“Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Shramanas, learned many pathways beyond the self. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of pain, by means of suffering intentionally and overcoming the pain, the hunger, the thirst, the fatigue. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of meditation, allowing the senses to empty themselves of all representations...a thousand times he left his ego behind...but even if the methods he followed led beyond ego, in the end they led back to ego” (Hesse 13). This passage describes Siddhartha's first pursuit at reaching enlightenment. The shramanas preach the need to leave one’s self behind in order to reach full spirituality. They believe that one can eliminate Self by getting rid of all senses using meditation. As time passes, Siddhartha learns how to extend his mind into nature, then into death, and then back to life. This teaches him to embrace the life cycle in the natural word. However, as this passage makes clear, each time Siddhartha makes an attempt to implement these teachings, he returns back to his egotistical state of mind. He realizes that the shramanas’ instructions only offer temporary relief. In this passage Hesse reveals a crucial component of Siddhartha’s character, which is that he is not a very patient person. When a method of spiritual guidance does not have permanent results or has flaws he does not wait and put effort into perfecting the practices but instead moves on to the next. Even with the lack of spiritual enlightenment, Siddhartha still makes progress and is better off with them than with his father back home. This means that regardless of relieving his mind through meditations he always finds this inner ego. This means that in order for him to reach full enlightenment he needs to find the correct teachings. Later on in the chapter, Siddhartha realizes that he must move on from the shramanas once he discovers that even the oldest shramana has not yet reached Nirvana and therefore can not teach him.
My idea is similar to your idea. For example, we both discuss how it is Siddhartha who is preventing himself from Nirvana, though I focused on his desire for such knowledge while you focused on his ego. I definitely agree with you about his ego is interfering with his quest for Nirvana. On page twenty-three and twenty-four, Siddhartha is able to hypnotize the eldest Samana, a feat that Govinda says is incredibly difficult. Siddhartha however, brushes it off, and dismisses the idea of staying and learning to walk on water saying “I have no desire to walk on water…Let the old Samana’s satisfy themselves with such arts.” (pg 24). I believe that in this quote both of our ideas are present. Due to his ego, Siddhartha does not learn to walk on water, and because he has no desire to walk on water, it is possible that he could’ve easily learned to do so.
“And where was Atman to be found, where did He dwell, where did His eternal heart beat, if not within the Self, in the innermost, in the eternal which each person carries within him? But where was this Self, this innermost? It was not flesh or bone, it was not thought or consciousness. That was what the wise men thought. Where, then, was it?” Page 6. To begin with, this sequence of rhetorical questions that Hesse uses emphasizes the doubt and uncertainties growing within Siddhartha. He quickly begins the novel introducing Siddhartha’s skeptic attitude, highlighting how his mistrust and confusion will, in a way, lead his journey throughout the book. As a reader, we can definitely assume what the author is trying to prepare us for (the spiritual quest we are embarking with Siddharta), and is slowly starting to introduce the narrator’s gentle, soft and slow tone in the novel. The fact that he uses enumeration to organize his big, agnostic question indicates how lost Siddhartha is feeling. The way the author builds up the sentence, separating each doubt with a comma, instead of individual questions creates a sort of rhythm as you read. Consequently, this idea of a rhythm allows the reader to encounter the smooth tone, or the harmonious mood the author is portraying, which enables us to experience and feel vividly what Siddhartha will eventually go through in his journey. Furthermore, Hesse’s word choices also seem to reflect the doubt and spirituality in the book. Words such as “innermost”, “Self”, and “within” all share the same idea when referring to Siddhartha’s uncertainties, but also are the answer to them all. Throughout the novel, the author makes use of a number of rhetorical questions similar to the ones above, that actually are the answer to Siddhartha’s ambivalences: he concludes his journey finding the wisdom he solemnly searched for in himself. Also, the fact that the author writes the word “Self” with a capital S also emphasizes the spiritual concept being made. Siddhartha’s quest to reach Enlightenment, to discover the truth about life and therefore cease to be reborn are all introduced by Hesse in the sequence of confusion and doubt that will gradually grow in him.
“And the last hour of the night, before day broke, he came back again, went into the room, and looked at the youth standing there. The boy looked so big to him and alien...The first daylight shone into the room. The brahmin saw that Siddhartha’s knees were shaking slightly. But he saw no wavering in Siddhartha's face. The eyes were fixed on the distance. Then the father realized that Siddhartha was already no longer home with him, that he had left him already” (Hesse 9-10).
This passage occurs when Siddhartha has set his mind on becoming a shramana, and he knows in his heart and mind that nothing will come in his way of true contentment. It states that Siddhartha stayed in one position all night, and that he told his father that he will not move until he hears what he wishes to hear. This correlates with Siddhartha’s view on becoming a shramana because he is set on joining them and nothing can stop him from doing so. Similar to how nothing will be able to move him from that spot. This characterizes Siddhartha as a determined, focused, and intense character when it comes to his dreams and aspirations. This helps begin to demonstrate the idea that everyone should strive for happiness. Hesse states that “the eyes were were fixed on the distance”. Hesse used “the” instead of his to describe Siddhartha’s eyes, indicating that Siddhartha’s soul was already gone. His heart is somewhere else and no longer with the Brahmin and his beliefs. Also, the father doesn’t see his son’s eyes anymore, and he knows he must let him go. His father saw no wavering in his face, although his knees were shaking. His face symbolizes his brain, in the idea that his mind is set on this goal, but all the surrounding pieces with him aren’t ready for it. His father is a surrounding piece in Siddhartha’s life who does not wish for him to go, but knows he must to bring happiness back to him.
Another example from the text that would also support your analysis is on page 14. “Silently Siddhartha stood in the fierce sun’s rays, filled with pain and thirst, and stood until he no longer felt pain and thirst. Silently he stood in the rain, water dripping from his hair onto his freezing hips and legs. And the ascetic stood until his shoulders and legs no longer froze, till they were still.”
Here Siddhartha easily beats his bodily pain and desires into submission, showing his determined resolve, as it will bring him one step closer to achieving Nirvana. He learned to leave his own “Self” and become a heron, even going as far as experiencing death through a jackal. It seems as though no teaching is too hard for him to manage, and no obstacle is too difficult for him to overcome. Each time Siddhartha leaves himself, he finds a new thirst, and unfailingly manages to beat it into submission, learning how to ignore the desires of his body in order to achieve his ultimate goal. Just as you said, Siddhartha is indeed a "determined, focused, and intense character when it comes to his dreams and aspirations."
"He saw a businessman trading, princes going to the hunt, mourners weeping over their dead, prostitutes offering themselves, doctors attending the sick, priests deciding the day for sowing, lovers making love, mothers soothing their children - and all were not worth a passing glance, everything lied, stank of lies; they were all illusions of sense, happiness and beauty. All were doomed to decay. The world tasted bitter. Life was pain" (Hesse 13-14) (My copy of the book is a bit older and this quote may be on different pages in your book) This quote gives a description of one of Siddhartha's first encounters with the normal everyday life that he grew up with after joining the Shramanas. After having given up his possessions and started following the Shramana way of life Siddhartha observes these quotidians that were "... not worth a passing glance" with such desire that it is certainly clear that the way in which Siddhartha is participating the activities associated with the Shramana way of life is not furthering him in his quest for enlightenment. While Siddhartha does not find enlightenment with the Shramans it is worth noting that during his time with them that he gains a well defined idea of what he needs to do to be come enlightened and ultimately get the most out of his spiritual journey: to lose his concept of self and become empty. Hesse describes how Siddhartha came to this realization on page 14: "When all the self was conquered and dead, when all passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost of Being that is no longer Self- the great secret!" This finally gives Siddhartha his first piece of guidance on his journey and while he may not know what he needs to do to lose himself he is certain that that will eventually lead him to his spiritual enlightenment.
I had different reaction to this passage. I think that this was a good example of existentialism. I think that at this point in the book, Siddhartha was starting to become empty of his old passions and temptations that were in his life before the journey began. And by dismissing these passions, he starts to see everyone as different as him and maybe not as superior as he is. He also starts to see how irrational and chaotic the world around him is. This then helps him realize that he has his own individual path that is going to hopefully lead him to enlightenment and separate him from the sinful people he sees.
“Siddhartha had one single goal-to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow-to let the self die. No longer to be Self, to experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought-that was his goal. When all the self was conquered and dead, when all passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost of Being that is no longer Self-the greatest secret!” (Hesse, pg 14) This quote here shows that Siddhartha wants desperately to achieve the ultimate knowledge, but in order to do that he must lose all passion and desire. Unfortunately for him, this is currently impossible, because while Siddhartha can quell his physical thirst, his thirst for knowledge is stronger than ever. This creates a strange paradox, in which Siddhartha’s desire for knowledge can only be fulfilled if he manages to quell it as he did all others wants. Only then can he achieve attain the ultimate knowledge, but by that point he would no longer have any thirst for such knowledge. It is also important to note the capitalization in this passage, of “Self” and “Being.” This capitalization lends greater emphasis and meaning towards the words, and further into the passage, the distinction between “Self” and “self” becomes clear. Through meditation, Siddhartha can become other “selves” like the heron and dead jackal, and gain their experiences, but he must always return to his “Self” or his body so to speak, to live and learn from his own experiences. Through his conversation with Govinda however, it is shown that Siddhartha no longer believes he learns anything from either his “Self” or the other “selves,” and compares meditating and abandoning the body to being drunk, as they are bother merely ways to find an escape. Though Govinda tells Siddhartha that rather than going in circles in their tutelage, they are going in upward spirals, Siddhartha does not believe him, and points out that at sixty years old, their oldest teacher has yet to reach Nirvana and under their instruction, he would be much the same if things stayed as they were. This only shows how relentless Siddhartha is in his search for the ultimate knowledge and how it may be the very thing that is preventing him from reaching it in the first place.
