11:30am: And A Great Book Was Written
On April 8, 563 B.C. Gautama Buddha was born. Although scholars have disagreed on the exact date and century of his birth and life, there is no dispute that he was the founder of Buddhism, and an enlightened ascetic.
According to Buddhism, there are "four noble truths": (1) existence is suffering; (2) this suffering is caused by human craving; (3) there is a cessation of the suffering, which is nirvana; and (4) nirvana can be achieved, in this or future lives, though the "eightfold path" of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Right on!
And one of literature's masterpieces was written about Buddha, it is Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. A brief description from the back flap: "In the novel, Siddhartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, Siddhartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life -- the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom."
My favorite quotes from Siddhartha:
"I can think, I can wait, I can fast."
"He saw that the water continually flowed and flowed and yet it was always there; it was always the same and yet every moment it was new."
"Have you also learned that secret from the river, that there is no such thing as time?"
"Yes, Siddhartha...Is this what you mean? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere, and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, nor the shadow of the future?"
One of the great masterpieces of literature and a very short read, only about 150 pages (depending on which edition you grab). Siddhartha contains the secret of life. Give it a read.
Posted by cronish at April 08, 2002 11:33 AM