At Peace

At the beginning of the book the narrator tells us that Siddhartha is not happy and satisfied with his life. "...and the vessel was not full, his intellect was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still. The ablutions were good, but they were water; They did not wash sins away, they did not relieve the distressed heart." The narrator explains that since Siddhartha's thirst for knowledge doesn't cease he is never completely calm and at peace. I can personally relate to this. Even though I am happy with my life and the way I am living it, I do not feel completely calm most of the time. Most of the time I am doing something, weather it is homework, drawing, writing, playing guitar, reading or other things. I really love learning and am not satisfied with just the minimum, I try to go the extra mile whenever I can.

I believe that when we reach full happiness we reach peace as well. To be completely happy we need to be at peace with ourselves and others. Also we have to let go of hatred, envy and resentment and any other feelings that do not allow us to be calm. So when we reach peace we also reach happiness, or backwards.

Until now, I am really liking the book but I have a couple of questions. I wonder if Govinda is going to keep following Siddhartha? When will Siddhartha be satisfied? What will satisfy him? Will it reach Govinda's expectations as well? Will Siddhartha go back home at some point and teach his father what he has learned, or what he will learn?