Buddhism and Siddhartha

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse discusses the many paths of teaching that relate to Hinduism that Siddhartha followed on his journey through life and how each path helped him realize what he wanted with his life. Siddhartha follows many teachings or paths in which to reach his spiritual destination, which at the beginning was to reach Nirvana.

As with the Brahmins, Siddhartha’s experience with the Samanas is not a fulfilling one. Hesse writes, “he slipped out of his Self in a thousand different forms. He was animal, carcass, stone, wood, water, and each time he reawakened” (Pg-15). Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas, yet he was still unable to reach enlightenment. During his time with the Samanas, Siddhartha never saw or heard of a single person achieving enlightenment. Feeling disillusioned with the teachings of others, Siddhartha decided to leave the Samanas, and seek out the venerable Buddha. Siddhartha seeks out the Buddha and hears his sermon, but he ultimately decides to seek his own path to enlightenment. In leaving the Buddha, Siddhartha begins to follow a Buddhist path. Siddhartha says, “But there is one thing that this clear, worthy instruction does not contain; it does not contain the secret of what the Illustrious One himself experienced he alone among hundreds of thousands" (Pg-34). In this part of his journey, Siddhartha realizes that no one can teach him how to achieve enlightenment. As Gautama did before him, Siddhartha heads out to find his own path to enlightenment.

Siddhartha becomes a rich man and soon loses his desire to search for Nirvana.  Along with Kamala, a man named Kamaswami influences Siddhartha.  He convinces Siddhartha that material possessions can "fill" his life.  Siddhartha takes the advice, and he begins to live his life for money.  He starts to gamble and to compromise his true beliefs for material pleasure. While living in the village, Siddhartha slips into a deep depression.  He feels that he has lost a part of his soul, and he attempts to commit suicide.  However, during this attempt, Siddhartha becomes reborn and longs once again for Nirvana (http://splavc.spjc.cc.fl.us/hooks/ew/SmithSidd.html).  At this time, Siddhartha meets a ferryman named Vasudeva.  Vasudeva fascinates Siddhartha the way Buddha did (Welch 71).  Vasudeva tells Siddhartha that the way to find inner peace is by listening to the river.  He also tells Siddhartha that the river will teach him two things; however, Siddhartha must learn these things on his own.  Siddhartha's relationship with the ferryman is the key for Siddhartha to reach Nirvana.  Eventually, Siddhartha takes the place of Vasudeva as ferryman, and he soon attains

“Yes, he thought breather deeply, I will no longer try to escape from Siddhartha. I will learn from myself, be my own pupil; I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha.” (Page 32)

When Gotama admits he has still not found peace, he suddenly has an inexpressible experience much like Siddhartha had when he met Vasudeva years before. Siddhartha then summons Govinda to kiss him on the forehead. Govinda feels as if he is touching perfection, the illustrious one, eternity, and gets a mystical transference from Siddhartha.

The method of obtaining enlightenment differs lightly between Dogen and the Sixth Patriarch. While both sources see the transition of enlightenment to be a search for the inner self to find the inner mind Dogen sees views the less of a transition a more of journey. The Sixth Patriarch believes enlightenment can occur here and now through self-nature, “one’s real self immediately appears” (Olson Buddhist Sources, p.339). While enlightenment cannot be physically obtained it can be realized and show the true conscious self.

Siddhartha’s discovered, “One can find it (wisdom), live it, be fortified by it do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it”(142). Because Siddhartha realized this, he finally discovered why one teacher could not teach him what he wanted to learn. To find enlightenment one must stop seeking and start finding, which has close relations between knowledge and wisdom. When Siddhartha addresses Govinda in the final chapter, Siddhartha confronts Govinda and says, “You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under you nose”(140). This means that when someone seeks they miss many lessons along the way, unlike if someone is finding. This relates to knowledge and wisdom because both seeking and wisdom are the end result while finding and knowledge are the journey. If one makes the decision to try to seek or find wisdom, they will miss many important lessons along the way. If Siddhartha decided to stay and learn from the Illustrious One, or any one teacher he would have gone his whole life seeking and not finding. Siddhartha was able to attain all his knowledge through several different teachings and in result will finally be able to reach enlightenment. Siddhartha discovery of the difference between wisdom