Siddhartha was a spiritual person seeking enlightenment since he was young. "Siddhartha had long been taking part in the conversations of the sages, practicing the art of contemplation with Govinda, the service of meditation. He already knew how to soundlessly speak the om, the word of words, soundlessly speak it out of himself, breathing it out with all his soul, his forehead enveloped in the luster of his clear-thinking mind. He already understood how to know Atman in his innermost being, indestructible, at one with the universe." (Chapter 1 pg. 3) Siddhartha has picked up on the spiritual rituals and meanings extremely quickly. Everyone loved and looked up to Siddhartha: his parents, the community, his best friend. But he himself was not content. Siddhartha was searching for more than knowledge of spiritual things, he wanted to feel and understand it, not with his mind, but in his heart. His studying was not getting him anywhere on his spiritual journey. This is why Siddhartha wanted to become a samana so badly. The samanas went further than studying verses. Their entire lives revolved around the verse to truly understand them. Wanting to know as deeply as them, Siddhartha was ready to take that step. He wanted this enlightenment so bad that he was willing to ask his father, and most of all, not give up. He wanted it so much that he would stand, unmoved throughout the night, and he did. It is clear in this first chapter that Siddhartha, though immensely knowledgeable, wants nothing more than to find spiritual enlightenment.
“It was the ego whose meaning and essence I wanted to learn. It was the ego that I wanted to get rid of, to overcome. But I was unable to overcome it, I could only trick it, could only elude it, could only hide from it. In truth nothing in the world has occupied my thoughts so much as my ego, this enigma that I am alive, that I am unique and separate and distinct from all others, that I am Siddartha! And there is nothing in the world I know less about than me, than Siddhartha!” (Hesse 31). In this passage we finally learn the meaning of Siddhartha’s journey, we learn why this journey is so significant for him, and that is to relieve himself of his ego. This realization is important to the book because it is the turning point of Siddhartha's journey. In the second part of the book we can make the assumption that it is going to reveal to us how Siddhartha is going to separate himself from his ego and how he will discover who he really is. From reading this passage, I realized that Siddhartha’s ego has been growing since the beginning of the book. The reason he left the Brahmin’s way of teaching is because he had exceeded all of his teachers expectations and was held as the best by many, including Govinda who constantly praises and admires Siddhartha. Due to this praise, his inner ego blossomed and he developed so much pride, that he felt he could become more knowledgeable and therefore left his village. In the first half of the book, Siddhartha has learned that in order to reach enlightenment he has to give up the material world. The Brahmins, Shramanas, and Buddhists have all taught Siddhartha that the material world is a distraction from the spiritual world and so, in order to focus on his own mind and absorb the wisdom of his teachers he had to deny himself of all pleasures. However, in the end the spiritual world disappoints Siddhartha because it does not lead him to enlightenment. This makes me infer that because the spiritual world did satisfy Siddhartha, than the second part of the book will be about Siddhartha exploring the path of the material world to see if that brings him success.
You make a very good point about Siddhartha's ego and how he intends to battle it. However, I do not believe that that is the reason why he left the village in search for new thinking and ideas. I think that Siddhartha was not satisfied with his way of living, because he lacked of many things that would make him happy and eventually seek Enlightenment. This is seen in the last part of his journey, when Kamala passes away and he is in charge of his son. Hesse introduces the theme of love, which is the most significant and most powerful attainment any human being can live with. Therefore, I believe that Siddhartha's journey isn't about escaping from his ego, but existing and learning like a normal person, which means living with flaws and imperfections, as well as with the purity and vertue of a human being.
“In that moment, Govinda realized that his was leaving him and he began to weep.
‘Siddhartha’ he cried.
Siddhartha spoke kindly to him. ‘Do not forget, Govinda, that you now belong to the Buddha’s holy men. You have renounced home and parents, you have renounced origin and property, you have renounced your own will, you have renounced friendship. That is what the teachings preach, that is the will of the Illustrious One. that is what you wished yourself. Tomorrow, Govinda, I will leave you.’” (Page 30).
This quote reveals the depth of Siddhartha and Govinda’s relationship. Upon hearing that Siddhartha will not join him under Gotama’s tutelage, Govinda is distraught. Siddhartha immediately attempts to both soothe and keep him on the path that will offer him the most happiness, telling Govinda that he will leave, as the path that was chosen will not allow the two of them to remain together. There is nothing to indicate that Siddhartha begrudges Govinda for his new loyalty, as it appears Siddhartha blames Gotama instead for the loss of his friend. “He (Gotama) has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow.” (page 36). Siddhartha highly valued Govinda, going as far as comparing him to a shadow, someone that never strayed from his side and was but a step behind him. Were it not for the fact that Govinda is no longer allowed friendship under Gotama’s tutelage, one could say that the two men parted as friends, as there were no hard feelings between them. It is certainly no wonder that the two were such close friends, since they had been together since childhood, but since Siddhartha mentions that Govinda is now Gotama’s ‘shadow’ instead of his, it can be assumed that Govinda showed true devotion towards Siddhartha.
In the previous chapter, Siddhartha is shown to be slightly mocking of Govinda’s desire to hear the Buddha’s teaching, but when Govinda chooses the path under Gotama’s tutelage, Siddhartha show nothing but support. “Then he (Siddhartha) spoke softly and there was no mockery in his voice. ‘Govinda my friend, you have taken the step, you have chosen your path…May you go along it to the end, my friend. May you find salvation!’” (Page 30). Though later in the passage, Siddhartha reminds Govinda he can have no friends, here he still addresses Govinda as ‘my friend,’ showing he still cares for the man, despite their diverging paths.
You make a very good point about the fact that Siddhartha loves Govinda and wants the best for him and vice versa. However, I would like to argue that Siddhartha is very much an independent person and doesn’t need Govinda as much as Govinda needs him. Siddhartha was the one that decided to go on this journey towards enlightenment because he felt that it was the right thing for him. Govinda came along because he loved Siddhartha and trusted that Siddhartha was doing the right thing for the both of them. I do agree that they have a very loving relationship for each other but in the end this was Siddhartha’s journey and I think that had Govinda been with him, then Siddhartha wouldn’t have succeeded the way that he did.
“His peaceful countenance was neither happy or sad. He seemed to be smiling gently inwardly. With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, he walked along, peacefully, quietly. He wore his gown and walked along exactly like the other monks, but his face and his step, his peaceful downward glance,his peaceful downward-hanging hand, and every finger of his hand spoke of peace, spoke of completeness, sought nothing, imitated nothing, reflected a continuous quiet, an unfading light, an invulnerable peace.” Pg. 27.
We can see in the narrator’s precise and descriptive words how the Enlightened One, Gotama, the Perfect One, or Buddha, is introduced in the novel. Since this short passage reflects Siddhartha’s impression towards the Buddha, we can see to what extent he is acknowledged and admired by the characters. At the beginning of the novel, the author characterized Siddhartha has the wisest and intelligent of them all. We can see this clearly throughout the character of Govinda, as he constantly described the way Govinda loved and praised Siddhartha. However, when the two friends reach the town of the Gotama, the narrator emphasizes the change of roles in the novel. Now, the Buddha becomes the Illustrious One, the wisest of them all. This is an important part of the book, since it unravels Siddhartha’s turning point; the moment he discovers the path to find his Self. In other words, it is the awakening of Siddhartha. Moreover, Hesse uses a number of techniques to emphasize the character of Buddha. He repeatedly uses the word ‘peace’ in his complex and extensive sentences, ending his paragraph also with the word ‘peace’. This places a clear image in the reader’s mind of a serene, pacific man, almost perfectly a God. The author continues with the calm and harmonious mood created at the beginning of the novel, but now emphasizes it in this one specific character. The fact that Hesse frequently uses numerous, short expressions in each sentence, all representing a different idea or image, creates the harmonious rhythm in his narration and importance in the character of the Buddha. It is as though the author is listing Gotama’s admired nature, and it gives the reader the feeling that these qualities could be enumerable. Furthermore, Hesse uses a metaphor to emphasize, once more, the peace within this sacred man. We can see this in the sentence ‘his hands spoke of peace (...)’. The fact that the Buddha’s hand is actually speaking, which is also, in a way, personified, shows the extent to which the author wants us to admire and cherish the Buddha the way Siddhartha does. This metaphor exaggerates the peace the author seems to display in Buddha, which shows us the importance of his character and how critical his impact in Siddhartha was.
"The Buddha went quietly on his way, lost in thought. His peaceful countenance was neither happy nor sad. He seemed to be smiling gently inward. With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, he walked along, peacefully, quietly. " (Hesse 27) Hesse uses comparisons and other literary devices throughout this novel in order to better convey what his intentions are and to also underscore the degree to which something is occurring. This may sound strange, but with this quote the comparison between the Buddha and a healthy child helps to describe the demeanor and way in which the Buddha goes through his everyday life. This comparison makes more clear what Hesse is trying to describe and is in my opinion more powerful than Hesse just describing that he was smiling inward. These sorts of comparisons that are used in the book give the reader a relatable example that will likely resinate with them and give them a context that is easier to understand. What is also interesting about this quote and what makes it particularly significant in the story is that it is during a time when Siddhartha is getting to see and interact with someone who has achieved spiritual enlightenment for the very first time. Not that it is explicitly stated, but Siddhartha seeing the Buddha for the first time also gives him some inclination as to how he should be living his life. Observing these enlightened people gives Siddhartha firsthand experience and exposure as to how these people conduct themselves which is invaluable to anyone seeking enlightenment. If he did not have this first hand experience with people who have become enlightened he may have never truly seen what it means, externally, to be enlightened. Later in the book he encounters the ferryman who gives Siddhartha even more advice and firsthand accounts of what it really means to be spiritually enlightened. These encounters play a key role in Siddhartha's spiritual journey and without them he may have not become spiritually enlightened himself.
