Aphorism Post (updated)

One moment on the battlefield is worth a thousand years of peace.
- Benito Mussolini

What I interpreted this quote to mean is that for peace or for what you believe in, you have to fight.


This aphorism relates to my life because I have always considered that the armed conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC has to be ended in the battlefield. The FARC have done a lot of damage to the country as well as to many individuals. This quote expresses how in the battlefield, a justified peace can be reached when the actual enemy is defeated. That is exactly my point of view and how I believe the conflict should be resolved. Although a lot can be done with negotiations, wars are fought by soldiers and the enemies are defeated by soldiers. That is how I believe Colombia can find an end to the armed conflict. 

I believe that all fighters willing to give in for Colombia´s peace fall into Joseph Campbell´s definition of a hero. They are overcoming the fear/oppression(fictional or fiscal) to fight fir what they believe in and ultimately survive. These people can be soldiers taking down drug cartels as well as teenagers like me changing other´s opinion on the Farc.

Siddhartha Part 3 Reading Blog

While I read section 3 of Siddhartha, nothing but questions came to my mind. I am really hoping that the questions will get answered as I get further along with the book so I can understand the book better.

1. Why does Siddhartha feel empty if his peace is Kamala?

2. Does he think his real peace is Govinda?

3. Is Govinda coming back?

4. Why does Siddhartha leave Kamala?

5. Did he know Kamala was pregnant?

6. Why doesnt Kamala search for Siddhartha?

7. Will Siddhartha go looking for Govinda?

8. How does Siddhartha realize that physical damage will not stop his emotional pain?

9. Why does Siddhartha think/know death is not the answer?

10. Why wouldnt Govinda recognize Govinda?

When I got to the last chapter in this section, I had a deep connection stuck in my head. I connected Siddhartha´s thought about the river to the CWW trip to the Amazon. The river in the amazon represents the cycle of life and in a way the way of thinking of the Sammanas. To find peace you must let everything go and just go with the flow of where life takes you.

Siddhartha Reading Blog 2

After reading the second section of Siddhartha, I primarily asked myself one question. If Siddhartha and  Kamala cant love like regular people, then how in the world do they think they are going to be able to love each other after Siddhartha learns Kamala´s ways? Siddhartha has stumbled upon trouble and gotten over it, but I cant imagine how he is going to get over the fact that he cant love the woman that he wants to be with specially after giving up his best friend to go and find her, Govinda. 

After close reading in the first section and seeing that the author of this book leaves very well hidden clues to the future of the book, I have stumbled upon a firm prediction. I dont believe that the fact that Siddhartha left Govinda behind was a coincidence. I predict that Govinda is going to have the answer of how to love for Siddhartha, and for Siddhartha to be able to fulfill his desires with Kamala, he is going to need Govinda. 

Siddhartha Section 1 Reading blog

When I first started reading Siddhartha, I was a little bit confused. To understand the book, you have to very closely read even the first page, because the author gives a whole lot of information right there. It seems as if the author left many clues for you upon the first part of the book, which will at first cause confusion, but will later unfold big mysteries throughout the entire book. I was completely relieved when we close read it with the entire class and I actually understood what I had read. 

As soon as I understood who Siddhartha was and what he was doing, I kept on reading at ease. Siddhartha´s desire to find his inner peace and his meditation rituals reminded me and made me think of  my father. He suffers from a brain disease which is caused by stress. The disease causes the veins in the brain to stop the fluidness of the blood and clog it. Later on, the veins erupt and he suffers from internal bleeding. On my first day of school, my dad suffered one of these attacks and was rushed out of the country and lasted in a hospital in Florida for a month. He is now fine, but he has to work hard so it doesn't happen again. My father was able to relax not only himself but the veins in his brain through the art of meditation, which he practices every morning. It consists of him imagining a massage for the veins and releasing the blood pressure, letting the blood flow smoothly. I connected this to Siddhartha because in a way, my father and him are trying to reach their inner peace (dad: physically, Siddhartha: emotionally). After reading this section and getting a chance to understand it, I think Im really going to enjoy the book. 

Paradox and Oxymoron Examples

This box is an example of paradox since it shows an inconsistency. The box has a column that appears to be in the front, as well as in the back. The real construction of a cube such as this one is virtually impossible. It forms an optical illusion to the brain where you can see two possibilities of a result but they are just fake illusions. 

In this image, a clear example of paradox is presented. The image shows the tennis court inverted upside down, while the players are still normal. It hurts my brain just to look at it, since it makes the illusion that everything is normal, but really the court is inverted while the players arent, but it still looks normal. It is a virtually impossible thing to do and therefore is an example or paradox. 

The image above shows an example of oxymoron. Oxymoron is to have two contradictory things together, and a stop sign next to one that says keep moving is a good example. They each contradict the  other sign by ordering the opposite direction to traffic. Since they are opposites placed together, they are an example of oxymoron. 

Analect Blog Post

4.16: The master said the gentleman understands rightness, whereas the petty person understands profit. 

When I first heard this analect, I didn't  think it through enough to agree with it. It took me a while, by rereading it to get the in-depth message. What Confucius said more than 2000 years ago applies to todays world more than you would imagine. People nowadays are separated into two categories, the ones that give and the ones that want more. In the analect, the ones that give are the gentleman and the petty people are the ones that want more. A person that wants to give, is going to be worried about others and what they need, doing whats right. The problem is that the other category of people don't need anything. They are usually the people that have the most but at the same moment, want the most. 



The petty people are "addicted" to receiving and want more every day. When they have everything they need, they have no purpose but to want everything they cant or shouldn't want/need. I connected this analect to the movie "Ocean´s Eleven", where the thieves already have tons of money, but want to keep stealing.  It is like a need to keep on getting money. If an opportunity like this presented itself to a gentleman, he would probably turn it down or use it for the greater good, like stealing to give to the poor, a kind of Robin Hood. But if the occasion presented itself to a petty person, he would simply see and opportunity to get more money than he needs. 


Our world now a days is filled with these types of people. Sadly, there are more petty people than gentleman. If there was a balance, the world would be somewhat stable. The problem is that everyday a few people are getting richer while a lot of people are getting poorer. The world is unbalanced and we see more petty people everyday. There are still some gentleman out there, but the truth and justice is that it should be the other way around with more gentleman. To make the world a better place.