Sidartha Part 1

Quote
" I called the world of phenomena an illusion, I called my eyes and my tongue an accident, valueless phenomena. No, that is all over; I have awakened, I have really awakened and I have just been born today."

Response
Siddhartha is saying that he used to believe that all the wonders and extraordinary things in the world were merely illusions. He believed that vision, speech and eating, were extraordinary accidents that had no propose. Because if no one saw from the start, then no one would desire sight. And if no one spoke then no one would desire speech, like the samanas, who spoke to each other through silence. He also believed the eating was an extraordinary accident because if we had no mouths, we would not desire food. He practiced these beliefs through meditation while becoming and being a samana. But after meeting and hearing the Buddhas words and beliefs, he realized that this was not true. He reread the book of the world and of himself and realized that these were not still his thoughts and that he needed to find the path that would lead him to complete knowledge of the world and of himself. I can apply this to my life by thinking before I act or talk. This will allow me, like Siddhartha, to realize what I actually want to do or say.

Quote
" You speak thus, O friend, and yet you know that Siddhartha is not a drover, and a samana is not a drunkard. Yes, the drinker is numbed for a while; yes he finds a brief escape and rest, but he comes out of his delusion and finds that everything is still the same; he has not grown wiser, he has not gathered knowledge, he has not risen a few steps higher."

Response
In this passage, Govinda is telling Siddhartha that he is not dumb, and neither is concentration, fasting, the numbing of the mind and all the other ways of the samanas. He is telling him that samanas are becoming wiser and rising above when they meditate and escape. They are not like drunkards who drink and become numb for a while but when they come out of their delusion they are at the same place if not lower. This applies to the world today because there are so many alcoholics and drug addicts who numb their mind, not for knowledge but merely for the feeling itself.