"The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha, he has robbed me, yet he has given me more. ... But he has given me Siddhartha, has given me my self." (pg. 34). In these chapters Siddhartha hears the teachings of the Buddha. He gains much spiritual insight and realizes that the only way to enlightenment is through himself. Realizing that the spiritual destination he longs for cannot be taught to him by someone else, he parts ways with Govinda to find his own way. This is a large step in Siddhartha's journey for he learned much and it centered him on a new path. Through these first few chapters, Siddhartha's change is already prevalent. While studying with the samanas, Siddhartha would refer to himself not as "I"or "me" but as "Siddhartha." This is due to his effort to release all ties from the world, including himself so he may achieve Nirvana. By the time Siddhartha gains his new goal, he recognises that he must accept himself in order to learn from himself. He then says "I will no longer let Siddhartha slip away! I will no longer start my thinking and my living with Atman and the suffering of the world. I will no longer murder and dismember myself in order to find a secret beyond the rubble. Yoga-Veda will no longer teach me, nor will Athara-Veda, nor the ascetics, nor any kind of teaching. I will learn from me, from myself, I will be my own pupil: I will get to know myself, the secret that is Siddhartha." (pg. 36). The terms used are now changed to "I", "me," and "myself." Siddhartha changed his view on teaching from the samanas as well as the Buddha, thus changing his view on himself.
Siddhartha awake as from sleep when he heard Govinda’s words. He looked for a long into Govinda’s face. Then he spoke softly, in a voice without mockery: “Govinda, my friend, now you have taken the step, you have chosen your path. Always, Govinda, you have been my friend and always you have been a step behind me. Often I though: “Is Govinda ever going to take a step on his own, without me, acting from his own heart?” And there it is: Now you have become a man and have chosen your own path. May you follow it to its end, my friend. May you attain liberation!” (Hesse 25).
This passage demonstrates the relationship between Govinda and Siddhartha as they are forced to go their separate ways in order to achieve their individual aspirations. It also characterizes Siddhartha as an independent character, although he will miss his friend. In the beginning of the novel, Siddhartha refers to Govinda as his shadow, putting himself on a pedestal in comparison to Govinda. That idea is also represented in this passage, when Siddhartha tells Govinda that he has always been one step behind him, but that is forgotten since Govinda has broken away in order to attempt to achieve enlightenment. The reader is able to see Siddhartha’s true love for his best friend, when he watches him leave to attempt to achieve enlightenment in his own way. Later in the chapter, Siddhartha has an epiphany, and realizes how alone he is in the world. He sees how he is a miniscule piece of the world, directly after losing his best friend, displaying that Siddhartha really did enjoy having Govinda as a companion by his side. Directly following his passage, Govinda tears up, because he is distressed following the departure of his one companion. This passage displays Siddhartha’s growing independence and ability to be alone. He is determined to reach enlightenment in whatever way fulfills him, and will leave everyone behind who doesn’t wish to join him. He was able to leave his father and family for years to fulfill his dreams, although the question still lingers, will he eventually return to his father? The last sentence in the chapter, states that Siddhartha continues his journey away from Gotoma and his father. That foreshadows the possibility that what he is searching for isn’t with either and there is no turning back for loved ones. In that moment Siddhartha realizes this journey must be done alone, and he is ready to become enlightened through his own methods.
“Most people, Kamala, are like fallen leaves that blow and whirl about in the air, then dip and fall to earth. But others, only a few, are like stars, which move on a fixed course where no wind reaches them; they have their law and their course within them...there was one who was perfect in this sense...that was Gotama, the Exalted One...thousands of disciples listen to his teaching everyday...but they are all falling leaves” (Hesse 57). In this passage, Hesse uses leaves to convey the message that most people have no direction in their life. These people go through the motions of life and when they think they have their path figured out, an obstacle or worry comes along and acts like the wind, blowing them off course. Siddhartha refers to these people as “children”. Children need someone to guide them in the right direction. For the disciples of the Gotama, they need the Exalted One in order to teach them how to reach internal Nirvana. However, they still do not have a true path for them. Children also are easily worried. For example Kamaswami is easily stirred by the problems that affect his business. These petty everyday problems push Kamaswami away from the path of true happiness and enlightenment. The “leaves” are considered to be far less superior than the stars because they keep being pulled downward and don’t know how to bring themselves back up. On the other hand, stars refer to the people who have found enlightenment or their calling in life. These people are above everyone else because they are not troubled by small problems. This power that they have allows them to stick to their beliefs and not be blown off course. Siddhartha uses Gotama as an example of a star because he is “the Buddha” and is considered to have reached Nirvana, therefore he is the ultimate goal. Even though Siddhartha considers himself to be a star, I think that he is not quite there yet because of the fact that he still has a lot more to learn and has not reached his full spiritual enlightenment.
“When you throw a stone into water, it falls quickly by the fastest route to the bottom of the pond. This is the way it is when Siddhartha has an aim, an intention. Siddhartha does nothing-he waits, he thinks, he fasts-but he passes through the things of the world like the stone through the water, without bestirring himself. He is drawn forward and lets himself fall. His goals draw him to it, for he lets nothing enter his mind that interferes with the goal. This was what Siddhartha learned from the Shramanas. This is what fools call magic, thinking that it is brought about by demons; demons do not exist. Anyone can do magic, anyone can reach his goals if he can think, wait and fast” (Hesse 49).
In this passage, Siddhartha’s determination is compared to the falling of a stone in water. The importance of the shramana teachings are also displayed in the comparison. Once a stone is in water it sinks rather quickly, without anything being able to stop it. This is similar to the way Siddhartha dives after his goals without becoming distracted by his surroundings or even departure of friendships. He was able to continue his journey quickly after losing his companion of the past three years, and never lost sight of his goal of enlightenment. After finding out that following the shramanas will not bring him what he desires he must set his sight on something new and continue “falling” for it. Siddhartha’s new goal he will be attempting to reach using these methods will be attaining the love of Kamala. Using his three skills he believes he will have the ability to attain the dream, but Kamla tells Siddhartha she must wait for him to be wealthy. However, Siddhartha does not care for wealth. He values the experience and journey to get there, which is what is considered the falling of the rock. He attempts to share this vision with Kamaswami. Siddhartha learned three important skills from the shramanas, thinking, fasting, and waiting. This passage states that “anyone can reach his goals if he can think, wait and fast”, displaying the importance of these skills to Siddhartha. He has learned that these skills are necessary in order for him to reach his goals. That demonstrates the importance of Siddhartha’s time with the shramanas, even though he has given up on their beliefs in order to find his own.
" "Why did you leave me?" Thereupon he embraced Govinda, put his arm round him, and as he drew him to his breast and kissed hime, he was Govinda no longer, but a woman and out of woman's grown emerged a full breast, and Siddhartha lay there and drank; sweet and strong tasted the milk from this breast. It tasted of woman and man, of sun and forest, of animal and flower, of every fruit, of every pleasure. It was intoxicating. When Siddhartha awoke, the pale river shimmered past the door of the hut, and in the forest the cry of an owl rang out, deep and clear. " (Hesse 48) While Siddhartha's dream may seem to be a collection of random events with no meaning, there is actually some symbolism that relates to Siddhartha's situation and spiritual state. As a child is dependent on his or her mother's milk Siddhartha is dependent on this milk, but in this dream the milk symbolizes 2 different things. As a whole, the milk symbolizes the worldly pleasures that Siddhartha experiences, as it is said to be "intoxicating". The first worldly pleasure that the milk symbolizes is that of Siddhartha's relation with Kamala as in his dream Govinda is said to be transformed into Kamala, which represents Siddhartha's shift from being with his friend to now being with Kamala. His dependance on the milk milk could also represent his lack of readiness for spiritual enlightenment as he is still a child that can not survive without these worldly pleasures. Either way, the milk is not necessarily representative of a bad thing, just as a child's dependency is not bad, it is just a thing which they grow out of later in life and in Siddhartha's case reach spiritual enlightenment after this dependency is gone. This dream was also an example of foreshadowing as later Siddhartha becomes aware of the fact that he must live without the worldly pleasures, which intoxicate him in his everyday life, in order to become enlightened.
“All this, colored and in a thousand different forms, had always been there. The sun and the moon had always shone; the rivers had had always flowed and the bees had hummed, but in previous times all of this had been nothing more to Siddhartha than a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes, regarded with distrust, condemned to be disregarded and ostracized from the thoughts, because it was not reality, because reality lay on the other side of the visible.” (page 45-46)
This passage shows that Siddhartha no longer regards the world as a lie as he did in chapter two, but now enjoys the simple pleasures in life since he has awakened. He has come so far on his spiritual journey that he now has completely changed his outlook on life, going as far as missing his connection to Govinda, whom he left so he could achieve the inner piece he would not otherwise get under Gotama’s teachings. Further in the passage, Siddhartha even comes to regret what he said to Gotama, realizing that he was not nearly as knowledgeable as he had thought himself to be at the time. When Siddhartha chooses to learn more about himself by starting anew, he begins to shed his ego, which held him back before. The aloofness he once possessed is vanishing and in its place comes a deeper understanding and love of life. “But I spent a number of good days, learned much, had much pleasure and did not hurt either myself or others through annoyance or hastiness. If I ever go there again, perhaps to buy a later harvest, or for some other purpose, friendly people will receive me and I will be glad that I did not previously display hastiness and displeasure.” (Page 68).
Here we see Siddhartha take pleasure from the company of people, he would not have associated with before his awakening. Not only does he enjoy their presence and learn from them, which he had previously said was impossible, Siddhartha dispenses valuable advice and requests that he and Kamaswami be “Good friends.”
Though later in the chapter Siddhartha admits to not being able to love, we see him begin to warm up to the world and attempt to experience the empathy of people whose troubles he doesn’t quite understand. Siddhartha has come a long way from where he began, and though he views his life as a game currently, he is living in a far more virtuous way then he ever did as a Samana.
