In this hour, Siddhartha stopped fighting his fate, stopped suffering. On his face flourished the cheerfulness of a knowledge, which is no longer opposed by any will, which knows perfection, which is in agreement with the flow of events, with the current of life, full of sympathy for the pain of others, full of sympathy for the pleasure of others, devoted to the flow, belonging to the oneness.
When Vasudeva rose from the seat by the bank, when he looked into Siddhartha’s eyes and saw the cheerfulness of the knowledge shining in them, he softly touched his shoulder with his hand, in this careful and tender manner, and said, “I’ve been waiting for this hour, my dear. Now that it has come, let me leave. For a long time, I’ve been waiting for this hour; for a long time, I’ve been Vasudeva the ferryman. Now it’s enough. Farewell, hut, farewell, river, farewell, Siddhartha!”
Siddhartha made a deep bow before him who bid his farewell.
“I’ve known it,” he said quietly. “You’ll go into the forests?”
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Chapter 11. Om
“I’m going into the forests, I’m going into the oneness,” spoke Vasudeva with a bright smile.
With a bright smile, he left; Siddhartha watched him leaving. With deep joy, with deep solemnity he watched him leave, saw his steps full of peace, saw his head full of lustre, saw his body full of light.
The Banks of the Ganges near Patna, ©Shishir Thadani Topics Worth Investigating
1. Just as the river can be seen as a four-dimensional object, so likewise your life can be seen as a four-dimensional object. Is this how the holy man, with his insight into the karma of an individual, is able to presage events?
In this regard, Royce suggests the idea that the self is its history: A self is, by its very essence, a being with a past. One must look lengthwise backwards in the stream of time in order to see the self, or its shadow, now moving with the stream, now eddying in the currents from bank to bank of its channel, and now strenuously straining onwards in the pursuit of its chosen good.2
2.
Josiah Royce. “Lecture IX” in The Problem of Christianity. New York: Macmillan, Siddhartha: An Open-Source Text
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Would consciousness of the unity of life imply that the self in this sense is an illusion?
2. Does consciousness of the unity of all life imply that time is an illusion?
Are the recognition of cycles and the circle of time a preliminary insight to Atman? Dogen Kigen, a thirteenth century Japanese Buddhist, is known for his deeply profound Shobogenzo. He elucidates the notion of reality of time and being in the section “Being-Time”:
Man disposes himself and looks upon this disposition [as the world]. That man is time is undeniably like this. One has to accept that in this world there are millions of objects and that each one is, respectively, the entire world—this is where the study of Buddhism commences. When one comes to realize this fact, [one perceives that] every object, every living thing is the whole, even though it itself does not realize it. As there is no other time than this, every being-time is the whole of time: one blade of grass, every single object is time. Each point of time includes every being and every world.3
3. Is enlightenment just a form of dissociation or some variety of sophis-ticated stoicism adopted by an individual in order to cope with life’s vicissitudes? Interpret the phrases from the text, “. . . when he did not tie his soul to any particular voice and submerged his self into it . . . his self had flown into the oneness.” Is, then, Atman, Brahman?
4. Discuss whether when Siddhartha hears the many voices of the river as Om, he is also affirming Schopenhauer’s recognition that “All the cru-elty and torment of which the world is full is in fact merely the necessary result of the totality of the forms under which the will to live is objecti-fied.”4?
1914.
3.
Quoted in Philip Kapleau. The Three Pillars of Zen. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.
298.
4.
Arthur Schopenhauer. Parerga and Paralipomena. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1851) 1997. Vol. 2, Ch. 14, Sect. 164.
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Chapter 12
Govinda
India’s Sacred Lotus, Library of Congress
From the reading. . .
“Perhaps that you’re searching far too much? That in all that searching, you don’t find the time for finding?”
Ideas of Interest from “Govinda”
1. Explain Siddhartha’s observation that when seeking becomes a goal-in-itself for Govinda, enlightenment is not possible. Is it that Govinda is not separate from his goal or is it that Govinda should not have a goal?
2. Explain what Siddhartha means when he states that wisdom cannot be communicated. Can you think of some specific examples illustrating this insight?
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3. Evaluate Siddhartha’s claim that “The opposite of every truth is just as true!” Can you adduce some examples which show what Siddhartha means?
4. What are some of the insights Siddhartha has learned throughout his life? Are these insights just meaningful with respect to Siddhartha’s life or would they also be useful in contemporary times?
5. What would be some of the implications of the fact that time is not real?
Is it inconceivable that time is an a priori construction of the human mind?
6. How does Govinda know that Siddhartha has reached enlightenment?
What are the signs of this recognition?
The Reading Selection from “Govinda”
Together with other monks, Govinda used to spend the time of rest between pilgrimages in the pleasure-grove, which the courtesan Kamala had given to the followers of Gotama for a gift. He heard talk of an old ferryman, who lived one day’s journey away by the river, and who was regarded as a wise man by many. When Govinda went back on his way, he chose the path to the ferry, eager to see the ferryman. Because, though he had lived his entire life by the rules, though he was also looked upon with veneration by the younger monks on account of his age and his modesty, the restlessness and the searching still had not perished from his heart.
