Siddhartha 's Experiences With The Gurus

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.

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.

Here Siddhartha is demonstrating that he is the only one that matters when it comes to thoughts of who he is, and only his opinion of himself matters. Acceptance and the ability to look into himself will lead to that road of happiness. Also, to be minimalistic as to if there is nothing to be needed then it is not. This is something many people should take into consideration as to stay away from being materialistic.

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.

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is about a man's journey to find inner peace and happiness.  He first decides to try to seek peace by following the Samanas, holy men.  Then he seeks happiness through material things and pleasures of the body.  After this path fails to provide him with the peace for which he searches, he follows Buddha but soon realizes that Buddha's teaching will not lead him to his goal.  Siddhartha finally finds peace when Vasudeva, the ferryman, teaches him to listen to the river.

One theme is that people can teach religious doctrine, but it may not lead one to find

The Buddhist monk sat cross-legged on a mountain top, inhaling and  exhaling while focusing his mind. He was trying to reach the state of enlightenment discovered by the religion's founder Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha's early life greatly affected and influenced the beliefs and values found in the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold path, and the Dhammapada. Precisely his early life in the palace affected the second noble truth,  his four journeys impacted the first noble truth, and his experiences influenced the Dhammapada.

Siddhartha is the novel’s protagonist. Siddhartha sets out on a mission to receive religious enlightenment. On his way to discover enlightenment he tests the religious philosophies he comes upon. Siddhartha’s has a very obvious desire for spiritual understanding of himself and the world. He devotes himself to pursue this understanding, even when the path is strenuous. Outside forces do not easily sway Siddhartha, and he follows his heart. A man dedicated to his personal quest for knowledge, Siddhartha will abandon a course if he feels it is flawed. Siddhartha has a son, who is also named Siddhartha.

In the beginning of the novel, Siddhartha carries a self-absorbed attitude with him. This is shown first when referring to his father and the other Brahmins, “... the wise Brahmins, had already passed on to him the bulk and best of their wisdom, that they had already poured the sum total of their knowledge unto his (Siddhartha’s) waiting vessel”(5). Siddhartha believes that he can no longer learn from the Brahmins, and has grown discontent with staying with them, and even though he is involved in religion, he believes that the Brahmins, the people he is supposed to respect, have nothing left to teach him. Siddhartha’s attitude develops from self-centered to egotistical when he meets with the Buddha, Gotama, and says, “...so I think, O Illustrious One, that nobody fines salvations though teachings.

Authority plays a large role in Siddhartha’s journey to finding enlightenment. Siddhartha finds himself unhappy and questioning the religion he has known his whole life. He begins to dream vividly and lie awake at night overthinking how he could confront his feelings. He has come to believe that there is no more knowledge to be learned from his father, “Siddhartha had begun to feel that the love of his father and mother, and also the love of his friend Govinda, would not always make him happy, give him peace, satisfy and suffice him. He had begun to suspect that his worthy father and his other teachers, the wise Brahmins, had already passed on to him the bulk and best of their wisdom but his soul was not at peace." Chapter 1, pg. 3. Siddhartha

Toward the end of his life, Siddhartas long time friend hears about and illuminated ferryman and travels to Siddharta at first he didn’t recognize, Govinda asks the elderly Siddhartha give some insight and wisdom, and he replies that “for every true statement there is an opposite one that is also true” that language and the confines of time lead people to follow to one fixed belief that does not account for the fullness of the truth. Because nature works in a self-sustaining cycle, every entity carries in it the potential for its opposite and so the world must always be considered complete. Siddhartha simply urges people to identify with the world and to love it for everything that it is.

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

“Your vision will become clear when you look into your heart. Who looks outside dreams. Who looks inside, awakens”- Carl Jung. Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse, was written in 1922 right after the World War 1. In short, it is a journey of a Brahmin 's son Siddhartha- transitioning from spiritual to materialistic and back to the spiritual world to attain self-realization, authenticity, and spirituality. The novel 's setting takes place in ancient India, during the period of the Gautama Buddha (The Sublime One). Below, I will show how Siddhartha’s story legitimates Hinduism, but challenges both Hinduism and Buddhism. According to Siddhartha neither Brahmins, Samanas nor Buddha can teach how to attain Nirvana, they can only guide, which challenges both Hindu and Buddhist teachings. However, legitimation of Indian religious authority is depicted through his instructor that guides him towards enlightenment, who is the father of Hindu God Krishna-Vasudeva. Thanks to him, he was able to finally comprehend OM-the unity of all things (Indian mantra) by listening to the river 's secrets. In addition, throughout the novel legitimation of Indian religious authority was revealed in its use of Indian religious and philosophical concepts.

Buddhism, although not technically a religion, but a philosophy, is a significant supernatural realm in which people tend to endeavor to reach ultimate meaning and purpose into life. Buddhism’s main focus is to use the knowledge that the world has to offer and use to to reach nirvana - the purpose for life. Siddhartha Gautama was born into a rich life under the King and Queen. He was able to live with the royalties and also be treated like one. The king, his father, didn’t allow Siddhartha to go into the outside world to be exposed into the negativities of life. One day, Siddhartha was desired to see the outside, as he did so, secretly. On this journey, he came to head with a sick person, a dead person, and an old person. This became to be known as the three evils. This allowed Siddhartha to understand the concept of universal suffering. 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