003. GOTAMA

Summary

• Siddhartha suffered internal strife as he longed for a child and felt envious towards those who had children. However, he developed a deeper understanding for people and shared similarities with them.
• He recognized that they, like him, were driven by simple, primal urges and desires and that even their seemingly ridiculous and vain habits became understandable and even venerable to him.
• Siddhartha acknowledged the fact that many worldly people have a strength and tenacity, often surpassing those considered wise and knowledgeable. This realization came from noticing that they lack nothing, save the conscious recognition of the oneness of life.
• In his introspective journey, Siddhartha identified that true wisdom is the readiness of the soul, an ability to think every moment that you live of life as oneness.
• His internal wound, the longing for a son, remained painful and it prompted him to walk towards the city looking for his son. But then he had a turning point when the river laughed at him. This reminded him of his own flight from his father and his father's similar pain of absence.
• Siddhartha recognized the recurring cycle of existence and suffering and returned back to his hut with a hopeful outlook.
• Back at the hut, he opened up to Vasudeva and shared his feelings and experiences, including his futile struggle against his longings and his subsequent realization. During this confession, he found Vasudeva to be exceptionally understanding and comforting.
• Having shared his struggles, Siddhartha felt a deep connection with Vasudeva and began to perceive him as a divine entity, absorbing his own pain and feelings. He recognized his own development, seeing how he was similar to Vasudeva.
• Vasudeva advised Siddhartha to listen even better to the river. The river sang with many voices, reflecting his own struggles as well as the struggles of life around him.
• Siddhartha surrendered to these voices and found enlightenment in understanding that all voices, sufferings, struggles, pleasure, good and evil belong to the world and are part of a grand, interconnected flow.
• Vasudeva perceived Siddhartha’s enlightened state, expressed his satisfaction, and decided to depart. Siddhartha acknowledged Vasudeva's departure to the forest as he realized that Vasudeva was becoming one with the universe.
• At the end of the chapter, Siddhartha found resolute understanding and acceptance of the world's oneness, and he watched Vasudeva depart for the forest with a deep sense of joy and solemnity.