Compare And Contrast Siddhartha

Siddhartha parted from Govinda to leave behind the childhood memories and with that decision, he felt at peace, he had renounced friendship too. He was no longer going to leave himself behind and begin his day with the thinking of Atman. Atman is the subject of knowledge (Smart 203). His identity was plain and simple, Siddhartha, the awakened one, not his father’s son and not a Brahmin. (Hesse 38).

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.

    In Hesse's novel, Siddhartha the title character, Siddhartha leaves the Brahmins in search of Nirvana - spiritual peace.  The journey he endures focuses on two main goals - to find peace and the right path (http://www.ic.ucsb.edu/~ggotts/hesse/life/jennifer/html).  Joseph Mileck, the author of Hermann Hesse:  Life and Art, asserts that Siddhartha focuses on a sense of unity developed through Siddhartha's mind, body, and soul (Baumer).  Hesse's Siddhartha revolves around three central journeys - a physical, a mental, and a spiritual journey.

From start to Finish, Siddhartha lived his life in search of one main facet; spiritual enlightenment. While in the process of his quest for enlightenment Siddhartha encountered the four noble truths of Buddhism. In the first part of the novel, Siddhartha is portrayed experiencing each of the noble truths.

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is a novel about the spiritual journey of a man named Siddhartha whose living in the time of Gotama Buddha. In this novel, Hesse explains in detail what Siddhartha learns as he searches for Nirvana. For Siddhartha to learn, he needs teachers, just like everyone else if they wish to pursue and education. There are four major teachers that Siddhartha truly takes something from, these teachers are Govinda, Kamala, Vasudeva, and the river itself. Another important thing is the aspect of self realization and teaching, which is ultimately what helps Siddhartha put those teachings together and reach Nirvana. This also allows Siddhartha himself to accept his new role as a teacher to his friend Govinda, which is the

Govinda, Siddhartha dearest friend and confident, is often viewed as his Siddhartha’s follower, or as his shadow. In the beginning, Siddhartha goes with Gotama to hear the teachings of the Buddha, and Govinda remains with Buddha to become his disciple. Siddhartha believes that each person must find his or her own way to

Enlightenment is defined as the understanding and knowledge with the lack of hope and pain. The idea of enlightenment can be found I different situations that can be connected through the spiritual awakening of one’s self. Siddhartha and the little boy from The Ocean at the End of the Lane are worlds apart in age, creed, culture and historical era, they are similar in that they are both on a journey of spiritual awakening.

Govinda is Siddhartha’s childhood friend , and his loyal companion. Siddhartha and Govinda devote their life on a quest for enlightenment and understanding. Govinda benefits from religious community and doctrine and seeks instruction from individuals who have achieved enlightenment. He relies on others to help him determine when he is on the right path. Ultimately Govinda attain enlightenment, showing us that enlightenment has different paths. The similarities between the two characters demonstrate that determination, persistence, and patience are necessary traits for achieving a spiritual awakening.

After a short journey, Siddhartha and Govinda arrive at the resting place of the Buddha and meet many others who had also come to hear him preach. After one of the Buddha's speeches, Govinda chooses to diverge from Siddhartha's path and follow the path of the Buddha with many other followers and is shocked when Siddhartha refuses to. Before leaving, Siddhartha meets and talks with the Buddha face-to-face seeking console. Siddhartha says to the Buddha, "You

Like Maddie said, I believe Hesse separated Siddhartha and Govinda to show how they grow on their different paths and how each of them learn differently. I believe if Hesse kept the two together Govinda and Siddhartha wouldn't have grown, and I don't think Govinda would have reached enlightenment. Both Siddhartha and Govinda believe in reaching Nirvana differently. Siddhartha believes that enlightenment can only come from his inner self, and follows wherever his path will take him next. While Govinda is a follower and believes enlightenment can only be reached through following teachers or a strict routine. I think if the two would've stuck together none of them would have reached Nirvana because Siddhartha wouldn't have been able to learn

Siddhartha ignores the ways of other spiritual groups, and goes on his own path, and I break away from mean spirited people. In part one, Siddhartha decides after trying the way of the Samanas, that it is not for him, and Govinda follows. In this quote, Siddhartha explains to Govinda, that although Govinda believes that the samanas will help them attain wisdom and enlightenment, he has noticed that all of them are old and frail, even unhappy. “He has lived for sixty years and has not reached the nirvana. He'll turn seventy and eighty, and you and me, we will grow just as old and will do our exercises, and will fast, and will meditate. But we will not reach the nirvana, he won't and we won't.” (Hesse 20). This leaves Siddhartha to believe that although they may have pushed away their desires for human contact, and ousted their needs for food and shelter, they have still not reached enlightenment, even as old men. They then try to make way with the Buddha. Siddhartha is bewildered by the fact

All of the metamorphosis that Siddhartha is going though are not clearly portrayed in the movie, leaving the audience clueless to what inside Siddhartha is changing though his journey to self enlightenment. In movies, unless it is narrated by the main character, it is hard to portray exact thoughts of a character, how they feel about things, and what they’re thinking. In an intellectual book like Siddhartha thoughts are very important, especially that thought plays such an important part in Siddhartha’s travel in enlightenment, in the movie, his thoughts are hardly conveyed to the audience. We don't get to hear all of the different mindsets that Siddhartha is going through, on his path to enlightenment. We get the physical appearances, and can make inferences, but it can only go so far. The book gave so much more insight to how Siddhartha was morphing through his stages of life, until he finally reaches

Behind every religion there is a story. These stories open the eyes of their listeners to form them into better people, usually promising them afterlife. No matter the time period or culture, these lessons all have something in common: people should be good. Stories such as “Epic of Gilgamesh”, “Genesis”, “Mandate of Heaven”, “The Justice of God”, and “Siddhartha’s Enlightenment” are from different religions yet they share a common theme.

This shows that even though Siddhartha is willing to go hear the Buddha’s teachings, he thinks that he has already learned what the Buddha has to say. The methods of searching Siddhartha utilizes in order to become enlightened are leaving the Brahmins to become a Samana and leaving Govinda behind with the Buddha in order to try to learn from himself. Siddhartha and Govinda meditate according to the practices of the Brahmins. After three wandering ascetics pass through Siddhartha’s town, Siddhartha tells Govinda “Tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha is going to join the Samanas. He is going to became a Samana. ...

He wants to enlighten himself, but it just happens to be that the path takes him to his enlightenment. Siddhartha failed many times to find enlightenment, which would bring him inner peace. His journey that took him from a young age to very old one was to first enlighten himself. Once finding enlightenment in himself and the river, he enlightened others like Govinda. To get to the river, he traveled along a path. This path brought him to the Samanas, the monks, the risky city, and the river, where enlightenment was finally found. To reach his inner peace and finally complete the purpose of his personal journey, Siddhartha traveled along the path. Literally it was a path, yet metaphorically it was the different stages of life, they flow together but each step is an important part along the journey. Without the path of life, there is no purpose, one is walking cluelessly, not knowing what to look for. Siddhartha knew he wanted to reach inner peace by finding enlightenment, it just took him multiple levels to finally feel