Circles+&+cycles+-+Niuniu+Zhu

Rebirth and Cycles
Background: Buddhists accept each individual object in the world as the entire world in order to achieve the holy “om”. Thesis: Siddhartha’s journey consists of recurring cycles present during three dominant stages of his search for enlightenment; including suffering and indulgence; however, is prominently portrayed during the final stage through the unity of the river, where Siddhartha experiences the ultimate realization that everything has reality and presence and escapes the cycle to reach Nirvana.

Suffering
At the beginning of the novel, Siddhartha immerses himself in the suffering lifestyle of samsara ; however, rejects the cycle of teachings and doctrines after encountering the Buddha Gotama. "And Siddhartha’s soul returned, had died, had decayed, was scattered as dust, had tasted the gloomy intoxication of the cycle, awaited in new thirst like a hunter in the gap, where he could escape from the cycle, where the end of the causes, where an eternity without suffering began.” (12)              "He [Gotama] had reached //Nirvana// and never returned into the cycle, was never again submerged in the murky river of physical forms.” (17).  
 * alliteration ‘died’, 'decayed’ and ‘dust’ which suggest agony and death before rebirth.
 *  'Gloomy intoxication’ emphasizes a trapped and confused sensation within the cycle.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">simile “like a hunter in the gap”, situated in a pass between two mountain peaks, which describes Siddhartha’s location between two contrasting stages of his life; suffering and indulgence.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> Once Siddhartha attains the realization that all experiences have presence, he is able to break away from the cycle and continue an “eternity without suffering."
 * " <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">murky river” as an analogy to describe indecision and ambiguity of one’s spiritual state of mind while immersed in the continuous cycle; Siddhartha's shifts in perspective.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">murky river acts as a prevention from attaining Nirvana; however foreshadows that once the river is cleared, Siddhartha will discover self realization.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">metaphorical and literal sense.

Indulgence
In the next stage of Siddhartha’s journey, he immerses himself in the carnal pleasures of the world; however, once again desires to escape the cycle and futile life of gambling and indulgence.

"In this pointless cycle he ran, growing tired, growing old, growing ill.” (64) "The sinner is not on the way to a Buddha-like state; he is not evolving […] No, the potential Buddha already exists in the sinner; his future is already there. The potential hidden Buddha must be recognized in him, in you, in everybody.” (115) >
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Ironically, growing if often associated with expansion; however, Siddhartha is growing in reverse.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; msofareastfontfamily: 宋体; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: ZH-CN; msobidilanguage: AR-SA;">Siddhartha is ageing and runs in circles, ensnared within the insignificant cycle of gambling, sex and constant feeling for desire.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">cycles of birth and death are an essential part of a single grand unity in Brahman.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> nothing can be dismissed as inconsequential or unnecessary to the perfection of the whole <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体;">, since all beings are capable and have the potential of attaining Nirvana.

Enlightenment
<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体;">In the final stage of Siddhartha’s journey, Siddhartha returns to the same river he had once crossed to town; however, approaches with a shift in perception. It is here that Siddhartha achieves enlightenment and is able to escape the cycle as he realizes that everything has presence. "Had not his father suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son? Had not his father died long ago, alone, without having seen his son again? Did not he expect the same fate? Was it not a comedy, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this course of events in a fateful circle?" (107). "The water changed to vapor and rose, became rain and came down again, became spring, brook and river, changed anew, flowed anew." (110). <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体;"> > > <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> > >    >
 * Siddhartha experiences <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">mental cycle and suffers the same fate as his father.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; msofareastfontfamily: 宋体; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: ZH-CN; msobidilanguage: AR-SA;">experiences an epiphany as the river laughs at him and learns to accept his fate as he realizes the role of the river and achieves the holy “om”.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; msofareastfontfamily: 宋体; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: ZH-CN; msobidilanguage: AR-SA;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体;">repetition of the circle as a joke, the cycle is inevitably a vital step in attaining Nirvana.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Just as the river flows into the sea only to return as rain, all of the various forms and aspects of life flow into each other to form a single whole, enlightenment.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体;">use of commas emphasizes the continuity of the cycle, each comma signifying a new stage in Siddhartha’s journey.