With the Samanas.

Ideas of Interest.
1. The goal is to have no more sensation, no more need for food, water, or clothing to protect
from the elements. He does not want to be dependant on the world that he sees as artificial, he
wants to be liberated through emptiness; ... to be empty of thirst, desire, dreams pleasure and
sorrow (14). Not only does he want to kill his bodily needs, but also to have no longer any
ambitions or wishes, anything that could distract him into seeing the world with the same eyes
as the people he vehemently hates and who makes ...his glance [become] icy. (13)
2. The reason for the attempt to capture the archetypes of life itself is to lose the present Self.
When Siddhartha becomes the dead jackal or feron he becomes these entities and thus loses
himself for a while before reuniting the soul with his body.
3. The many ways of losing the Self is tricks because the soul always returns to the body in the
end - it comes back from being inside a tree, the rock etc. the Self revives itself again, it returns
and that is not what Siddhartha wants. That is not why he joined the ascetics.
4. The magic arts do not impress Siddhartha because he finds it something that old men who
dedicated their entire lives to dedicating their entire lives to freeing themselves from their Self to
have a fruitless results use to make themselves feel better. Its just something old Samanas use
to entertain themselves with to not feel defeated about being yet united with their Self.
Topics Worth Investigating
1. Govinda and Siddhartha believe that the world is an illusion because everything was
doomed to decay (14). Everything is in the process of returning to ruin and soothe or do not
soothe the worried, there was no meaning to it because in the end the person would die.
Happiness in Siddharthas and Govindas eyes was just another word for blissful ignorance, the
ordinary people lied, to not only themselves but to each other also, by claiming life has a
purpose. Everything they built would deteriorate, beauty withered with time, the animals and
people they raised or helped raise would eventually die. Nothing is permanent so there is no
point to anything.
Most likely the source of Angela Carters post-modernist view was inspired by the countless
Western solipsistic philosophers given that she was born in Britain and went to university
(Bristol) where she was probably at some point exposed to that world view. Though there is a
chance she was influenced by Jainism the likelihood is lower than the above mentioned
assumption.
2. The reality that holy men seek is the absence of worldly distractions that is caused by the
illusionary world, as without them they are able to return to reality. For that reason they must
practice self denial: the possibility of coming back to reality is priority to comfort.
3. Nirvana is the Eastern equivalent to Eden. In Nirvana there is no suffering, no egoism, no
loneliness or pain; within it, complete peace and harmony reigns. For it to be sought means for
the individual to put in consistent effort to becoming a better, more enlightened and helpful.
4. Aristotle calls those who do not require socialization either beasts or gods: he is no part of
state and so are the Samanas, no part of society. They reject it, so he is correct in that, and
they do strive to get to the divine plane of existence that awaits beyond this world of illusion.
Conquering the Self and practicing self denial is a rebellion against life, what ones duties in it
are, so yes, it is a nay-saying attitude that is being practiced. The ascetics see life as pain and
the world as an illusion, a nay saying attitude is acceptable for people of their world view.

By definition, anti-social means having a negative attitude towards society, usually described as
hate towards it. Siddhartha is full of such hatred towards ordinary people who did him no wrong,
he doesnt care about helping them. He only thinks about himself and his path to enlightenment,
without a doubt his quest is egoistic and anti-social.
5. Siddhartha from youth was praised both within earshot and behind his back. To him being told
he is or feeling like he is doing a poor job at anything would be extremely harrowing and
stressful. He never before had unjustified shortcomings, how would he even know how to react?
Having high demands for himself means that he will not try anything that produces self doubt;
thus engaging in self-limiting behaviour.