"Then for an hour he was aware that he was leading a strange life, that he was doing all sorts of things that were merely a game, that he was cheerful, granted, and sometimes felt joy, but that real life was flowing past him and not touching him." (pg. 63). This is a reoccurring theme throughout Siddhartha's journey towards spiritual enlightenment. He is constantly trying new things, but always feels like he is just barely evading the answer he is searching for. While living at home as the son of a Brahmin, he found that he was doing no more than going through the motions. This is when he joined the samanas in hope of gaining this knowledge. Again, however, Siddhartha found Nirvana just out of reach. When Siddhartha met the Buddha, he noticed that the Buddha had exactly what Siddhartha was looking for. He also realized this could not be found through someone else's teaching. Siddhartha turned to his own path, a relaxing lifestyle void of any needs. After a dream, Siddhartha's path became intertwined with women, particularly Kamala. But, like every other trial, spiritual enlightenment was just out of grasp.
“The life that is lived here is simple, thought Siddhartha. It has no difficulties. Everything was difficult, irksome and finally hopeless when I was a Samana. Now everything is easy, as easy as the instruction in kissing which Kamala gives. I require clothes and money, that is all. These are easy goals that do not disturb one’s sleep.” Page 58-59.
Up to this point of the novel, Siddhartha had undertaken the life of a Samsara, heard the preachings of the Illustrious One, and was now heading towards a new and alternative path: the material world. After hearing the lectures of the great Buddha, Siddhartha realized that the wisdom and finding of the Self can not be seeked by the teachings and guidances of a wise person, but has to be found from the experience of the individual. That is the reason why Siddhartha decided to keep on with his journey, and not follow the path his best friend decided to take. Personally, what I find interesting in this passage is how naive and innocent the author tries to portray Siddharta; a newborn that has just discovered the meaning of life. Siddhartha believes that “requiring new, (fancy as Kamala is requesting) clothes and money” is something easy and simple in life. We can see the naivness of Siddhartha reflected in this quote since he has dedicated and devoted all his life in teachings, practices, meditation and religion. His life as a Samsara and a Brahmin will have no similarities with the material life Kamala is introducing him into. I also find a sense of irony in the author’s last sentence. Since money is a fundamental aspect in our lives, which is the reflection of our success and is the key of a good standard of living, many people can see it as the only important aspect of one’s life. The fact that he uses the phrase “easy goals that do not disturb one’s sleep” reflects how money has impacted people in a unfavorable way. The author’s idea of his book Siddhartha is not only to narrate the spiritual, Buddhist journey his character embarks, but also reflect the different difficulties in life one has to face.
I agree with your analysis in that Siddhartha has started to realize that the journey to self enlightenment is one that only an individual may partake in and that enlightenment can not be taught, however I do not think that you addressed the degree of importance that this moment for Siddhartha holds. This is one of the first times that he has made his own decision based on evidence that he has found during his journey and is a pivotal moment in his journey. Other than that I liked your reaction to the baby like portrayal of Siddhartha in this section and had almost the same opinion. Also I think that your last sentence is certainly true and that this is one of many examples in the book that could support is alternative purpose for the book.
“As a boy, I was totally involved with gods and sacrifices. As a youth, I was completely occupied with asceticism, thinking, and meditating; I was searching for Brahman and I worshiped the eternal in the atman. As a young man, I followed the ascetics, lived in the forests, suffered heat and frost, learned to go hungry, taught my body how to wither...knowledge came to me in the teaching of the great Buddha, and I felt the realization of unity of the world circulating around in me...I went and learned from Kamala the pleasures of love, learned business from Kamaswami, accumulated money, frittered money away, learned to love my stomach, learned to indulge my senses...I had to experience despair, I had to sink to the level of the stupidest of all thoughts, the thought of suicide, in order to experience grace, to hear OM again, to sleep properly again and be able to awaken properly... I had to sin to be able to live again” (Hesse 75). In this passage, Siddhartha has had the realization that all these events that occurred in his life have helped him become a whole new being. Throughout the book, and in this passage as well, I have found that a very strong motif in this book is love. As a young boy, we see the love that Siddhartha has for his father and how he rejects this love in order to become a shramana. The love that he feels at this stage, restricts him of realizing spiritual enlightenment, so he abandons it. When Siddhartha goes to the Buddha, he learns love in the way of compassion, when the Buddha accepts and understands the reasons for Siddhartha’s leaving. Siddhartha must abandon this love because it is apart of the teachings that do not help him reach enlightenment. In Kamala, Siddhartha learns physical pleasures of love and the importance of it. However, he can not accept this because he does not know how to give and receive this love. Another motif that I found was the importance of the OM. When Siddhartha finally understands the concept of the OM, he then can truly reach enlightenment. While he is with the Brahmins, he learns what the OM signifies, however he feels that the people in his village have not fully achieved an understanding of it. Throughout his journey, he finds people who chant the OM and understand the concept but their lives do not reflect the enlightenment that goes along with embracing the OM. Finally, he hears this OM again by the river and realizes that he needs to stop trying to force his life down paths by steadying different teachings and learn to just live. Once Siddhartha hears the OM, he realizes that both the spiritual world and the material world are united and you must understand and experience both in order to reach enlightenment.
“‘And do you know,’ continued Siddhartha ‘what word it pronounces when one is successful in hearing all its ten thousand voices at the same time?’
Vasudeva laughed joyously; he bent towards Siddhartha and whispered the holy Om in his ear. And this was just what Siddhartha had heard.
As time went on his smile began to resemble the ferryman’s, was almost equally radiant, almost equally full of happiness, equally lighting up through a thousand little wrinkles, equally childish, equally senile.” (page 108)
In this quote it is seen that Siddhartha gains a peace he never before experienced. Always, Siddhartha had been seeking a goal, whether it was enlightenment, or to discover himself, or Kamala’s attention, he had always been striving towards a goal. However, now that he has heard the river, Siddhartha is no longer seeking something, rather, he is content to stay with Vasudeva and listen to all the river has to teach him, ferrying people across. Without his all consuming thirst for knowledge, and without his ego, Siddhartha is finally happy and at peace. He feels no bitterness towards the fact that he suffered greatly in his search for enlightenment, but instead views it as a step towards where he is now, too distant to affect him, and merely another life he had lived as a different person. When kamala was dying, she compared Siddhartha’s peace to Gotama, who Siddhartha had known to achieve enlightenment, and this reveals that Siddhartha had finally found his enlightenment. He found it through the river he had once scorned, learning something which he had said could not be taught. It was not the texts he had studied, or the tricks he had learned under the Samanas that finally brought him peace, but from the sound of the Om, which he had learned to say before he had ever set out on his journey. Though he knew how to say it internally, how to breathe it in and meditate to it, Siddhartha had not known the meaning behind it, had not heard the ten thousand voices that all said it. it was only when he was brought down to his lowest and was prepared to take his own life did he finally lose his ego and hear the voices that created the holy Om.
“He saw bright pearls rise from the depths, bubbles swimming on the mirror, sky blue reflected in them. The river looked at him with a thousand eyes-green, white, crystal, sky blue. How he loved this river, how it enchanted him, how grateful he was to it! In his heart he heard the newly awakened voice speak, and it said to him: “Love this river, stay by it, learn from it.” Yes, he wanted to learn from it, he wanted to listen to it. It seemed to him that whoever understood this river and it’s secrets, would understand much more, many secrets, all secrets.” (Page 101-102). As we know, Siddhartha is about to finish the endless journey of the discover of his Self. Born from the Son of a Brahmin, to enduring the lives of a Samara, evoking the teachings of Gotama, and escaping from the materialist world, Siddhartha is now closer than ever to his Enlightenment. He does this by learning from the river. Hesse uses the river as a symbol representing eternity in all things of the Universe, specially time. The author introduces this key figure in Siddhartha’s journey by emphasizing the personification of the river, creating a sort of character out of it. The words “bright pearls, mirror, and sky blue” chosen by Hesse in the first sentence generates a vivid image of a clear, magical and enchanting watercourse. As a reader, we can picture this river as being magical and peaceful, as well as mysterious and spiritualistic, which is what the author intends to evoke, acknowledging Siddhartha’s present state of awakening. We can also see by Hesse’s language and word choice how Siddhartha feels towards the river, since he clearly states that it “looked at him with a thousand eyes-green, white, crystal, sky blue”. What the author is trying to show here is not only the physical description of the water, being a weave of green and white and crystal blue, but also how it actually came to life, and gave Siddhartha back his by just ‘looking at him’. We can recall Siddhartha’s attempt of suicide in previous pages, and how the river spoke to him and awakened him from his despair. The river is a symbol of life in Hesse’s novel, it represents the turning point of Siddhartha and his search for Enlightenment, which is seen when he abandons the teachings of the Buddha (which he believed awoke him), and when he abandons the life of the ordinary and rich (which also awakened him).
"Siddhartha had learned how to transact business affairs, to exercise power over people, ... But he had always felt different from and superior to the other others; he had always watched them a little bit scornfully, with a slightly mocking disdain, which a Samana always feels towards the people of the world."(Hesse 76) In this passage Hesse is listing all of the things that Siddhartha had learned to do, or had practiced during his time in the city. All of these things are what people with a successful life may have partaken in at the time. However, Hesse goes on to describe how Siddhartha's state of mind had not changed and how after he left he had still retained his previous views on people that he had attained from the Samanas. This goes to show how during his time living in the city and seeking worldly pleasures he was not growing whatsoever in a spiritual sense. This passage also shows the lack of importance in general that is carried during one's spiritual journey, by the experiences associated with worldly pleasures. This seems to be a message that takes Siddhartha a while to realize, however once he does realize that his state of mind and attitude toward others which has been shaped by his worldly pleasures are out of alignment with what he might consider to be healthy for an enlightened person he is able to adjust and recalibrate himself.
