfort is simply materialistic. The rich people often put money first and foremost as a priority and forget what is really important in life: love. This constant want to have more money and more possessions creates dissatisfaction and leads to problems such as depression and unhappy marriages.

Siddhartha suddenly becomes very wealthy and loses perspective of what he was really in search of. He was already dissatisfied with his and therefore was seeking answers. The only answer he got from being wealthy was that constantly wanting more and more possessions and money was clouding his thoughts and judgment and he lost track of who he really was.

Money does not bring someone happiness. People should view money as a means to get by in life, not as means to acquire more things. Material wealth is worth nothing compared to the bonds one can create with people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCF4wrjItRg
http://www.nowpublic.com/opinions/mystery-how-wealth-creates-poverty-world
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/P95294.asp

Siddhartha, Chapter 6: Question 1

When Siddhartha says that he can fast, wait and think and he believed that it was because of these qualities that he could work for the merchant. To him, fasting seemed like not giving into hunger so easily because to get food, one must first work. Siddhartha would have had to get a job if he could not fast for long. Without the ability to think, he would not be able to perform any task that is handed over to him. As for patience, it is a virtue. Without patience, then Siddhartha would not be able to complete long and stressful tasks as well as fasting for it requires a lot of patience.

Fasting can be a very good thing for anyone to try out, whether it is for religion or even weight loss. Many religions tend to fast at some points during the here to experience what their saviors went through when fasting. Some people like to fast to lose weight but if they do it too much then it can become a major problem for them. One thing that I would like to say is that fasting requires a lot of patience because it is very hard to not eat any food of the sort when your refrigerator is full of it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e1er86VQXA
http://www.quran-islam.org/167.html
http://fasting.ygoy.com/hazards-of-fasting/
http://ramadankareem.blogspot.com/2006/10/fasting-and-gandhi.html
http://www.billbright.com/howtofast/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu-CVAycK7U

Siddhartha, Chapter 4 Response

Siddhartha did not return to his father because he thought that he had changed too much. He was no longer a Brahmin, he was the awakened Siddhartha. He knew that if he returned to his father, he’d go back to studying, sacrifices and meditation. If he were to go back, he’d only be lying to himself and his father because he wants to find answers to his questions. Also, what would his father think? Would he be able to really forgive Siddhartha for leaving the Brahmin and joining the Samanas?
This kind of situation doesn’t have to be so troubling to Siddhartha. He just has to tell his father that he has completely changed his ways. Everyone changes as they grow older and they do not have to be the shadows of others. A real life situation of this would be visiting a friend that you have not seen in over twenty years. He will
most probably have changed and maybe it will be for the better or the worse but it takes courage to do such a thing.

http://www.iowafamilycaregiver.org/tips/PM1440A1.pdf
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/04/08/risk-taking-part-of-growing-up-part-of-the-learning-process/
http://www.artofloving.com/relationships/lettinggo.htm