Om is the bow; the arrow is the soul
The Brahman is the arrow's goal
That one should continuously hit.
Siddhartha exhibits extraordinary self awareness. He's tolerant of many different types of people and manifests an understanding of a variety of different perspectives from different cultures. His character is a prime literary example of our class goals. He is in tune with himself, he "[knows] his strengths and weaknesses in learning, writing, reading, speaking, listening" (Anthology, 17). His independent inquiry is an example of how to choose a career path; you have to be able to do something you enjoy otherwise you'll be jumping from path to path like Siddhartha. Like Siddhartha everybody needs continuous self-analysis to have any chance for self-improvement.
Be Aware of the Self
The most profound feature about Siddhartha is his discipline. Whatever he decides to do, he devotes himself completely to that one task. This reminds of a line from the "Last Samurai:"
Watch from 2:51 to 3:46, especially from 3:31 to 3:46
Even though Siddhartha was set in a period before the movie, this essence of discipline and devotion from the Samurai is evident in Siddhartha. He is a Brahmin, Samana, and a Merchant; during each of his phases, Siddhartha was completely devoted to his task at hand. He was living in the present, something that people nowadays fail to do.
People get focused on what they want to be 10-20 years down the road. They forget to live in the present, fail to see who they're turning into. People base their careers off of how they want to retire or what they want their legacy to be. Only a few people actually try to do what they like, "[something they] would do for free" (P4 Instructions). Passion which is the fire within people, the drive that pushes them through tough times appears to be missing from everyday lives, but Siddhartha's passion is simply to be enlightenment. This quality would do well for any college student today. Imagine a student who is eager for every drop of knowledge and is passionate about every thought he/she has. The need for grades becomes irrelevant! Good grades will appear to automatically fall into such a student's lap; a student that seeks excellence, not a letter grade.
Pursue Your Dream
Siddhartha's self awareness is similar to the verse he repeats to himself during his meditation with Govinda (Siddhartha, 10). At college, this verse's versatility is experienced, practiced, forgotten and realized. We have to be like Siddhartha while he meditates. 'Om is the bow,' so Om represents whatever subject you are studying or learning about at a certain time and only that one subject because like Siddhartha we must be disciplined and devoted to one path. 'The arrow is the soul;' basically, the lesson you are learning and the knowledge you are learning is the arrow. The subject along with the lesson and knowledge it passes on to you are now your bow and arrow, your tools.
Use ALL of your tools, ONE at a time
'The Brahman is the arrow's goal,' and the goal of all students ought to be take their knowledge and skills and apply it to the real world (the Brahman). This is the most important lesson from Siddhartha; to be able to take all you know and use that to better the world. In order to do this, one must be self-aware, in tune with their inner cosmos... their inner Brahman. They must know what their inner desires are; they must also be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. 'That one should continuously hit.' Only if they can continuously drive for these standards can they hope for their arrow to continuously reach its goal. Like Siddhartha, our story will someday come to an end; I hope that our arrows merge into the Brahman so that we all have a 'complete' ending.
Siddhartha and Om, By the River
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