First Lines of Hermann Hesse's "Siddhartha"

 "In the shade of the house, in the sunshine on the river bank by the boats, in the shade of the sallow wood and the fig tree, Siddhartha, the handsome Brahmin's son, grew up with his friend Govinda. The sun browned his slender shoulders on the river bank, while bathing at the holy ablutions, at the holy sacrifices."

- Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

This is a much different book than it was when I first read it 20 years ago. I remembered this book as an examination of the inner struggles someone goes through in order to realize / understand who you are. I also remembered Siddhartha's learning from the river, the realization that live is always changing and yet always the same. (Which inspired The Ferryman, a great orchestral tune by Pete Townshend.)

This time around, I learned more about purpose - the very quantum idea that intent changes what it is you're trying to do. As Hesse wrote:

“‘When someone seeks,’ said Siddhartha, ‘then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.’” 

A powerful description of beginner mind, about seeing things as a child. And the journeys adults need to go through to unlearn societies biases and mental models in order to see reality as it is, right in front of us, every moment of every day.

Siddhartha is filled with insights like this. It's a patient book, one that rewards slow, thoughtful reading. I'm looking forward to re-reading it again in another decade or two.