Angelie D.

Maningas / BSAT3-2 PHILO 101: Introduction to Philosophy with Logic and Critical Thinking January 18, 2012 A DETOUR: A Reflection Paper on Hermann Hesses Siddhartha Watching yourself change is like watching sunrise from afar, you dont actually see it rise, but you just notice that suddenly, your surroundings have gone brighter, then youll feel this tiny hint of warmth on your skin, and before you know it, the darkness have already vanished, what remains is a new morning, another hello world! you have been blessed with, and the rest of the day. Its like being unable to recognize whether you are going amid a transformation, and that before you get hold of what change was taking place, youll be surprised at realizing that you have already did. But then, change was not always the best thing, just like how you cannot always expect a sunny day, because once in while, dark clouds crowd the sky, as trials, challenges, disappoinments, failures and temptations would block our way. Freewill is a gift bestowed to each of usthe absolute freedom, independence, autonomy. It is to say that our choices determine who we are, who we have been, and who we will be. We choose the path we would take and follow it. There is no such thing as having no other choice, we always have choices, the only crucial thing there is whether we have enough courage to face the consequence of each, whatever it may be. We may decide to see a movie rather than study our lessons on a vacation, or maybe we may choose to stay at home instead of going out with a friend, we may continue to hate an old enemy or try to forgive himwe always have choices and that would always be up to us. When Siddhartha made up his mind and became a Samana, it was his choice and nothing ever made him stop from deciding for himself, not even the refusal of his own father. He simply made his choice, stand for it and made sure it will be fulfilled. However, it is much much more simply stated in books, novels or movies, because in the real life, thats not always the case, a win-win decision is very rare on tough situationsits
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either you surrender your own choice, give up your happiness to fill up anothers vessel or stand up with it, get what you want but still feel unsatisfied knowing youve crossed somebody elses boundaries. Reading Siddharthas story makes me feel like I missed something, like I havent read any doubt in his decision, or maybe a feeling of regret upon knowing that his father doesnt really want to let him go. Well that couldnt be the authors main point and it may even be irrelevant with the whole story, but maybe a little sympathy for his father wouldnt be a bad part. Continuing with Siddhartas story: after leaving his home, his father and the life of a Brahman, he finally became a Samana, and has almost overlived such. He learned to fast, meditate and wait, he easily learned the secrets even of the old and most venerable Samanas. He have done such things that would draw him nearer his goal, that is, to reach the innermost part of himself, where he believes the Atman lies. The strategy is simple, to stop his ownself from living until only the unconscious Atman within him would remain. Everything is going quite well until a news about this enlightened one, by the name of Gotama, came to him and his ever loyal friend, Govinda. Freewill proved to be of such usefulness once again, and the two decided to leave the life of a Samana to follow this Gotama. Sometimes in life, we would really feel that we have already found what we have been looking for, the feeling that atlast, the longing would be over, the hope that, after the long search, we finally came across a refuge. But that just was not enough, because people, by their nature, hardly ever find contentment, they keep searching, keep questioning, keep looking for more. The encounter with an enlightened one was just not rewarding enough to make Siddhartha stay and follow his path. It ended up that he and his friend Govinda have parted ways because the latter have decided to take Gotamas path while Siddhartha have chosen to take his own. Maybe he wanted to learn by his own so badly, or he just dont want to follow somebody elses w ay of life,

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he may even just want to take a break from his search, whatever the reason is, Siddhartha, and the rest of us, would always look for an excuse to do what we think we must do. Lifes not a one-way road, its more of a complex, intertwined highwa ys and just a little twist of fate could take us to the wrong lane, a single unfortunate detour could easily lead us out of the way. Sometimes in our journey, we cant help but get lost, and it is in these times, when we are nowhere that we really get the chance to find ourselves, that well realize that all along, what we really needed is to get a little lost, a little break from the trip to finally be able to revisit all the things that has happened so far, things that has occupied us yet we dont even know what they mean. Its these moments that makes the journey all the more colorful and exciting. When we stopped swimming against the current and started just to float freely with it, let destiny do its job, we see life in a way that we have never seen it before. We commit mistakes because we are not perfect and we need to learn our lessons. Siddhartha may have drowned himself with wealth, fame, woman and other vices of life, but those faults were temporary like it is for all of us because in time we are able to turn those mistakes into learnings for a lifetime. It is not on how many times weve seen the sun rise, it is on how well we used its light to see the day that really matters. Likewise, it is not the change in ourselves that determines who we are, it is on how we reacted to such changes. Its the way we look at things that give them meaninggood or bad. Mistakes are only mistakes when we do not take a step to make them right. Siddhartha may have been mistaken once in his life, just like all of us do, all the time, the lesson to be learned from his story is that, it is never too late to start all over again, never let mistakes get in the way, feel sorry about the wrongs but never dwell in them, after all, its your life, you got all the chance to make it right. Never ever be afraid to commit mistakes, because in the end, youll see, life has its own way of working things out.

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