First there was confusion, after that the word, and after that more confusion.
Siddharta, you wise old literary symbol and Hermann Hesse, you incubator, creator of this most wise and true and beautiful book - well recommended for seekers of truth following their own paths, their own intuitions, their own way.
Siddharta found truth in the river. Not the teachings of the Brahman, the Samanas, nor the teachings of the most enlightened man around. Nothing of real importance can be taught. One is left to discover for himself. Teachings blur the importance of a self-discovery, they are mere words as leftovers, blurred out indications of what someone else has discovered by and for himself.
True is the intuition. Everything else is words, writings, deceptions. There is no truth, no absolute way which fits for all. There are prescriptions according to which one can live by the rules, for those who seek comfort more than truth and can stay satisfied with it. To look for truth, one must question the seemingly obvious.
Siddharta finds truth in the concrete, not in the mind alone, but in the concrete things which speak to the mind, in being connected to those concrete things. He finds truth in listening, in observing, in being one with the present, with the environment, the things nature has to offer, and in being one with himself. To live according to the rhythm of ones own nature, and in connection with the outside nature. Thus is the principle of wholeness. It is the understanding that all is connected, a feeling of belonging. There is a giving and a taking, a way of participating in this holistic given.
Feeling bad, weird or disconnected cannot be anything else than living in denial or the impossibility of ones own natural needs or intuition and can be gotten rid off temporarily by the help of others, by drinking it away, by talking about it, by writing, by physical exhaustion, by making art, but as long as one is impeded to follow their own voice, one will have to keep finding ways to numb the discontent.
I want to contend that in this society it is impossible to live completely according to ones own will. For this society is very much constructed, counterintuitive. It is a mold in which one has to fit, but of course does no one fully fit without completely losing themself. It is a system which has an imposed rhythm, it offers work which has no purpose, at least not of a very meaningful and personal character. It is a society which resonates not very much with people in a spiritual way. Instead it tries to address them with so called important matters, politics and money. It is a society which offers deceptions and presents them as normal things we should care about.
To give only one very prominent example: Wanting more and more, first as a way of compensating our discontent. The idea given that material comfort, material things, money, houses, property solve problems.
It is better to be content with as little as possible. To be content with yourself to begin with. Make yourself happy, feed yourself and your soul. Go sit somewhere alone, be alone, close yourself off from this chaotic, hectic state of things which are presented to us everyday. Walk in nature, learn not to want anything, but to listen to yourself. Learn to do things you think you cannot. Grow your own food, build your own furniture.
All the best in life is costless. I cannot understand that, even though nature offers everything, life is not free. Society has claimed most of its grounds, has claimed most of it resources. Why should one pay to live a life? And you shouldn’t complain, you should be happy to have the possibility of work, of social contact. But who then are you serving? What is work?
I very much question the notion of work.
Is work really only this, to be paid for giving away your time and obeying someone else, whatever the involved capacities you have are? Can you call something work when all of your body and mind resist against the purpose of what you’re doing?
How banal is such a thing and how luxurious, extravagant the thoughts I exclaim. Shouldn’t I feel guilty for those who cannot afford these thoughts? Should I have more compassion, whatever that means?
The question really comes down to this: What’s your position in this one life you have and how can you find a way to find meaning despite all the haze and nonsense we’re confronted with?
