lessons from Siddhartha
I was rereading Siddhartha this week, and some new passages jumped out at me this morning as I reached the part of the story where Siddhartha begins to shed the version of his Self that was rich, lustful, and materialistic. I won’t spoil the plot and how Siddhartha arrives at the understanding of his new Self--it’s a short and quick read that I highly recommend, but I wanted to share a few of them with you:
“I praise you, Siddhartha, after so many years of foolishness, you have once again had an idea, have done something, have heard the bird in your chest singing and have followed it!”
When I read this, I automatically thought about how I’ve had ideas, listened to my intuition, taken action, and followed the calling and my intuition. Now, my journey has taken me to a different place than Siddhartha, but it was the same formula.
Note: It’s important to note that in the book Siddhartha, the main character is not Buddha--this is a common misunderstanding, so I’m not suggesting that the formula will lead you to enlightenment, but the book is believed to be influenced by some of Buddha’s life, so maybe it will.
“It is good to get a taste of everything for oneself, which one needs to know. That lust for the world and riches do not belong to the good things, I have already learned as a child. I have known it for a long time, but I have experienced only now. And now I know it, don’t just know it in my memory, but in my eyes, in my heart, in my stomach. Good for me, to know this!”
This explains why I talk about planting seeds and trying to help people reach their own awakenings and understandings; there are some things you can only comprehend through experiencing your Self, and there’s a good chance that experience will confirm what you already knew.
And to build upon this, the final passage I wanted to share,
“Now he saw it and saw that the secret voice had been right, that no teacher would ever have been able to bring about salvation.”
While Siddhartha is not the biography of Buddha, it is an important spiritual book that is believed to draw from some of Buddha's story, so I won't discount the lessons I find in them, especially when they align with core beliefs I've arrived at--maybe that's a case of confirmation bias, but I don't see it being a bad thing.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
🦅 Some ways I might be able to help you live your authentic life:
🤝 One-on-Ones Let's hop on Zoom to do a guided meditation, a creative brainstorming session, or an overcoming an obstacle session.
💸 AlignedLife+ A unique relationship offered at Santiago that combines life planning, financial planning and advice, and ongoing coaching to help you discover your authentic life, design a plan to bring that life to your reality, and support to help you evolve with the evolution of your authentic life. Learn more here.
📪 If you were forwarded this note and want to get the Daily Note, you can click here to subscribe.
