Letter to the Editors...

Dear Editors,

I read the article “Surviving ADHD”. I think this article was really interesting because it shows her experience with the disorder: how she discovered she had it and how she dealt with it.  She tells us she “went form a C/B student in middle school and early high school to a straight A (with an occasional B) student in 11^th and 12^th grade.” I was able to see that she struggled a lot, and living with the disease was not easy for her. Still she was slowly able to learn how to control her feelings, “academic struggles” and “impulsive behavior.”

By reading this article I was able to understand how hard it must be, for people who have the disorder, to learn to control it. Even though it was only one person’s experience, and it might manifest differently in other people, it was very clear that it is not easy to have it. The article was very captivating, and I liked it a lot.

Sincerely,

Juanita

Leaving it All Behind...

Summarizing:
In the chapter Samsara Siddhartha has become rich and successful. He has many material possessions and now to him everything is a game. Siddartha has fallen from his path and has become greedy, troubled and unhappy. One afternoon he drinks a lot and ends up falling asleep. He dreams that Kamala's bird has died and he throws its body to the street. Siddhartha associates this with him throwing away the good things that are a part of him. He starts reflecting and thinking about his life and how he is living it, and realizes that nothing his life is important to him at all. He decides to leave. Kamaswami sends people to search for him, thinking that someone had kidnapped him.  Kamala knows that he left on his own so she does not look for him, even though she is pregnant with his child.

Quoting:
"Siddhartha wandered into the forest, already far from the town and knew only one thing - that he could not go back, that the life he had lived for many years was past, tasted and drained to a degree of nausea." (page 70)

Paraphrasing:
He wished to rest, to be dead. If lightning would strike him or if a tiger would eat him! If there were poison that could make him forget, go to sleep and never wake up! Was there any sin he hadn't committed or any infamy on his soul he was not responsible for?Was it then still possible to live? Was it possible to take in breath again, to breath out, to feel hunger, to eat, to sleep, or to lie with women again? Was this cycle not exhausted and finished for him?  (pages 70 to 71)

Another Hero...

Throughout the book I have noticed that Siddhartha is very determined. Even though he has not found what he is searching for with the Samanas, the Brahmins or with Gotama, he is still searching, and will not give up. Still Siddhartha has been able to learn different things along the way. For example he learned that getting rid of the "Self" is not the way to achieve what he wants to accomplish, so now he is trying to understand it. He is going through different paths to get where he wants to go, but the ones he has gone through so far have not led him there. What Siddhartha does, reminds me of what Jesus does. He is trying to find a way to get people to follow him and believe in his teachings of God. Not many people believe that he is God's son so he uses different things like parabolas and miracles to convince them, and get them to trust him. Siddhartha wants to find inner peace and Jesus wants to help others find God. They are both searching for something, however Jesus is searching so that he can help others find their way to God, and Siddhartha is searching for inner peace and all for himself.

               vs.

Interpreting with pictures

Ardent: (adjective) enthusiastic and passionate.
(pg. 60, "His senses, which he had deadened during his ardent Samana years, were again awakened. He had tasted riches, passion and power, but for a long time he remained Samana in his heart.")

                   


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Submerged: (adjective) 1. living in poverty or misery.
                                      2. remaining underwater.
                                      3. having been hidden.
(pg. 61, "Many of these he had retained; others were submerged and covered with dust.")

(It is submerged and hiding on the corals.)

Inertia: (noun)  motionless or numb, especially with regard to effort, motion, and action; inactivity. 

(pg. 61, "Slowly, like moisture entering the dying tree trunk, slowly filling and rotting it, so did the world and inertia creep into Siddhartha's soul; it slowly filled his soul, made it heavy, made it tired, sent it to sleep.")

Fervor: (noun) intense and passionate feeling.

Indulgent: (adjective) 1.  Self-indulgent.

                                   2. To be generous to or lenient with someone.

(pg.63, " Since the time he had stopped being a Samana in his heart, Siddhartha began to play dice for money and jewels with increasing fervor, a game in which he had previously smilingly and indulgently taken part as a custom of the ordinary people.")

Burden: (noun) something that is carried or borne with difficulty.

(pg. 63, "Property, possessions and riches had also finally trapped him. They were no longer a game and a toy; they had become a chain and a burden.")

                  

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