Siddhartha's Teachings

1. On page 7, Siddhartha‘s father said to him, “If you find salvation in the forest come and teach me salvation.” Siddhartha’s father has clearly not found true bliss as a Brahman. If he had already found true bliss and salvation as a Brahman, he would not have told Siddhartha to come back and teach him the salvation that Siddhartha had found.

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.

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.

“I have no intentions of walking on water. Let the Samanas deal with those arts.” With a quote like that from Siddhartha himself, one would expect the illuminating moment of his relentless journey to be the the conclusion, the result of this hardship. However, as it is explained in this essay, that is not what it is at all - Buddha or not. It is actually the hardships he faced that serve as the illuminating event, not the end result.

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

In week three readings, stated that Siddhartha, the wish fulfiller lived in luxury. Siddhartha had everything at his feet. The Gods wanted Siddhartha to have four sight so they arrange for it. The four sight included a sick man, a bent old man, a dead person, and a monk seeking eternal pleasure. By Siddhartha having the four sight he felt that by this happening to him it was a wake up call and because of him questioning his existence and wealth of luxury while eithers or suffering. Siddhartha was hurt when his father Buddha had to leave him and his mother behind to go search for knowledge. In the reading one will find that there are many cultures that man have to leave their wife and children behind as they search

When Siddhartha chased his son into the town he realized the circular movement that is life and was the final step to his enlightenment. By not approving of his sons choices he mirrored his own father at the beginning of the book when his father did not want Siddhartha to go join the Samanas and start his spiritual journey. Siddhartha relaezies he cannot force his way of life onto another person because they will not achieve enlightenment through teaching. Siddhartha in his own journey learned from his teachers such as his father, the head samana or Gotama but none of them could set him on the track to full enlightenment because he must realize his path on his own. When Siddhartha abandons the chase for his son it is him coming too the conclusion

In the novel, Siddhartha is faced with many spiritual and self-discovery obstacles that get in the way of his goals. The author believes that every complication can’t be overcome with a simple pair of instructions, the person has to experience the difficulties in order to fully achieve their aspirations. During Siddhartha’s journey, he comes across multiple self-changes as he learns from various teachers. He tries to follow the step that he believes will make him enlightened, soon, he will realize that all he had to do was just live life without following a protocol.

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.

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

Throughout the book Siddhartha has three dreams, the first being his dream with Govinda and a woman and her breast milk. The second is of Kamala’s Rare songbird dead in its cage, and the third is about the sacred word “om” that symbolizes unity and perfection of the universe and is used in the brahmans’ meditation sessions.

Siddhartha, the handsome and respected son of a Brahmin, lives with his father in ancient India. Everyone in the village expects Siddhartha to be a successful Brahmin like his father. Siddhartha enjoys a near-idyllic existence with his best friend, Govinda, but he is secretly dissatisfied. He performs all the rituals of religion, and he does what religion says should bring him happiness and peace. Nonetheless, he feels something is missing. His father and the other elders have still not achieved enlightenment, and he feels that staying with them will not settle the questions he has about the nature of his existence. Siddhartha believes his father has already passed on all the wisdom their community has to offer, but he longs for something more.

In many cases, there are various things that make life, in a sense, worth living. Matters of the heart and mind tend to become confused and internal conflicts arise. In addition to these internal conflicts, there are also many outside factors that can cause turmoil as well. Individuals themselves have various ways of dealing with the turmoil they may face in their lives, but a majority of people in our world today, turn to religion, in their best efforts to explain the unexplainable. Religion however is not always a two way street, going one way or the other. The belief in something much higher than secular humanity definitely can cause some confusion in and of itself, allowing people to look for different outlets and denominations of an unexplored

Answer: The key moment is the last discussion between Siddhartha and Govinda. For Siddhartha, finding

Buddhism’s founder was a man named Siddhartha Gautama, meaning “one who realized his goal.” Buddhists believe that when Siddhartha’s mother, Maha, was conceived she had a dream involving a white elephant carrying a lotus flower. She interpreted the dream to mean that her son would grow up to become a great spiritual leader. Just a week after Siddhartha was born, his mother died. Upon her death, he lived with his wealthy aunt and his father on a large estate. As Siddhartha grew up, his father kept him away from all suffering and anguish of the world. Unlike many of his peers, he was well educated and free from the world’s sorrows.