Giving Up Control

-          I can imagine myself as a thinking thing existing apart from the body (as shown by the different essences in the argument from essence.).

which is not always part of consciousness but can be retrieved easily at any time and brought

Daniel Dennett tackles these mind and body questions in his essay, Where Am I. In Daniel Dennett’s, Where Am I, Dennett agrees to undergo an operation with would remove his brain from his body and insert an antennae that would enable his brain to control his body remotely. When Dennett wakes up, he finds that he doesn’t know where he is, but not in that sense that he was geographically lost. Dennett has woken up to find himself in his body without his brain, leaving him with the question, where am I? Is Dennett still in his body, in his brain, or in some cross-section between the two?

“Journeys allow travelers to reflect on their own experiences because of new knowledge gained and greater insight into themselves and the world around them.”

experience. The enlightenment is the moment of understanding Om and gaining unity with it. This cannot be

Enlightenment is defined as the understanding and knowledge with the lack of hope and pain. The idea of enlightenment can be found I different situations that can be connected through the spiritual awakening of one’s self. Siddhartha and the little boy from The Ocean at the End of the Lane are worlds apart in age, creed, culture and historical era, they are similar in that they are both on a journey of spiritual awakening.

In meditation the Buddhist trains the mind to better understand oneself. By constant practice and meditation the more wisdom is gained. As wisdom is gained obstacles preventing enlightenment vanish to the point that the Buddhist can enter a trance like state or altered state of consciousness.

Many seek increases awareness in their lives, with the ultimate goal of reaching true enlightenment, or Nirvana (Wendt Center, 2015).

In the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse each character seeks enlightenment or already has reached it . Although they all want to find true peace each one sees it differently and sees the path to finding it differently. Both Siddhartha and Govinda find enlightenment but both in very different ways which just shows that there is no one true way to reach that state

No matter how enlightenment is reached, either through sufferings, teachings, or sacrifices, enlightenment has to be reached by one’s self. Enlightenment can’t be explained or taught which Siddhartha mentions to Gotama (29). And although enlightenment can’t be taught, the biggest factor for Siddhartha though to reach that state was teachings from Vasudeva and the river. But the realization that allowed him to get there was from himself. How Siddhartha reached enlightenment wasn’t instant, it took many years for him to attain that peace which Siddhartha’s many changes through life actually helped him. When Siddhartha says “and everything together, all the voices, … all the suffering, all the desire, everything good and evil, everything all together was the world” (106) it represents how you can’t truly comprehend what life is without going through highs and lows, poor and rich, and happy and sad, all that was necessary for enlightenment.

Some people believe if you deprive yourself of your wants that you will find your path of enlightenment. In “ Siddhartha” a book written by Hermann Hesse, a man named Siddhartha goes through a series of deprivation, where he learns how to think, wait, and fast so he could achieve enlightenment.

The Buddha himself has already found Enlightenment, Siddharth wants to be guided by the Buddha. Siddartha now has to leave his own home and father, in the search to find Enlightenment. One thing is, Siddartha doesn’t believe that you can be taught to find Enlightenment, but only truly find it for yourself. " Siddhartha learns that a true seeker could not accept any teachings, not if he

Let go and enlightenment will come to you. This is the same underlying concept that Zen and Buddhism rely on. If one focuses too much on meditation then he will never actually clear your head and reach the blissful goal of enlightenment. His master explains this as, “The right art is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede.” (Herrigel p. 31) So, for Herrigel to learn the art of archery he must cease to strive towards hitting the target and stop grasping at his goal. Instead he must focus only on the moment and let the goal come to him.

I believe there are both an immaterial part to you and a physical part. The physical part of you cannot survive without the immaterial. The immaterial part of a person is the soul, which I also believe, is the mind. However, your soul can live on without the physical sense of you. I believe that the physical part of you, your body, is acting like a cage to your soul. The body is kind of like a suit that your soul wears while it is on Earth. There is only one part of you that controls your actions and thoughts, which is your mind. Also, I believe that your body without a soul is just dead. If your soul and body are no longer at one then I believe you soul moves on to another world where your body is just dead. Once the soul and body are no longer connected the body has no purpose and has no actions. Since without the soul the body is nothing but matter then the soul is that part that is making all decisions, which is why I believe it is also the mind. It is the part of a person that make up a personality or gives a person reason. I believe the mind is the only part of a person that makes decisions and puts your physical body in action. With believing that the soul is in a body but the soul does not need the body, I

The inner life is a course of consciousness of such a sort that it would be foolish to suggest that the mind whose life is that course might be unaware of what is passing it down.