News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?.

Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by madmax108 on Thursday September 13, 2018 @05:05PM (#17982576)
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Never really been one to enjoy popular books on philosophy (Alchemist was overrated, Monk who sold his Ferrari cliched, The Secret just boring ...IMO) and picked this up at a used book store. The book truly put a new perspective on life for me.

Perhaps it was a combination of the time when I read the book: Undue stress, massive imposter syndrome, that feeling of not moving ahead in life, and the oh-so-messed-up quarter life crisis, but this book was an absolute eyeopener for me.

Find your own meaning in life, and live your own philosophy instead of aping a "master" (spiritual or otherwise) because a "master" is someone who has shaped his own philosophy and that will almost NEVER completely apply to you. In the book, when the titular Siddhartha realises this and starts off on his own journey, something clicked within me and I started making genuine attempts to get past my (mostly) self-imposed problems in life. Can easily say this book helped me get through confusing times and come out better on the other side

Truly a life-changing book for me, and no wonder it's been popular for over half a century!

----

The Art of War, The War of Art (except the final bits of the book) and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance come in a close second, each having shaped the way I look at decision making processes and influenced my general life strategy

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by _rpd on Thursday September 13, 2018 @05:35PM (#17982853)
I'll add The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse because it saved me from decades of pointless game playing. (Actually just read everything by Hermann Hesse).
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by SZJX on Saturday September 22, 2018 @07:23AM (#18045554)
Sounds interesting that a book about "game" saved you from "game playing". Not sure what sort of game you're exactly referring to, though IMO video games that let you grind against scripted NPCs indeed could waste one a lot of time. However games that pit you against human opponents, when practiced adequately, can actually teach you a lot. There was a piece about how chess playing is being taught in the Wall Street to train decision making under pressure. Many video games can also help you achieve similar effects. So it's not all negative.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by juanuys on Sunday September 23, 2018 @08:23AM (#18050766)
I would love it if you could elaborate on how the book saved you from decades of game playing. (If not here, email in profile.) I've started this book now, but also an avid gamer and hobbyist game maker.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by unmole on Thursday September 13, 2018 @10:49PM (#17984371)
Perhaps I'm still not at that time and place in my life where I'd appreciate Siddhartha. I found it thoroughly nauseating. And the forced translation of Sanskrit idioms was especially cringe inducing.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by icc97 on Friday September 14, 2018 @06:44AM (#17986163)
I didn't find it nauseating, it's an interesting tale, but I'll agree that it didn't make any profound influence on me beyond any other fiction book that I've read.

Perhaps reading it as an eBook on my phone, means that I didn't take it in well enough.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by svat on Thursday September 13, 2018 @11:34PM (#17984504)
I haven't read Siddhartha, and expect I won't like it, but perhaps the Sanskrit idioms translate better into German? (https://shreevatsa.wordpress.com/2014/07/01/sanskrit-and-ger...) Did you read the book in German? Or if not, which translation (Wikipedia lists at least six: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siddhartha_(novel...)?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by unmole on Friday September 14, 2018 @12:53AM (#17984758)
I read the Hilda Rosner's 1951 English translation. Maybe I'll give one of the newer translations a try.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by mial on Thursday September 13, 2018 @05:21PM (#17982724)
I've re-read Siddhartha at various times of my life and it had a profound impact on me each time. Can't recommend it enough.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by lalitctae on Friday September 21, 2018 @04:31PM (#18042453)
We read Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha) story in 8th standard (CBSE) in India.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by eric24234 on Saturday September 15, 2018 @04:01AM (#17993473)
Hindu god Ganesha was created to curb Buddhism and thats why Buddhism is not famous in india.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by mayankkaizen on Sunday September 16, 2018 @03:30AM (#17997763)
I am Hindu but unaware of this fact. Though I'll do some googling but can you provide your source and reasoning behind that?

I am aware Shankaracharya did try to curb Buddhism but I wasn't aware of ganesha angle.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by eric24234 on Sunday September 23, 2018 @02:59AM (#18049783)
All the states in india have the practice of people having their caste name as their surname except in the state of Tamilnadu(about 70 million population). This was due to one atheist man's effort who opposed the caste system Periyar(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periyar_E._V._Ramasamy). He broke the ganesha statue on the day of buddha's birthday as an act of protesting the use of ganesha to instigate the religious violence for political benefits. Ganesha was created to stop people from converting to buddhism. That's why ganesha was always found under the palm tree which is buddha's place. Also ganesha statue is made gigantic and is taken in to streets and made more entertaining festival inorder to create more merriness and keep people more engaged and not to feel left out. But at the same time Ganesha statue is disolved in water after about 10 days, this is beacause the non-brahmin people who were allowed to do the priest duty for 10 days should not become a competion to the brahmin priests.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by chauhankiran on Monday September 17, 2018 @11:12AM (#18006658)
Ganesha was way before ( even before Krishna ) Buddha. So, not sure from where you get this to info.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by eric24234 on Sunday September 23, 2018 @03:02AM (#18049790)
Krishna and his super power and other avatars of krishna is a belief and Buddha's existence is a recorded fact. Ganesha's references are found in the literature only after the existence of Buddha. That's why no reference to ganesha is found in vedas.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actual... by the1iplay on Thursday September 13, 2018 @09:13PM (#17984035)
To add to that, Narcissus and Goldmund was also a quite influential book.
[ Parent | on HN ]