The Role of Teachers in Siddhartha

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.

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.

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 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

In order to find an answer he would look elsewhere. This is what led him to discover the samanas a group he felt he needed to follow. When denied by his father Siddhartha for the first time defied him and stood with his arms crossed in a battle of wills. Siddhartha joined the samanas with his demands met by his father but his journey proved fruitless “But though the paths led away from the ego, in the end they always led back to the ego. (Hesse 15).” Siddhartha wanted the knowledge of the samanas so he could find his own peace. This proved to be inadvertently ironic as the acquirement of knowledge through the samana teachings led to the flourishing of his ego which he was trying to rid himself of. This perpetuation was not helped by the vastness of knowledge he had as a Brahmin. This circular path led him nowhere and Siddhartha soon left the samanas to see a Buddha. The leader of the samanas did not want him to leave for he did not believe the rumors of the wise Buddha. Then “The old man went mute, his eyes glazed over, his will was paralyzed , his arms dangled: he was helpless, overpowered by Siddhartha’s enchantment (Hesse 22)”. The samanas wish to lose the self (ego) but their leader was selfish. Ironically he did not live up to his own doctrine of life. The leader's behavior reveals that Siddhartha would of never have found peace through them if the leader couldn’t. Siddhartha did not learn nirvana from

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

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.

Although he was still very aware of his mistakes, Siddhartha was able to use them as lessons. He learned to never again participate or become involved in situations like gambling or getting caught in the “ordinary” way of life. He now had new experiences under his belt and became more wise because of that. According to the Samsara cycle you have to go through the death stage of an experience in order to go through the process of rebirth. This is what happened to Siddhartha. He had to hit rock bottom before he could go on with his journey.

After being asked how he was able to reach enlightenment, Siddhartha draws the distinction between knowledge and wisdom. He says, “ No, I am telling you what I discovered. Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be forfeited by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.” (115).

1. Siddhartha believed that wisdom could only be attained by experience. How did his experiences lead him

"On the great journey of life, if a man cannot find one who is better or at least as good as himself, let him journey joyfully alone."  The story of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse makes this point true.  The main character Siddhartha dealt with the Samanas and Gotama Buddha, the second with Kamala and then the ferryman. The three parts correspond to the three stages though which Siddhartha passes on his journey to enlightenment:  The stage of the mind; the stage of the flesh; the stage of transcendence.

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.

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’s life was more of a journey, a journey filled with whimsical decisions and many questions; Siddhartha simply did as he pleased. After living this capricious lifestyle, he noticed that he felt empty inside. He wondered why he felt this way for a long time and decided to leave his current life. He abandoned all possessions and left his father in a quest to seek peace with the shramanas. Soon the cycle of the nature of Siddhartha was formed. Siddhartha would seek something and pursue that something blindly and by abandoning his previous lifestyle. It was not until he was an old man did he finally reach peace through the guidance of a river. Siddhartha’s life had changed immensely numerous amounts of times by the time he was old, but the change he experienced was not necessarily caused by of outside influences. He experienced change, but every change originated inside of him; of what he wanted to follow next. Of course, this still required Siddhartha to change to his new surroundings in every instance he obeyed new lifestyle. When he followed the shramanas, he left everything he had previously known and owned. When he left for the city, he completely changed his demeanor and became rich. Once again, when he lived by the river, he abandoned all possessions and former values. I believe that Siddhartha

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.