On the way there Kamala gets bit by a snake and is brought to Siddhartha by her son, she uses her time she had left to tell him her son is his as well. Siddhartha keeps his son with him, but he is not interested in the lifestyle. His son makes life hard, and then runs away. Siddhartha goes after him all the way to the city, which brings back memories, and he realizes he must let his son go as his father did. He is very sad and meditates for many days, but realizes life has an inevitable flow and with this finds new

No matter how enlightenment is reached, either through sufferings, teachings, or sacrifices, enlightenment has to be reached by one’s self. Enlightenment can’t be explained or taught which Siddhartha mentions to Gotama (29). And although enlightenment can’t be taught, the biggest factor for Siddhartha though to reach that state was teachings from Vasudeva and the river. But the realization that allowed him to get there was from himself. How Siddhartha reached enlightenment wasn’t instant, it took many years for him to attain that peace which Siddhartha’s many changes through life actually helped him. When Siddhartha says “and everything together, all the voices, … all the suffering, all the desire, everything good and evil, everything all together was the world” (106) it represents how you can’t truly comprehend what life is without going through highs and lows, poor and rich, and happy and sad, all that was necessary for enlightenment.

Siddhartha finally reaches his pursuit towards enlightenment, and given that without the important symbols throughout the story, he would have never attained Nirvana; these symbols include the all mighty river, the importance of the peaceful smile, and the sacred mantra “Om”. Reaching Nirvana is an end goal for Siddhartha so he sets off on a relentless journey to find the truth. On this unforgettable journey, he comes across many experiences that symbolize his quest to enlightenment.

In the novel Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha experiences a number of notable epiphanies. However, his discovery that wisdom cannot be taught is by far most important as evident by its fueling for his quest of understanding and the author’s decision to continue this pattern with Siddhartha’s son. In regards to this discovery fueling his quest for understanding, Siddhartha simply would not have continued on his life’s path of constant discoveries without his initial realization. For instance, he would have never “looked around him as if seeing the world for the first time,” if it were not for his earlier incident with Gotama (39). In essence, this discovery’s critical importance derives from how it sets the basis for these later epiphanies, such as his realization of beauty.

Through his journey for knowledge, Siddhartha faces many challenges along his path. One of the challenges happens to him when

Siddhartha Gautama was born around 500 BC, roughly the same time that Hinduism was shifting into the more meditative and spiritual form found in the Upanishads and breaking away from the old Vedic tradition. Siddhartha himself was raised within a Hindu community, and thus Buddhism, it can be said, began as an outgrowth of Hinduism very much like Christianity began as an outgrowth of Judaism. In fact, you’ll likely notice some amazing similarities between the life of Christ and the life of Siddhartha.

One of Siddhartha’s first teachers on his quest to enlightenment was the one and only Gotama Buddha. Having reached enlightenment himself, Gotama travels around to share knowledge of Buddhist doctrines such as, “the four main points... the Eightfold Path” (29). Here, Gotama displays his knowledge of Buddhism through teaching other people with speeches, thus exhibiting his ideas. Although Gotama can successfully entice large crowds of people with his teachings, Siddhartha questions the helpfulness of his doctrines, to which Gotama replies, “its goal is salvation from suffering. That is what Gotama teaches, nothing else” (33). This statement reveals the intent of Gotama’s teachings, hence his knowledgeable speeches. Gotama teaches his ideas and the experience of his enlightenment by making pilgrimages to towns and “patiently... [covering] the usual method of teaching with examples and repetition” (29). Here, Gotama demonstrates his effectual methods of teaching

According to Albert Einstein, “wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” In Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse utilizes the reoccurring theme that knowledge and wisdom are different to show the readers how to actually learn and become more complete in life. This theme can be proven at multiple points throughout the novel such as when Siddhartha is young and leaves home, when he meets Gotama and his followers, and when he advises Govinda at the end of his journey.