"The bird: the cheerful source and voice in him were still alive; and that was why he felt this joy, why he laughed, why his face beamed under his graying hair." (pg. 87). The little bird, while only mentioned after Siddhartha's companionship with Kamala is seen throughout the book. This bird symbolizes Siddhartha's joy and happiness, and his spiritual enlightenment, the ability to fly. While a Brahmin, Siddhartha finds no happiness as his efforts to gain enlightenment prove fruitless. The bird is in an egg, where what's expected is behind a shell, and can't crack until another step is taken. This occurs when Siddhartha becomes a samana. He is finally able to make progress, but same as the baby bird, is far from spiritual enlightenment. Upon meeting the Buddha, the baby bird takes flight for the first time as Siddhartha learns how to find spiritual enlightenment. But the bird stumbles and falls when Siddhartha turns towards worldly things. The bird knows it was destined for the sky, so it tries again. Kamala sets the bird free on pg. 76, symbolizing that she sacrificed her happiness so that Siddhartha could find his. The little bird, having experienced both flight and the fall, can now soar above the trees. Siddhartha expirienced both sides of the spectrum, expanding his knowledge and his horizons. He finds true happiness in taking off down a spiritual path. The little bird, mentioned on pg. 87 is a metaphor of Siddhartha's life and journey towards spiritual enlightenment.
“Siddhartha wandered into the forest. He was already far from the city. He knew only one thing-that he could not go back, that the life he had led for many years was over and gone. He had sucked it and drained it to the point of revulsion. The songbird of his dream was dead. The bird in his heart was dead. He was profoundly enmeshed in samsara. He had sucked nausea and death into himself from every side, as a sponge sucks up water until it is full. He was bloated with excess, with misery, with death. There was nothing left in the world that could attract him, nothing that could bring him pleasure or console him” (Hesse 68).
This passage uses excessive negative connotations to demonstrate the horrific time in Siddhartha’s journey. During this time, Siddhartha left the life he dislikes behind, including his love Kamala, to continue his journey. Siddhartha feels as though he has failed himself, his journey, father, and friend, Govinda. They all wished for him to become enlightened and he has been unable to reach that as of now. Hesse’s use of gloomy diction in this passage allows the reader to visualize and understand Siddhartha’s feelings and this point in his journey. When it states that the songbird and bird in his heart are dead, Hesse is using the bird as a positive connotation, possibly having something to do with life. Although, they are quickly shattered by being labeled as dead. That describes how not only his dream and heart are dead, but also at this point Siddhartha is contemplating suicide. Hesse uses a metaphor, comparing his nausea and death to a sponge, to display how all of Siddhartha’s body trembles, as he is contemplates ending his own life. He is so full of nausea and death, he is unable to think clearly, prior to his reawakening. Hesse states that, the only Siddhartha is for sure of, is that he can not return to the city. The city represents the direct opposite of his morals. Even through all of the negative connotations in this paragraph, which lead you to believe Siddhartha is heading in a negative direction, it is actually him walking away from and turning his back on the possibility of caving into his morals.
“He felt now that he had completed his learning of how to listen. He had often heard all these things before, these many voices in the river, but today he heard it in a new way...he no longer distinguished the many voices...they were all part of each other...and everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure-everything together was the river...when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego...when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: OM, perfection” (Hesse 105). In this passage Siddhartha finally reaches enlightenment, but he does so without any teachings from someone else. In a way Vasudeva is a teacher to Siddhartha, but he never attempts to to tell Siddhartha how to reach Nirvana. Instead, he tells Siddhartha to sit and listen to the river and search within himself for an understanding. The river itself never tells Siddhartha what the answer to enlightenment is, but instead the river shows Siddhartha the complications of life through sounds and images. Siddhartha then takes this information and comes to the realization through his own inner guidance. The river itself is a symbol for unity and the eternity of all living things. The river is always present at the times of great transition during Siddhartha’s journey. For example, when he left the Shramanas and when he abandons his wealth. Now, the river is present at the time of Siddhartha’s enlightenment. It provides knowledge without words, causing Siddhartha to become a listener. Through listening, Siddhartha hears sounds from all living things. This represents the natural sounds that come from a river. After meditating on this revelation, Siddhartha is then rewarded with the understanding of the essence of life and how every voice and every emotion that he encountered were all united together in order to help him reach enlightenment. The unity that he receives from the river then helps destroy his ego. This makes the river the final instructor in Siddhartha's journey.
“He had never been able to do this, and it had then seem to him that this was the biggest difference between him and the ordinary people. But now, since his son was there, he, Siddhartha, had become completely like one of the people, through sorrow, through loving. He was madly in love, a fool because of love. Now he also experienced belatedly, for once in his life, the strongest and strangest passion; he suffered tremendously through it and yet was uplifted, in some way renewed and richer.”
As a reader, what I feel the author is trying to portray here is the idea of the cycle of Samsara, which Siddhartha goes through repeatedly throughout the novel. At the beginning of the Hesse’s book, Siddhartha in a sort of way differentiates himself from the normal, ordinary people, since he believed he was superior and wiser in many different ways. This is especially seen in the chapter ‘Amongst the People’, where he is actually introduced to the world of business and money. As a Samana, Siddhartha had learned how to not be dependant on things, and had learned to acquire the skills of waiting, fasting and thinking. As he began to live amongst the people of the village, Siddhartha transformed completely from the Samana he used to, and began eager of money and power; what he thought distinguished him with other humans. However, the real difference between Siddhartha and the ordinary was the ability to love, which is the author’s last “theme” to present in his novel. Hesse makes us believe that Siddhartha was going to conquer and experience the meaning of true love with Kamala, but he instead bases love upon family. This is the last turning point of Siddhartha, or the last ‘bump’ he goes through in his everlasting journey, experiencing the most powerful and distorted kind of feeling there is.
“Now he no longer distinguished the many voices, the happy from the grieving, the childlike from the manly. They were all part of each other-longing laments, the laughter of the wise, cries of anger, and the moans of the dying-all were one, all were interwoven and linked, intertwined in a thousand ways. And everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure-everything together was the river of what is, the music of life. And when Siddhartha listened attentively to the thousandfold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego-when he listened to all of them, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: OM, perfection” (Hesse 105).
This passage in the novel, is used to describe the moment when Siddhartha truly becomes enlightened. Here, Siddhartha hears the river as one sound, and describes it as perfection. In the beginning of the passage, Hesse compares the “voices” of antonyms, to describe the unison of all the voices, and how everything in life is learned and occurs, and it all eventually flows together. The river itself symbolizes life, and someone’s journey to their goal of enlightenment. Earlier, Siddhartha heard individual voices from the river, but now hears one voice for every emotion, calling it the “music of life”, symbolizing his reaching of enlightenment. As a reader, the thorough description of the sound Siddhartha heard, allows us to visualize how Siddhartha was feeling during his moment of enlightenment. The sound is referred to as, “the music of life” and “perfection”, which both bringing positive thoughts. This allows the reader to draw the conclusion that this is the moment when Siddhartha becomes fully enlightened. He is able to remember all past experiences, and bring them together to gain wisdom from them. This passage states, “he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing”, demonstrating that it was not only fate or Vasudeva that brought him to reach enlightenment but also his own individual focus and work to reflect on his life as a whole. Siddhartha has experienced many emotions that exist in the world, love, failure, loss of loved one, and together he is able to come to peace with it and with the rest of the world.
I do agree that this moment is when Siddhartha has become enlightened for the first time, however I saw a different symbol for the river. Rather than being a symbol for life I see it as a tool, or mirror that allows for one who wishes to look into themselves to do so and to gain spiritual enlightenment while doing so. However, this symbolism still relates to your general idea that its flow can help to bring one's emotions and desires together as one, as negative things. It also brings the positive aspects of one's spiritual state together and thus the river is neither a good or bad thing, it just allows for individuals to see into themselves.
"His father's image, his own image, his son's image flowed in and out of one another. ... They all merged into the flow, they all flowed as a river toward goal..." (pg. 118). Herman Hesse describes Siddhartha's son as either young Siddhartha or the boy, to help portray how similar Siddhartha and his son are. The child, throughout the book is never named. This gives diminishes his own personality, and links him closer to Siddhartha. Every time the boy is talked about, he is mentioned alongside Siddhartha, leading readers to find parallels between Siddhartha and his son. Siddhartha himself realizes this later, but much like his own childhood, the boy needs to find his own path, and be let go. While this is hard for Siddhartha to accept, he realizes that his father must have gone through the same thing, and decides to make peace with his son's decision. Through Hesse's naming of Siddhartha's son, readers can easily see the parallels between Siddhartha and his son.
Your analysis is very interesting. It made me ponder the river and Vasudeva's involvement in Siddhartha letting his son go to follow his own path. Vasudeva states, “But the river laughs, he laughs at me, he laughs at you and me; he shakes his laughter over our foolishness” (Hesse 92). The river is deemed to be the the item with the most power in the novel, and it doesn’t believe that Siddhartha should be wasting his time attempting to connect with a distant son. In fact, the river finds Siddhartha idiotic for trying to do this. Siddhartha was told to listen to the river, as following it leads to enlightenment. This demonstrates the possibility that Siddhartha listened to the river. Immediately following that passage, Hesse uses the dialogue of Vasudeva to demonstrate his feelings toward Siddhartha’s son. Vasudeva constantly questions Siddhartha’s motives, and his son’s feelings towards him. This makes Siddhartha question his morals and love for his son. Either way, it is true that Siddhartha sets his son free, similar to what is father did with him.
He now regarded people in a different light than he had previously: not very clever, not very proud, and therefore all the more warm, curious, and sympathetic.
When he now took the usual kind of travellers across, businessmen, soldiers, and women, they no longer seemed alien to him as they once had. He did not understand or share their thoughts and views, he understood and shared their life, but he shared with them life’s urges and desires. (page 129)
Siddhartha has lost all ego. Here it is shown that he no longer separates himself from other people, having felt and lost love, and though he does not understand all their motivations, he can fully empathize with them. Before it was his ego, ever present, that always made him unhappy. No matter how lost he got, he was always separate, distant, and above everyone else, unable to ever do more than listen, his ego preventing any empathy. Due to this, Siddhartha felt he was unable to love, until he had his son. It was then that he was utterly lost to love, and when his son left him, it consumed him, despite his enlightened state.
