me

From the e-text below we see that the author's description of the soul is an ever changing process up until the time of debilitation or death. As we age our thinking changes; it differs from year to year, and it will keep on changing for as long as we keep our minds and hearts open to new experiences and the gathering of knowledge.

"Just as a potter's wheel, once it has

been set in motion, will keep on turning for a long time and only slowly

lose its vigour and come to a stop, thus Siddhartha's soul had kept on

turning the wheel of asceticism, the wheel of thinking, the wheel of

differentiation for a long time, still turning, but it turned slowly and

hesitantly and was close to coming to a standstill. Slowly, like

humidity entering the dying stem of a tree, filling it slowly and

making it rot, the world and sloth had entered Siddhartha's soul,

slowly it filled his soul, made it heavy, made it tired, put it to

sleep. On the other hand, his senses had become alive, there was much

they had learned, much they had experienced." (Chapter 7)