The Ferryman's Virtue

Siddhartha and Vasudeva, the ferryman, come to the topic of the ferryman’s greatest virtue when, Siddhartha and Vasudeva are sitting by the river. Siddhartha begins to tell Vasudeva the story of his life. Siddhartha talks for awhile and as he talks he notices how well Vasudeva can listen. This is the virtue that Siddhartha thinks is so important. Vasudeva listens without judging, openly, unhurriedly, missing nothing, and never interrupting. After Siddhartha is done telling him his life story, he asks how the ferryman learned to listen so well. He says he learned how to from the river. This is important because listening is something that is hard to do and it’s something that can be learned from the river. Also, it is another thing that the river can teach, besides OM. Having the ability to do this could be a trait that someone enlightened posses. It is an important thing for someone enlightened to posses because it allows them to be kind, and thoughtful in there actions of listening. I think that this is a virtue that is very important in life, but is something that few people can do. Few people can do this because, they don’t take time to learn and listen. Also, they have stopped caring about other peoples problems because they are so rapped up in their own. If Siddhartha can do this he can be one step closer to enlightenment.