Meaning In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha

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 comes to realize that he has discovered who he really is, he is Siddhartha. He knows himself more than any other teaching or religion. As he comes to self-realization, he comprehends he has been letting himself slip away, he has been running away from himself.

In the novel, Siddhartha, there is a concoction between teachings and his own experiences found in his concept of attaining wisdom. The Brahmins taught Siddhartha every religious aspect of their culture, including all the rituals, mantras, and holy books. Although he gained a significant amount of religious wisdom, he believed this was not enough to become enlightened. As a result, Siddhartha decides to join the Samanas with the goal to reach Nirvana. He became a wanderer with no possessions, in order to stop the body’s desires. From the samanas he learned how to fast and meditate, but this was not enough. Siddhartha says, “What I have learned so far among the samanas, O Govinda, I could have learned more quickly and more simply” (Hesse 16) . In other words, Siddhartha is explaining to Govinda that his transformation to a samana has had no significant effect in his life. He believes fasting and meditating is not his ultimate goal. As a result, Siddhartha leaves the samanas with Govinda to meet Gautama. Siddhartha believes he has not gained the true wisdom needed to reach the state of nirvana or enlightenment; he has only learned how to run away and suppress situation, without really being able to dispel of them.

Siddhartha resolved that he would first go to the Samanas, ascetics that hard lives of self-denial of all comforts and pleasures in order to rid themselves of desire and those emotions that would hinder them on the journey to discovering Atman. Although joining these extremist monks was a high ambition, Siddhartha knew that he would succeed as a Samana, for he believed that the path of the ascetic would aid him on his journey of self-discovery. As his time with the Samanas lengthened, Siddhartha began to take pride in the knowledge that he was not blinded by the material world like everybody else was; he saw the world for what it truly was -- bitter lies and misery. Despite the fact that Siddhartha was becoming a great Samana, revered by even the older monks, he felt that what he had learned from them he could have learned on his own and in less time. Once again, he was not satisfied with the path that he was on and aspired to achieve even greater heights by parting from the Samanas. This ambition is plainly displayed when Siddhartha’s friend Govinda, who had become a Samana as well, proclaimed that Siddhartha would have learned to walk on water had he stayed with the ascetics. Siddhartha simply says that he would “let old

Siddhartha & Govinda left to join the Samanas to set themselves free for enlightenment. The Samanas put out the idea that you must eliminate “the self” so one can achieve spiritual fulfillment one day.

        During this period-the realm of the mind, Siddhartha actively sets about letting the self die, escaping his Self. 

When Siddhartha leaves and joins the Samanas we begin to understand the origin of where his suffering is coming from; which is all seen as the second noble truth. In his search for enlightenment Siddhartha hoped that by joining the samanas that he would be liberated from

He wanted to follow Siddhartha, the beloved, the magnificent. And if he ever became a god, if he ever entered the All-Radiant, the Govinda wanted to follow him as a friend, his companion, his servant, his lance bearer, his shadow." (2)

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. ...

As one matures through life he gets wiser and more knowledgeable. As Siddhartha’s long life journey was coming to a close, he too was becoming wiser and more knowledgeable. Siddhartha learned that if you search your whole life for wisdom you will miss many steps along the way. Siddhartha’s revelation between the difference of wisdom and knowledge corresponds with his other discovery which is the difference between finding and seeking. This has been the guide for his way of life. These differences he has discovered are the main reasons for having several teachers and a radical lifestyle. Furthermore, this revelation has made a distinct separation between Siddhartha and Govinda. It highlights the major difference between Govinda and Buddhism

Their journey as samanas and students in the stages of life leads them to questioning the path that they were following. Although, Siddhartha did learn and become much more knowledgeable after knowing the teachings from the samanas, he didn’t quite agree with their beliefs in retaining enlightenment. "[Siddhartha] is drawn by his goal, for he does not allow anything to enter his mind which opposes his goal. That is what Siddhartha learned from the Samanas. It is what fools call magic and what they think is caused by demons...there are no demons...everyone can reach his goal if he can think, wait, and fast." With this new found attitude Siddhartha sets out once again, with many new experiences and lessons waiting ahead for him.

In the departure phase of his journey, Siddhartha completely shuns both internal and external desires and lives a more than humble life. During Siddhartha’s conversation with his father about leaving home, Siddhartha’s father, “returned again after an hour and again after two hours, looked through the window and saw Siddhartha standing there in the moonlight, in the starlight, in the dark” (11). Hermann Hesse’s use of dark and light imagery, emphasizes Siddhartha’s stubbornness for his desire to go with the Samanas, whose religious ideals are severe self discipline and restraint of all indulgence; he is adamant about leaving home, as his father checked on him countlessly and Siddhartha stood there unwavering despite the many hours and change of daylight so he could earn his father’s blessing to live the lifestyle of an ascetic. Furthermore, Siddhartha travels to the Samanas with Govinda to destroy Self and the multitudinous amount of desire by quelling each desire and all together Self even though he knows it is a difficult goal to achieve, “Although Siddhartha fled from Self a thousand times, dwelt in nothing, dwelt in animal and stone, the return was inevitable” (16). The effect of Siddhartha’s multiple attempted destructions of Self as a consequence of living as a Samana are failure in his attempt to discover Nirvana. Moreover, Siddhartha travels with Govinda to the Buddha after leaving the

But, Siddhartha would always have a part of the Samana in him, and this is relayed by Kamala when she says, “She was not surprised when she learned that Siddhartha had disappeared […] Was he not a Samana, without a home, a pilgrim? She had felt it more than ever at their last meeting, and in the midst of her pain

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse would be an essential novel to possess when stranded on a deserted island as a result of its ability to change the way one sees the world. The story of Siddhartha is one that demonstrates the insignificance of material possessions as wealth does not provide for spiritual fulfillment. This devaluation of material possession will greatly diminish the pain of not having any items that I relied on and enjoyed back in civilization. Furthermore, Siddhartha teaches people to look past the imperfections of the world and to appreciate the world for what it contains. Accordingly, this idea that no matter how imperfect a particular predicament might be, the world still has much to appreciate. In the end, Siddhartha’s ability to change my world view would eliminate feelings of pessimism and loss.

Siddhartha was a proactive, self-sufficient young man. He quickly absorbed the Brahmin’s doctrine and decided he wanted to learn even more; he had to become a Samana. Of course, in order to make such a step he needed his father’s permission. When he first requested, his father rejected the idea and said