Joe112
Jan 1, 2009
Undergraduate / Brown Supplement Essay Siddhartha [4]
Q:What is an academic experience, project, class or book that has influenced or inspired you? Please read and comment, any feedback is appreciated.
When I was fifteen years old, I began to delve into philosophical literature. I certainly didn't understand all of it, unfinished Nietzsche books littering my bedroom were proof, but I always was seeking some form of sanity as I began to question my own. As I gained some meager knowledge and started to form my own philosophies, I began to solicit religious debates on blogs and Youtube. But, I realized with the help of Siddhartha that I was deluding myself, as I was trying too hard to learn truths that one can't learn by oneself.
Siddhartha comes to my mind as having a significant effect, as it is a book about a character with which I could sympathize. Siddhartha too was a man questioning the foundations of himself. I don't believe that I would in any way compete with the protagonist intellectually, but I could empathize with his struggling to reach his aspiration, knowing the greater truth of life. Through Siddhartha's toils he grew, and as I read so did I. I realized that I wasn't seeking the same ambitions as Siddhartha. Whereas he sought religious truth, I sought to be a better person.
By the end of the novel, Siddhartha was as he always was, a modest man with cool intelligence. And, while I didn't mean to emulate him in everyway, I respected the character's personality. Ever since, I have tried to act with a similar temperament and have held myself to as high a moral standard as Siddhartha did himself.
In the end Siddhartha was fallible in his wealth. He forgot his goal of religious superiority and became consumed with wealth. Only once he shed his wealth did he become capable of reaching his goal and in so doing he realized he needed the help of an another to finally achieve nirvana.
I realized at that point that we are all fallible myself included. Awareness of this fallibility has allowed me to no longer fear asking for help as if it were a sign of weakness, for everyone needs help. And, while Siddhartha forgot about his humility at one point, it has encouraged me to vow to continue seeking to become a better person day by day fallibility not withstanding.
Q:What is an academic experience, project, class or book that has influenced or inspired you? Please read and comment, any feedback is appreciated.
When I was fifteen years old, I began to delve into philosophical literature. I certainly didn't understand all of it, unfinished Nietzsche books littering my bedroom were proof, but I always was seeking some form of sanity as I began to question my own. As I gained some meager knowledge and started to form my own philosophies, I began to solicit religious debates on blogs and Youtube. But, I realized with the help of Siddhartha that I was deluding myself, as I was trying too hard to learn truths that one can't learn by oneself.
Siddhartha comes to my mind as having a significant effect, as it is a book about a character with which I could sympathize. Siddhartha too was a man questioning the foundations of himself. I don't believe that I would in any way compete with the protagonist intellectually, but I could empathize with his struggling to reach his aspiration, knowing the greater truth of life. Through Siddhartha's toils he grew, and as I read so did I. I realized that I wasn't seeking the same ambitions as Siddhartha. Whereas he sought religious truth, I sought to be a better person.
By the end of the novel, Siddhartha was as he always was, a modest man with cool intelligence. And, while I didn't mean to emulate him in everyway, I respected the character's personality. Ever since, I have tried to act with a similar temperament and have held myself to as high a moral standard as Siddhartha did himself.
In the end Siddhartha was fallible in his wealth. He forgot his goal of religious superiority and became consumed with wealth. Only once he shed his wealth did he become capable of reaching his goal and in so doing he realized he needed the help of an another to finally achieve nirvana.
I realized at that point that we are all fallible myself included. Awareness of this fallibility has allowed me to no longer fear asking for help as if it were a sign of weakness, for everyone needs help. And, while Siddhartha forgot about his humility at one point, it has encouraged me to vow to continue seeking to become a better person day by day fallibility not withstanding.
