The Kilted Writer

When Siddhartha leaves the followers of Gotama , he encounters a ferryman who allows him passage for no charge. The ferryman is a kind man for whom Siddhartha seems to have some level of admiration. Later, after leaving Kamala and Kamaswami , he meets the ferryman once again. The Spirit Character: Vasudeva Vasudeva has spent many years learning from the river. He has learned many important life lessons from his time alone on the river. Siddhartha is very intelligent, but Vasudeva is very wise. "I only know how to listen, to be devout; otherwise, I have learned nothing." After leaving Kamala and coming to river, Siddhartha wants to drown himself in it. Before he is able to complete the task, he hears the river speak to him and give him peace. It is the first of many lessons Siddhartha learns from the river while staying with Vasudeva. Later, he learns about the nature of time and eternity from the river. When he explains it to Vasudeva, the old ferryman l...

(Note: This post was originally written in June 2013) As I was giving the "Brains, Brawn & Bravado" workshop to the Parker Writers Group (thanks for having me, PWG!) this past weekend, I realized something. Siddhartha's transformation mirrors that of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol . Both start their transformation journey with a mind character, then encounter a body character, and finally encounter a spirit character. Where Scrooge's transformation takes an entire night, however, Siddhartha's takes a lifetime. Body Character I: Kamala After shedding the burden of intellectualism, Siddhartha's eyes are opened to a whole new way of seeing the world. All this, colored and in a thousand forms, had always been there...but in previous times, all this had been nothing to Siddhartha but a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes... For the first time in his life, Siddhartha allowed himself to experience the beauty of the world, and...

Siddhartha is the story of a man's spiritual journey to enlightenment and the trials and tribulations he encounters along the way. Born the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha begins his life studying the scriptures and quickly becomes a highly esteemed holy man. Intellectual pursuits, however, do not lead him to enlightenment, so he decides to live in the ways of the world. This only takes him farther from the enlightenment he seeks. Finally, he discovers peace and accepts all that has happened to him as steps along that path.  In this series of posts, I will show the characters who define each of the stages through which Siddhartha must pass to achieve his enlightenment, starting with the mind character. The Mind Character: Govinda Siddhartha, as a young Brahmin, stands apart from his peers. He is far and above the most learned of the holy men; he knows all the scriptures and can perform all the sacrifices. ...above all, he loved his intellect, his fine ardent th...