“Slowly blossomed, slowly ripened in Siddhartha the realization, the knowledge, what wisdom actually was, what the goal of his long search was. It was nothing but a readiness of the soul, an ability, a secret art, to think every moment, while living his life, the thought of oneness, to be able to feel and inhale the oneness.”
Siddhartha, Chapter 11
Keeping An Open Heart
Opening your heart in acceptance to uncertainty is the moral I held most valuable when reading the story of Siddhartha. As individuals, we have tendencies to set assumptions for ourselves and our surroundings. When the outcome doesn’t align with the predictions we hoped for, it feels like being buried in a pit of disappointment with the shovel at hand. Learning how to be liberated from the shackles of impractical expectations will teach us to let go of the things we can’t control.
Personally, I grew up with parents always wanting the best from their children. One small slip up and that picture-perfect family image is now tarnished. I was taught to care for what people thought of me even at the expense of my own comfortability. Rejecting that lifestyle is an ongoing battle I need to win over. Yet, I learned not every person I meet is the pretty packaged present they first appear as either. Let’s face it, there has been at least one significant person we know in our lives that has immensely taken a toll on our perception of good humans. They’re typically the ones we’ve held on a pedestal and praised for being so faultless and polished. Once their dark side unraveled in front of us, it pierced through our hearts. Ever since, I started to lessen my idealistic faith in others and mainly centered reflecting on myself.
Throughout Siddhartha’s strenuous journey to finding enlightenment, he went through extensive lengths for this passionate search. When Siddhartha attempted to neglect worldly sins, he found himself stumbling on the importance of acknowledgment and self-awareness. Thus, only leading him to fall short on his goals. As a result of meditation, he concluded that preparing one’s soul for the world is the secret key to knowledge.
Quaranteen 
I am very attracted to how your blog is formatted. Beginning with a quote, following up with an image, and ending with the writing is something I have never thought of. Besides the formatting, I too fall in the category of caring about what others think about me. In my prediction, the people with the judgement on others are the ones who need to reflect the most. Meaning we all need to reflect. None of us are perfect. We need to discover our “river”. How long do you think it will take to find your “river”?
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article because I like that you tied a personal experience to a quote from the book. I agree with your statement that not everyone is perfect, and even those who seem like they have it all together, really don’t. Sometimes, I find myself caring about what others think of myself as well and am too working on trying to get rid of that habit. I think it is important to realize that everyone has their own flaws, but they don’t necessarily make us a bad person, but rather human. We need to learn how to be tolerant of one another and to set ourselves up for the failures of the world.
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I love what you said about how the way people present themselves at first is not how they really are. Super descriptive with your word choices. I love it!
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