To sit by the river and be completely aware of the unity and eternality of life, that is the ‘good life’ for Siddhartha. One may think that if Siddhartha had known this at the beginning of his journey, he could have prevented himself from chasing the ‘good life’ proposed by the Samanas, Kamala, or Kamaswami. Without the journey, however, Siddhartha would not have been able to attain the knowledge, and ultimately the wisdom, necessary for him to appreciate the ‘good life’. Siddhartha, Randy Pausch, and Gretchen Rubin all found the ‘good life’ by carving out their own path in life through the means of cultivating personal wisdoms to live by from the knowledge they attained throughout their lives.
Knowledge, as portrayed in the books and the lecture, is the information one learns from books and other people. Pausch, Siddhartha, and Rubin all acquired vast amounts of knowledge throughout their lives by reading countless books and learning from other individuals. Siddhartha sought knowledge over the course of his life primarily by following in the footsteps of the Samanas, Kamala, Kamas...