In Siddhartha, the title character not only learns how he learns best, through his own discovery and self-reflection, but that the desire to learn comes from within. Essentially, his journey leads to the conclusion that the desire to learn is a self-driven force, but in order to gain true wisdom you must shed yourself and gain a new perspective. This revelation came to me during middle school, when I craved intellectual stimulation, but was only able to grow when I adapted other’s perspectives. I was like Siddhartha, with an eternal thirst for knowledge, before I realized that the secret to powerful education lay in how I let others affect me. If I just sought out intellect, like a young Siddhartha, I would be left feeling bitter
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Siddhartha explains his realization to the Buddha by saying, “You have done so [achieving the path to inner peace] by your own seeking, in your own way, through thought, through mediation, through knowledge, through enlightenment. You have learned nothing through teachings, and so I think, O Illustrious one, that nobody finds salvation through teachings” (Hesse 33-34). This substantially changes his view on life and how he endeavors to find himself. For Siddhartha, being raised by teachers while being taught how to eventually become a teacher himself, the idea that teaching does not necessarily result in knowledge is a revelation. Siddhartha, with his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, is left with only what he knows now. Everything he learns must come from within, he realizes. Although momentarily stunned by this realization, achieved through mediation on his past learning experiences and how his own thoughts have evolved as he met different teachers, Siddhartha knows he has just uncovered the path to knowledge, however far it may stretch.. Siddhartha also learns what it is like to be completely alone, as his friend Govinda leaves him …show more content…
His enthusiasm for this particular method was evidenced by the fact that in order to explain the Battle of Stalingrad, he made us gather on two sides of a hill and then battle it out for a stockpile of textbooks. Another item of note was that he loathed textbooks. He always stopped short of calling the writers unrepeatable names, but having children savagely tearing brand new editions out of each other’s grubby hands might have said more. I found all of this amusing and frankly slightly shocking, but my absolute favorite part was our spy unit. The spy unit involved explaining double agents during the world wars and Cold War tactics, which involves explaining a moral grey area that eighth graders aren 't one hundred percent capable of grasping. I found this idea intriguing, this moral grey area. Much like Siddhartha, I sought something deeper than facts in my education. Simple enough, thought my teacher, I’ll just let them learn how to think like a spy. Much to my delight, during that unit, I would walk in and our daily instructions and agenda would be in some version of code on the board. My group and I immediately began to piece together what we could, as if we were newly inducted agents. I connected to Siddhartha in that I learned best in shedding my own Self, and assuming the state of mind of others’ throughout history. Throughout the course of
Siddhartha explains his realization to the Buddha by saying, “You have done so [achieving the path to inner peace] by your own seeking, in your own way, through thought, through mediation, through knowledge, through enlightenment. You have learned nothing through teachings, and so I think, O Illustrious one, that nobody finds salvation through teachings” (Hesse 33-34). This substantially changes his view on life and how he endeavors to find himself. For Siddhartha, being raised by teachers while being taught how to eventually become a teacher himself, the idea that teaching does not necessarily result in knowledge is a revelation. Siddhartha, with his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, is left with only what he knows now. Everything he learns must come from within, he realizes. Although momentarily stunned by this realization, achieved through mediation on his past learning experiences and how his own thoughts have evolved as he met different teachers, Siddhartha knows he has just uncovered the path to knowledge, however far it may stretch.. Siddhartha also learns what it is like to be completely alone, as his friend Govinda leaves him …show more content…
His enthusiasm for this particular method was evidenced by the fact that in order to explain the Battle of Stalingrad, he made us gather on two sides of a hill and then battle it out for a stockpile of textbooks. Another item of note was that he loathed textbooks. He always stopped short of calling the writers unrepeatable names, but having children savagely tearing brand new editions out of each other’s grubby hands might have said more. I found all of this amusing and frankly slightly shocking, but my absolute favorite part was our spy unit. The spy unit involved explaining double agents during the world wars and Cold War tactics, which involves explaining a moral grey area that eighth graders aren 't one hundred percent capable of grasping. I found this idea intriguing, this moral grey area. Much like Siddhartha, I sought something deeper than facts in my education. Simple enough, thought my teacher, I’ll just let them learn how to think like a spy. Much to my delight, during that unit, I would walk in and our daily instructions and agenda would be in some version of code on the board. My group and I immediately began to piece together what we could, as if we were newly inducted agents. I connected to Siddhartha in that I learned best in shedding my own Self, and assuming the state of mind of others’ throughout history. Throughout the course of