The Concept Of Enlightenment In Hermann Hesse's Sidddhartha

Hermann Hesse was a German poet and novelist, who in his words described the merge of the soul and nature, and physical realm versus mental realm. In the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha started his journey at a young age to find spiritual enlightenment. In the book Siddhartha, it is coherent that wisdom is incommunicable however, it is attainable, this can only be learned by following your own journey.

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

“What could I say to you that would be of value except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of your seeking you cannot find.” (113) Siddhartha, a book written by Hermann Hesse, is about this young boy who throughout the book grows to an old man who, throughout his journey, seeks to attain enlightenment. He comes from a Brahmin family and later decides to become a samana and lives in the woods with his “shadow”,Govinda. Siddhartha is distracted with obstacles throughout his life and ultimately finds a way to conquer them.

The two boys leave the town to join the Samanas, a group of people who believe that spiritual enlightenment comes with the rejection of body and all other needs. The boys quickly realize that their ideas of the group are very different, Govinda loves the way that improvements that he has gained spiritually and morally. While Siddhartha has yet to reach the spiritual enlightenment that he wishes to achieve. “Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas; he learned many ways of losing the Self. He traveled along the path of self-denial through pain, through voluntary suffering and conquering of pain, through hunger, thirst and fatigue. He traveled the way of self-denial through meditation, through the emptying of the mind through all images. Along these and other paths did he learn to travel. He lost his Self a thousand

According to the brilliant 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 is 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.

He meets a prostitute named Kamala. He wants to be with her but he is not yet worthy. She sends Siddhartha to meet a merchant named Kamaswami. Kamaswami hires Siddhartha and he becomes a merchant. Siddhartha is very good and gains wealth. He begins to visit Kamala and she teaches him her art of love. As time goes on he begins to forget the teachings of the Samanas. He begins to gamble and squander his money. A deep discontent for his life grows in him. He leaves the town and returns to the river without telling Kamala. He wants to throw himself in the river, but before he did he heard the holy “Om” from within and stopped himself. He then falls asleep and when he woke up Govinda was there. Govinda didn’t realize who Siddhartha was. Siddhartha revealed himself and Govinda rejoiced. As they part Siddhartha feels reborn. Siddhartha meets up with the ferryman he met when he first came to the river. His name is Vasudeva. Siddhartha begins to live with Vasudeva. Vasudeva teaches him the secrets of the river. When it is spread that Gotama is dying lots of people go to see him. Kamala and her son (Samsara) travel to see him. When a snake bites her she is brought to Vasudeva’s hut, there she is reunited with Siddhartha. Siddhartha finds out that Kamala’s son is his son too. When she died their son stays with Siddhartha and Vasudeva. Samsara is spoiled and hates living by the river so he run’s away. Siddhartha gives chase but gave up when he realized he must

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

[next work, again tied to thesis]. By the end of the story, Hesse shows the necessity “to wait, to listen, and to be patient” (111) in order to reach Nirvana, interpreted by Siddhartha’s learning from the river and reaching liberation from suffering. When the protagonist finally “stops fighting with destiny, stops suffering,” because “his ego had flowed into the oneness”(119), he reveals to Govinda his “little esteem for thoughts” (127) compared to things. However, developing one’s own thoughts is indeed the imperative and pivotal path to listening to nature and obeying the interior voice. “The knowledge of what wisdom actually is,” the ability “to think the thought of oneness,” and the “sincerity of knowledge … that knows perfection” blossom in Siddhartha’s heart when he reaches Nirvana, “the eternal perfection of the world” (114). Although Siddhartha despises the concept of learning and thinking at some parts of the novel, he explicitly cites “knowledge,” “wisdom,” and “thought,” at his eventual enlightenment. Hesse precisely exposes that in the end, both thought and experience are important: “it is everything long since and always” (126). Moreover, reflection on the past, “remember[ing] the Teaching, the divine Buddha, the conversation with the Sublime One…. all belongs together” (44), and such experience of knowledge during Siddhartha’s early age is fused with who he is ultimately. Although the process of learning and thinking is not the final path to Nirvana, it is doubtless the rudiment and one indivisible part of Siddhartha’s self. Only by accepting and embracing the benefits of all opposing values does Siddhartha obtain the wisdom of Buddhism and achieve his quest. [concluding sentence , reaffirming the thesis]

To find the truth it has been said that one has to look within. It is within those parameters that Siddhartha, Phaedrus, and Oedipus found what they searched so longingly for. On the topic of Siddhartha, his search for enlightenment was more of a search for the meaning of life and the truth behind it. As Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau put it, "The novel, which examines themes related to spirituality and personal growth,

Experiencing many mistakes along with their consequences, the novel’s protagonist, Siddhartha, learns to face and embrace them as a part of his path through life. This acceptance in which Siddhartha displays allows him to become closer in his journey to finding enlightenment. Much like any other human being, Siddhartha makes innumerable mistakes that both help and hinder his journey to enlightenment. Despite

In the novel Siddhartha, a young man begins life as someone who has been handed all the tools for ‘success’.

In the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, the main protagonist feels displeased with his upper class lifestyle. He believes that the Brahmans are unable to understand enlightenment because of the life given to them. Thus, Siddhartha decides to abandon his comfortable living in order to comprehend his religion and seek the truth. Throughout his journey, Siddhartha had to encounter different people and experience different forms of worship to realize that enlightenment comes from the self and not from others. These encounters helped shape Siddharta into an enlightened being because Siddhartha was capable of questioning the beliefs from each form of worship. The most important character that helped shape Siddhartha is Gotama,the Buddha, because the encounter with the Buddha caused Siddhartha to question his quest for enlightenment.

The story of a young man that searches high and low for the path of enlightenment. In Hermann Hesse’s, Siddhartha, it shows how a young man tries to find a balance in self and spirit. Many of Hesse’s books reflect the experiences he had as a adolescent, Hesse also had trouble balancing religious aspects of his life, in the same way Siddhartha did. Hesse had attempted suicide and was expelled from school. Unlike Siddhartha, he was not very loved among people in his early life. I believe that Hesse wrote about Siddhartha because he could relate and sympathise with his feelings.

In this paper I will be talking about the article “What is Enlightenment” by Immanuel Kant. In this paper I will be answering the question that was given at the end of the article. I will talk about what enlightenment and what it entails. What tutelage is according to Kant? Also explain what Kant thought about the subject. What are the conditions for the gradual spread of enlightenment in the community? These are some of the questions that I will be answering in the essay and also give my opinion of the article.

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.