Before Siddhartha loses his ego, love is something that Siddhartha acknowledges exists, but never experiences. Love itself then humbles Siddhartha, and it becomes the most important thing to Siddhartha. He fully embraces love, reveres it despite being hurt by it, and when he meets up again with Govinda, it is love that bonds the two, and creates a far deeper relationship between the two men. In the Brahmin’s son, Govinda talks of his love for Siddhartha, but one can tell that the love is more reverence, and slightly one sided. After Siddhartha has lost all ego and has embraced love, the love between the two men seems more equal, more pure. What separated them before, ego and thirst for knowledge, has disappeared, as both men get what they have always desired, but in the last places they ever expected to find it.
We both think that the idea of love is an important theme in Hesse's novel, and that it is the turning point of Siddhartha in his journey, his last acquisition and lesson. However, I do believe that the way Hesse portrays love between Kamala and Siddhartha is also an important part to acknowledge when mentioning love. This is because in that part of the book, as you have mentioned, Siddhartha was dominated by his ego, which made him, in a sort of way, blind and imprudent. We can see how Siddhartha is introduced to the love Kamala offers him but does not accept it, and instead prefers to take advantage and learn from the other teachings of his mistress. The fact that you compare the love between Siddhartha and Govind before and after his Enlightenment made me think about how the author also used the character of Govind to reflect the love of friendship and admire.
""You will learn it, but not from," said Vasudeva, "but not from me. The river has taught me to listen; you will learn from it, too. The river knows everything; one can learn everything from it." " (Hesse 105 in 1971 Paperback edition) The context of this passage is that Vasudeva has just proposed that Siddhartha live with him on the river and Siddhartha has accepted his proposal. Siddhartha sees that this would be a great opportunity for him to gain knowledge in his spiritual journey. However, he makes the ingenuous assertion that he would be learning from Vasudeva. Vasudeva corrects Siddhartha and says that rather than learning form Vasudeva Siddhartha would be learning from the river. Hesse uses personification here, but it caries true meaning. He says, "The river knows everything", which is not literally true, however it is a fitting metaphor that is much more elegant than what Hesse could have said. In context this metaphor is used to show that rather than learning from the river literally Siddhartha must learn about himself through the river. Vasudeva goes on to talk about becoming submersed entirely in the river and diving to new depths within the river. This again is a metaphor for learning more about oneself through the river by looking deeper past the so called surface layers, not only of the water, but one's mental and spiritual state. The metaphors, personifications, and similes that Hesse sprinkles throughout the book help to contribute to a more understandable text by using relatable examples that give more specific details about the happenings or interpreted meanings which are very prevalent as well.
My idea is very similar to yours in the fact that the river is the teacher, and determines when Siddhartha reaches enlightenment rather than Vasudeva. For example, you discuss how personification is used to describe the power of the river, while I discussed the power of the river through the knowledge it has and displays about Siddhartha’s life. The knowledge is also displayed during the time when Siddhartha sees different scenes and people of his life float down the river. That is when Siddhartha realizes those moments are in the past and he must come to peace with it. Siddhartha then uses the “voices of the river” to reach peace and become enlightened.
“Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Shramanas, learned many pathways beyond the self. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of pain, by means of suffering intentionally and overcoming the pain, the hunger, the thirst, the fatigue. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of meditation, allowing the senses to empty themselves of all representations...a thousand times he left his ego behind...but even if the methods he followed led beyond ego, in the end they led back to ego” (Hesse 13).
ReplyDeleteThis passage describes Siddhartha's first pursuit at reaching enlightenment. The shramanas preach the need to leave one’s self behind in order to reach full spirituality. They believe that one can eliminate Self by getting rid of all senses using meditation. As time passes, Siddhartha learns how to extend his mind into nature, then into death, and then back to life. This teaches him to embrace the life cycle in the natural word. However, as this passage makes clear, each time Siddhartha makes an attempt to implement these teachings, he returns back to his egotistical state of mind. He realizes that the shramanas’ instructions only offer temporary relief. In this passage Hesse reveals a crucial component of Siddhartha’s character, which is that he is not a very patient person. When a method of spiritual guidance does not have permanent results or has flaws he does not wait and put effort into perfecting the practices but instead moves on to the next. Even with the lack of spiritual enlightenment, Siddhartha still makes progress and is better off with them than with his father back home. This means that regardless of relieving his mind through meditations he always finds this inner ego. This means that in order for him to reach full enlightenment he needs to find the correct teachings. Later on in the chapter, Siddhartha realizes that he must move on from the shramanas once he discovers that even the oldest shramana has not yet reached Nirvana and therefore can not teach him.
My idea is similar to your idea. For example, we both discuss how it is Siddhartha who is preventing himself from Nirvana, though I focused on his desire for such knowledge while you focused on his ego. I definitely agree with you about his ego is interfering with his quest for Nirvana. On page twenty-three and twenty-four, Siddhartha is able to hypnotize the eldest Samana, a feat that Govinda says is incredibly difficult. Siddhartha however, brushes it off, and dismisses the idea of staying and learning to walk on water saying “I have no desire to walk on water…Let the old Samana’s satisfy themselves with such arts.” (pg 24). I believe that in this quote both of our ideas are present. Due to his ego, Siddhartha does not learn to walk on water, and because he has no desire to walk on water, it is possible that he could’ve easily learned to do so.
Delete“And where was Atman to be found, where did He dwell, where did His eternal heart beat, if not within the Self, in the innermost, in the eternal which each person carries within him? But where was this Self, this innermost? It was not flesh or bone, it was not thought or consciousness. That was what the wise men thought. Where, then, was it?” Page 6.
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, this sequence of rhetorical questions that Hesse uses emphasizes the doubt and uncertainties growing within Siddhartha. He quickly begins the novel introducing Siddhartha’s skeptic attitude, highlighting how his mistrust and confusion will, in a way, lead his journey throughout the book. As a reader, we can definitely assume what the author is trying to prepare us for (the spiritual quest we are embarking with Siddharta), and is slowly starting to introduce the narrator’s gentle, soft and slow tone in the novel. The fact that he uses enumeration to organize his big, agnostic question indicates how lost Siddhartha is feeling. The way the author builds up the sentence, separating each doubt with a comma, instead of individual questions creates a sort of rhythm as you read. Consequently, this idea of a rhythm allows the reader to encounter the smooth tone, or the harmonious mood the author is portraying, which enables us to experience and feel vividly what Siddhartha will eventually go through in his journey. Furthermore, Hesse’s word choices also seem to reflect the doubt and spirituality in the book. Words such as “innermost”, “Self”, and “within” all share the same idea when referring to Siddhartha’s uncertainties, but also are the answer to them all. Throughout the novel, the author makes use of a number of rhetorical questions similar to the ones above, that actually are the answer to Siddhartha’s ambivalences: he concludes his journey finding the wisdom he solemnly searched for in himself. Also, the fact that the author writes the word “Self” with a capital S also emphasizes the spiritual concept being made. Siddhartha’s quest to reach Enlightenment, to discover the truth about life and therefore cease to be reborn are all introduced by Hesse in the sequence of confusion and doubt that will gradually grow in him.
ReplyDelete“And the last hour of the night, before day broke, he came back again, went into the room, and looked at the youth standing there. The boy looked so big to him and alien...The first daylight shone into the room. The brahmin saw that Siddhartha’s knees were shaking slightly. But he saw no wavering in Siddhartha's face. The eyes were fixed on the distance. Then the father realized that Siddhartha was already no longer home with him, that he had left him already” (Hesse 9-10).
This passage occurs when Siddhartha has set his mind on becoming a shramana, and he knows in his heart and mind that nothing will come in his way of true contentment. It states that Siddhartha stayed in one position all night, and that he told his father that he will not move until he hears what he wishes to hear. This correlates with Siddhartha’s view on becoming a shramana because he is set on joining them and nothing can stop him from doing so. Similar to how nothing will be able to move him from that spot. This characterizes Siddhartha as a determined, focused, and intense character when it comes to his dreams and aspirations. This helps begin to demonstrate the idea that everyone should strive for happiness. Hesse states that “the eyes were were fixed on the distance”. Hesse used “the” instead of his to describe Siddhartha’s eyes, indicating that Siddhartha’s soul was already gone. His heart is somewhere else and no longer with the Brahmin and his beliefs. Also, the father doesn’t see his son’s eyes anymore, and he knows he must let him go. His father saw no wavering in his face, although his knees were shaking. His face symbolizes his brain, in the idea that his mind is set on this goal, but all the surrounding pieces with him aren’t ready for it. His father is a surrounding piece in Siddhartha’s life who does not wish for him to go, but knows he must to bring happiness back to him.
Another example from the text that would also support your analysis is on page 14. “Silently Siddhartha stood in the fierce sun’s rays, filled with pain and thirst, and stood until he no longer felt pain and thirst. Silently he stood in the rain, water dripping from his hair onto his freezing hips and legs. And the ascetic stood until his shoulders and legs no longer froze, till they were still.”
DeleteHere Siddhartha easily beats his bodily pain and desires into submission, showing his determined resolve, as it will bring him one step closer to achieving Nirvana. He learned to leave his own “Self” and become a heron, even going as far as experiencing death through a jackal. It seems as though no teaching is too hard for him to manage, and no obstacle is too difficult for him to overcome. Each time Siddhartha leaves himself, he finds a new thirst, and unfailingly manages to beat it into submission, learning how to ignore the desires of his body in order to achieve his ultimate goal. Just as you said, Siddhartha is indeed a "determined, focused, and intense character when it comes to his dreams and aspirations."
