Daphne Jimenez
Professor Drobny
English 110
17 April 2009
Siddhartha’s Journey of Education
In
the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, a wealthy young man leaves a
life of pleasure to go on a journey to seek enlightenment, which takes him through
a series of life experiences. He becomes dissatisfied with the ascetic life,
the temptations of desire and material gain, and finally reaches understanding
by learning from the river as a ferryman. Though Siddhartha’s path of
learning is different from our own education because it involves spiritual enlightenment,
education at Santa Barbara City College could involve deeper levels of learning
if we would seek it.
At Santa Barbara City College, education is taken in structured steps, which
is different from that of Siddhartha; his learning method was self-discovery.
Another difference is that City College students can easily find instructors
to talk with whereas Siddhartha had to depend on himself; he reflected on his
experiences to gain better knowledge. Students who do not reflect on what they
are learning may never begin that path of self-discovery and self-knowledge.
Siddhartha has high confidence in himself, but he seeks lessons from teachers
and makes an effort to discover knowledge. However, in City College students
have an easier opportunity to locate the right instructors by using the equipment
on campus. For example, in the beginning of every semester, the computer lab
can be used to search for the instructors online or one can look for the instructors
listed in the Santa Barbara City College schedule book. This makes it a lot
faster and easier to find for the right instructor. It is easier for modern
students to discover what they want to learn for their semester at City College
because there are people with services on campus that students can use for help.
In contrast Siddhartha took a long time to find his ultimate teacher, the river.
Siddhartha’s learning experiences may be different from the way we are
taught in City College, but his education is a journey that has some similarities
with what we experience in getting an education. He had the patience to find
what he needed to learn to become a Buddha, similar to how students need patience
to achieve their goals. Siddhartha has a certain feeling towards learning from
his teachers; if he was not completely satisfied with them he moved on to search
for someone more understanding and with more wisdom. This is equivalent to how
it feels to sit down in class, listen to the instructor and be certain to drop
the class if not interested. The way students follow their path of education
at City College is similar to how Siddhartha follows his path of discovery in
another way. For instance, I continued taking art classes at SBCC because I
loved being creative with my drawings. This is comparable to how Siddhartha
has the desire to learn about the great Buddha as well as the river from the
ferryman.
Learning was becoming interesting for Siddhartha, which is why he leaves his
home and goes out on a quest to continue with his education, like many modern
students would when they leave home to go to City College. High school graduates
go to City College to continue on with their studies because they want to gain
more knowledge to help them reach their goals, which is similar to how Siddhartha
wants to discover how to become a Buddha. Siddhartha has a deeper way of learning
about the Buddha; therefore, he only seeks truth in order to generally understand
what it means to become enlightened. Likewise, City College students seek out
certain information to expand their minds and build up their skills towards
becoming someone with a future. Attending classes with people who come from
different cultures can be a spiritual feeling when meeting them and learning
from them. This is the same as how Siddhartha is open to new spiritual discoveries
with the ferryman. For instance, Siddhartha met Vasudeva, the ferryman, and
learned the spirituality of the river. The ferryman said, “For a few among
the thousands . . . the river stopped being an obstacle. They heard its voice,
they listened to it, and the river became sacred to them as it has to me”
(Hesse 105). The ferryman spoke about the river because he wanted to show Siddhartha
how the river can become a spiritual metaphor for other people while crossing
the river.
Siddhartha’s learning is an example of educational paths and choices.
There are students who wish to follow the path of becoming wealthy and who do
not care about spirituality or perspective. Similarly in the book, Kamala stands
for the life of pleasure, which relates to the modern idea of “the good
life.” Most people would consider the life that Siddhartha left as a young
man to be their ultimate goal. But American culture and education could benefit
from Siddhartha’s life because it shows how we could go to deeper levels
of discovering more about ourselves. We also can learn to become independent
like Siddhartha. We could learn from the effort that he put into his journey
looking for understanding. He showed us that we can make an effort to seek self-knowledge
and wisdom; therefore, reading about Siddhartha’s life is relevant to
a college composition class.