"He saw a businessman trading, princes going to the hunt, mourners weeping over their dead, prostitutes offering themselves, doctors attending the sick, priests deciding the day for sowing, lovers making love, mothers soothing their children - and all were not worth a passing glance, everything lied, stank of lies; they were all illusions of sense, happiness and beauty. All were doomed to decay. The world tasted bitter. Life was pain" (Hesse 13-14) (My copy of the book is a bit older and this quote may be on different pages in your book) This quote gives a description of one of Siddhartha's first encounters with the normal everyday life that he grew up with after joining the Shramanas. After having given up his possessions and started following the Shramana way of life Siddhartha observes these quotidians that were "... not worth a passing glance" with such desire that it is certainly clear that the way in which Siddhartha is participating the activities associated with the Shramana way of life is not furthering him in his quest for enlightenment. While Siddhartha does not find enlightenment with the Shramans it is worth noting that during his time with them that he gains a well defined idea of what he needs to do to be come enlightened and ultimately get the most out of his spiritual journey: to lose his concept of self and become empty. Hesse describes how Siddhartha came to this realization on page 14: "When all the self was conquered and dead, when all passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost of Being that is no longer Self- the great secret!" This finally gives Siddhartha his first piece of guidance on his journey and while he may not know what he needs to do to lose himself he is certain that that will eventually lead him to his spiritual enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteI had different reaction to this passage. I think that this was a good example of existentialism. I think that at this point in the book, Siddhartha was starting to become empty of his old passions and temptations that were in his life before the journey began. And by dismissing these passions, he starts to see everyone as different as him and maybe not as superior as he is. He also starts to see how irrational and chaotic the world around him is. This then helps him realize that he has his own individual path that is going to hopefully lead him to enlightenment and separate him from the sinful people he sees.
Delete“Siddhartha had one single goal-to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow-to let the self die. No longer to be Self, to experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought-that was his goal. When all the self was conquered and dead, when all passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost of Being that is no longer Self-the greatest secret!” (Hesse, pg 14)
ReplyDeleteThis quote here shows that Siddhartha wants desperately to achieve the ultimate knowledge, but in order to do that he must lose all passion and desire. Unfortunately for him, this is currently impossible, because while Siddhartha can quell his physical thirst, his thirst for knowledge is stronger than ever. This creates a strange paradox, in which Siddhartha’s desire for knowledge can only be fulfilled if he manages to quell it as he did all others wants. Only then can he achieve attain the ultimate knowledge, but by that point he would no longer have any thirst for such knowledge.
It is also important to note the capitalization in this passage, of “Self” and “Being.” This capitalization lends greater emphasis and meaning towards the words, and further into the passage, the distinction between “Self” and “self” becomes clear. Through meditation, Siddhartha can become other “selves” like the heron and dead jackal, and gain their experiences, but he must always return to his “Self” or his body so to speak, to live and learn from his own experiences. Through his conversation with Govinda however, it is shown that Siddhartha no longer believes he learns anything from either his “Self” or the other “selves,” and compares meditating and abandoning the body to being drunk, as they are bother merely ways to find an escape. Though Govinda tells Siddhartha that rather than going in circles in their tutelage, they are going in upward spirals, Siddhartha does not believe him, and points out that at sixty years old, their oldest teacher has yet to reach Nirvana and under their instruction, he would be much the same if things stayed as they were. This only shows how relentless Siddhartha is in his search for the ultimate knowledge and how it may be the very thing that is preventing him from reaching it in the first place.
Siddhartha was a spiritual person seeking enlightenment since he was young. "Siddhartha had long been taking part in the conversations of the sages, practicing the art of contemplation with Govinda, the service of meditation. He already knew how to soundlessly speak the om, the word of words, soundlessly speak it out of himself, breathing it out with all his soul, his forehead enveloped in the luster of his clear-thinking mind. He already understood how to know Atman in his innermost being, indestructible, at one with the universe." (Chapter 1 pg. 3) Siddhartha has picked up on the spiritual rituals and meanings extremely quickly. Everyone loved and looked up to Siddhartha: his parents, the community, his best friend. But he himself was not content. Siddhartha was searching for more than knowledge of spiritual things, he wanted to feel and understand it, not with his mind, but in his heart. His studying was not getting him anywhere on his spiritual journey. This is why Siddhartha wanted to become a samana so badly. The samanas went further than studying verses. Their entire lives revolved around the verse to truly understand them. Wanting to know as deeply as them, Siddhartha was ready to take that step. He wanted this enlightenment so bad that he was willing to ask his father, and most of all, not give up. He wanted it so much that he would stand, unmoved throughout the night, and he did. It is clear in this first chapter that Siddhartha, though immensely knowledgeable, wants nothing more than to find spiritual enlightenment.
ReplyDelete“It was the ego whose meaning and essence I wanted to learn. It was the ego that I wanted to get rid of, to overcome. But I was unable to overcome it, I could only trick it, could only elude it, could only hide from it. In truth nothing in the world has occupied my thoughts so much as my ego, this enigma that I am alive, that I am unique and separate and distinct from all others, that I am Siddartha! And there is nothing in the world I know less about than me, than Siddhartha!” (Hesse 31).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage we finally learn the meaning of Siddhartha’s journey, we learn why this journey is so significant for him, and that is to relieve himself of his ego. This realization is important to the book because it is the turning point of Siddhartha's journey. In the second part of the book we can make the assumption that it is going to reveal to us how Siddhartha is going to separate himself from his ego and how he will discover who he really is. From reading this passage, I realized that Siddhartha’s ego has been growing since the beginning of the book. The reason he left the Brahmin’s way of teaching is because he had exceeded all of his teachers expectations and was held as the best by many, including Govinda who constantly praises and admires Siddhartha. Due to this praise, his inner ego blossomed and he developed so much pride, that he felt he could become more knowledgeable and therefore left his village. In the first half of the book, Siddhartha has learned that in order to reach enlightenment he has to give up the material world. The Brahmins, Shramanas, and Buddhists have all taught Siddhartha that the material world is a distraction from the spiritual world and so, in order to focus on his own mind and absorb the wisdom of his teachers he had to deny himself of all pleasures. However, in the end the spiritual world disappoints Siddhartha because it does not lead him to enlightenment. This makes me infer that because the spiritual world did satisfy Siddhartha, than the second part of the book will be about Siddhartha exploring the path of the material world to see if that brings him success.
You make a very good point about Siddhartha's ego and how he intends to battle it. However, I do not believe that that is the reason why he left the village in search for new thinking and ideas. I think that Siddhartha was not satisfied with his way of living, because he lacked of many things that would make him happy and eventually seek Enlightenment. This is seen in the last part of his journey, when Kamala passes away and he is in charge of his son. Hesse introduces the theme of love, which is the most significant and most powerful attainment any human being can live with. Therefore, I believe that Siddhartha's journey isn't about escaping from his ego, but existing and learning like a normal person, which means living with flaws and imperfections, as well as with the purity and vertue of a human being.
Delete“In that moment, Govinda realized that his was leaving him and he began to weep.
ReplyDelete‘Siddhartha’ he cried.
Siddhartha spoke kindly to him. ‘Do not forget, Govinda, that you now belong to the Buddha’s holy men. You have renounced home and parents, you have renounced origin and property, you have renounced your own will, you have renounced friendship. That is what the teachings preach, that is the will of the Illustrious One. that is what you wished yourself. Tomorrow, Govinda, I will leave you.’” (Page 30).
This quote reveals the depth of Siddhartha and Govinda’s relationship. Upon hearing that Siddhartha will not join him under Gotama’s tutelage, Govinda is distraught. Siddhartha immediately attempts to both soothe and keep him on the path that will offer him the most happiness, telling Govinda that he will leave, as the path that was chosen will not allow the two of them to remain together. There is nothing to indicate that Siddhartha begrudges Govinda for his new loyalty, as it appears Siddhartha blames Gotama instead for the loss of his friend. “He (Gotama) has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow.” (page 36). Siddhartha highly valued Govinda, going as far as comparing him to a shadow, someone that never strayed from his side and was but a step behind him. Were it not for the fact that Govinda is no longer allowed friendship under Gotama’s tutelage, one could say that the two men parted as friends, as there were no hard feelings between them. It is certainly no wonder that the two were such close friends, since they had been together since childhood, but since Siddhartha mentions that Govinda is now Gotama’s ‘shadow’ instead of his, it can be assumed that Govinda showed true devotion towards Siddhartha.
In the previous chapter, Siddhartha is shown to be slightly mocking of Govinda’s desire to hear the Buddha’s teaching, but when Govinda chooses the path under Gotama’s tutelage, Siddhartha show nothing but support. “Then he (Siddhartha) spoke softly and there was no mockery in his voice. ‘Govinda my friend, you have taken the step, you have chosen your path…May you go along it to the end, my friend. May you find salvation!’” (Page 30). Though later in the passage, Siddhartha reminds Govinda he can have no friends, here he still addresses Govinda as ‘my friend,’ showing he still cares for the man, despite their diverging paths.
You make a very good point about the fact that Siddhartha loves Govinda and wants the best for him and vice versa. However, I would like to argue that Siddhartha is very much an independent person and doesn’t need Govinda as much as Govinda needs him. Siddhartha was the one that decided to go on this journey towards enlightenment because he felt that it was the right thing for him. Govinda came along because he loved Siddhartha and trusted that Siddhartha was doing the right thing for the both of them. I do agree that they have a very loving relationship for each other but in the end this was Siddhartha’s journey and I think that had Govinda been with him, then Siddhartha wouldn’t have succeeded the way that he did.
Delete“His peaceful countenance was neither happy or sad. He seemed to be smiling gently inwardly. With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, he walked along, peacefully, quietly. He wore his gown and walked along exactly like the other monks, but his face and his step, his peaceful downward glance,his peaceful downward-hanging hand, and every finger of his hand spoke of peace, spoke of completeness, sought nothing, imitated nothing, reflected a continuous quiet, an unfading light, an invulnerable peace.” Pg. 27.
ReplyDeleteWe can see in the narrator’s precise and descriptive words how the Enlightened One, Gotama, the Perfect One, or Buddha, is introduced in the novel. Since this short passage reflects Siddhartha’s impression towards the Buddha, we can see to what extent he is acknowledged and admired by the characters. At the beginning of the novel, the author characterized Siddhartha has the wisest and intelligent of them all. We can see this clearly throughout the character of Govinda, as he constantly described the way Govinda loved and praised Siddhartha. However, when the two friends reach the town of the Gotama, the narrator emphasizes the change of roles in the novel. Now, the Buddha becomes the Illustrious One, the wisest of them all. This is an important part of the book, since it unravels Siddhartha’s turning point; the moment he discovers the path to find his Self. In other words, it is the awakening of Siddhartha.
Moreover, Hesse uses a number of techniques to emphasize the character of Buddha. He repeatedly uses the word ‘peace’ in his complex and extensive sentences, ending his paragraph also with the word ‘peace’. This places a clear image in the reader’s mind of a serene, pacific man, almost perfectly a God. The author continues with the calm and harmonious mood created at the beginning of the novel, but now emphasizes it in this one specific character. The fact that Hesse frequently uses numerous, short expressions in each sentence, all representing a different idea or image, creates the harmonious rhythm in his narration and importance in the character of the Buddha. It is as though the author is listing Gotama’s admired nature, and it gives the reader the feeling that these qualities could be enumerable. Furthermore, Hesse uses a metaphor to emphasize, once more, the peace within this sacred man. We can see this in the sentence ‘his hands spoke of peace (...)’. The fact that the Buddha’s hand is actually speaking, which is also, in a way, personified, shows the extent to which the author wants us to admire and cherish the Buddha the way Siddhartha does. This metaphor exaggerates the peace the author seems to display in Buddha, which shows us the importance of his character and how critical his impact in Siddhartha was.
"The Buddha went quietly on his way, lost in thought. His peaceful countenance was neither happy nor sad. He seemed to be smiling gently inward. With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, he walked along, peacefully, quietly. " (Hesse 27) Hesse uses comparisons and other literary devices throughout this novel in order to better convey what his intentions are and to also underscore the degree to which something is occurring. This may sound strange, but with this quote the comparison between the Buddha and a healthy child helps to describe the demeanor and way in which the Buddha goes through his everyday life. This comparison makes more clear what Hesse is trying to describe and is in my opinion more powerful than Hesse just describing that he was smiling inward. These sorts of comparisons that are used in the book give the reader a relatable example that will likely resinate with them and give them a context that is easier to understand. What is also interesting about this quote and what makes it particularly significant in the story is that it is during a time when Siddhartha is getting to see and interact with someone who has achieved spiritual enlightenment for the very first time. Not that it is explicitly stated, but Siddhartha seeing the Buddha for the first time also gives him some inclination as to how he should be living his life. Observing these enlightened people gives Siddhartha firsthand experience and exposure as to how these people conduct themselves which is invaluable to anyone seeking enlightenment. If he did not have this first hand experience with people who have become enlightened he may have never truly seen what it means, externally, to be enlightened. Later in the book he encounters the ferryman who gives Siddhartha even more advice and firsthand accounts of what it really means to be spiritually enlightened. These encounters play a key role in Siddhartha's spiritual journey and without them he may have not become spiritually enlightened himself.
ReplyDelete"The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha, he has robbed me, yet he has given me more. ... But he has given me Siddhartha, has given me my self." (pg. 34).
ReplyDeleteIn these chapters Siddhartha hears the teachings of the Buddha. He gains much spiritual insight and realizes that the only way to enlightenment is through himself. Realizing that the spiritual destination he longs for cannot be taught to him by someone else, he parts ways with Govinda to find his own way. This is a large step in Siddhartha's journey for he learned much and it centered him on a new path. Through these first few chapters, Siddhartha's change is already prevalent. While studying with the samanas, Siddhartha would refer to himself not as "I"or "me" but as "Siddhartha." This is due to his effort to release all ties from the world, including himself so he may achieve Nirvana. By the time Siddhartha gains his new goal, he recognises that he must accept himself in order to learn from himself. He then says "I will no longer let Siddhartha slip away! I will no longer start my thinking and my living with Atman and the suffering of the world. I will no longer murder and dismember myself in order to find a secret beyond the rubble. Yoga-Veda will no longer teach me, nor will Athara-Veda, nor the ascetics, nor any kind of teaching. I will learn from me, from myself, I will be my own pupil: I will get to know myself, the secret that is Siddhartha." (pg. 36). The terms used are now changed to "I", "me," and "myself." Siddhartha changed his view on teaching from the samanas as well as the Buddha, thus changing his view on himself.
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha awake as from sleep when he heard Govinda’s words. He looked for a long into Govinda’s face. Then he spoke softly, in a voice without mockery: “Govinda, my friend, now you have taken the step, you have chosen your path. Always, Govinda, you have been my friend and always you have been a step behind me. Often I though: “Is Govinda ever going to take a step on his own, without me, acting from his own heart?” And there it is: Now you have become a man and have chosen your own path. May you follow it to its end, my friend. May you attain liberation!” (Hesse 25).
This passage demonstrates the relationship between Govinda and Siddhartha as they are forced to go their separate ways in order to achieve their individual aspirations. It also characterizes Siddhartha as an independent character, although he will miss his friend. In the beginning of the novel, Siddhartha refers to Govinda as his shadow, putting himself on a pedestal in comparison to Govinda. That idea is also represented in this passage, when Siddhartha tells Govinda that he has always been one step behind him, but that is forgotten since Govinda has broken away in order to attempt to achieve enlightenment. The reader is able to see Siddhartha’s true love for his best friend, when he watches him leave to attempt to achieve enlightenment in his own way. Later in the chapter, Siddhartha has an epiphany, and realizes how alone he is in the world. He sees how he is a miniscule piece of the world, directly after losing his best friend, displaying that Siddhartha really did enjoy having Govinda as a companion by his side. Directly following his passage, Govinda tears up, because he is distressed following the departure of his one companion. This passage displays Siddhartha’s growing independence and ability to be alone. He is determined to reach enlightenment in whatever way fulfills him, and will leave everyone behind who doesn’t wish to join him. He was able to leave his father and family for years to fulfill his dreams, although the question still lingers, will he eventually return to his father? The last sentence in the chapter, states that Siddhartha continues his journey away from Gotoma and his father. That foreshadows the possibility that what he is searching for isn’t with either and there is no turning back for loved ones. In that moment Siddhartha realizes this journey must be done alone, and he is ready to become enlightened through his own methods.
“Most people, Kamala, are like fallen leaves that blow and whirl about in the air, then dip and fall to earth. But others, only a few, are like stars, which move on a fixed course where no wind reaches them; they have their law and their course within them...there was one who was perfect in this sense...that was Gotama, the Exalted One...thousands of disciples listen to his teaching everyday...but they are all falling leaves” (Hesse 57).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hesse uses leaves to convey the message that most people have no direction in their life. These people go through the motions of life and when they think they have their path figured out, an obstacle or worry comes along and acts like the wind, blowing them off course. Siddhartha refers to these people as “children”. Children need someone to guide them in the right direction. For the disciples of the Gotama, they need the Exalted One in order to teach them how to reach internal Nirvana. However, they still do not have a true path for them. Children also are easily worried. For example Kamaswami is easily stirred by the problems that affect his business. These petty everyday problems push Kamaswami away from the path of true happiness and enlightenment. The “leaves” are considered to be far less superior than the stars because they keep being pulled downward and don’t know how to bring themselves back up. On the other hand, stars refer to the people who have found enlightenment or their calling in life. These people are above everyone else because they are not troubled by small problems. This power that they have allows them to stick to their beliefs and not be blown off course. Siddhartha uses Gotama as an example of a star because he is “the Buddha” and is considered to have reached Nirvana, therefore he is the ultimate goal. Even though Siddhartha considers himself to be a star, I think that he is not quite there yet because of the fact that he still has a lot more to learn and has not reached his full spiritual enlightenment.
ReplyDelete“When you throw a stone into water, it falls quickly by the fastest route to the bottom of the pond. This is the way it is when Siddhartha has an aim, an intention. Siddhartha does nothing-he waits, he thinks, he fasts-but he passes through the things of the world like the stone through the water, without bestirring himself. He is drawn forward and lets himself fall. His goals draw him to it, for he lets nothing enter his mind that interferes with the goal. This was what Siddhartha learned from the Shramanas. This is what fools call magic, thinking that it is brought about by demons; demons do not exist. Anyone can do magic, anyone can reach his goals if he can think, wait and fast” (Hesse 49).
In this passage, Siddhartha’s determination is compared to the falling of a stone in water. The importance of the shramana teachings are also displayed in the comparison. Once a stone is in water it sinks rather quickly, without anything being able to stop it. This is similar to the way Siddhartha dives after his goals without becoming distracted by his surroundings or even departure of friendships. He was able to continue his journey quickly after losing his companion of the past three years, and never lost sight of his goal of enlightenment. After finding out that following the shramanas will not bring him what he desires he must set his sight on something new and continue “falling” for it. Siddhartha’s new goal he will be attempting to reach using these methods will be attaining the love of Kamala. Using his three skills he believes he will have the ability to attain the dream, but Kamla tells Siddhartha she must wait for him to be wealthy. However, Siddhartha does not care for wealth. He values the experience and journey to get there, which is what is considered the falling of the rock. He attempts to share this vision with Kamaswami. Siddhartha learned three important skills from the shramanas, thinking, fasting, and waiting. This passage states that “anyone can reach his goals if he can think, wait and fast”, displaying the importance of these skills to Siddhartha. He has learned that these skills are necessary in order for him to reach his goals. That demonstrates the importance of Siddhartha’s time with the shramanas, even though he has given up on their beliefs in order to find his own.
" "Why did you leave me?" Thereupon he embraced Govinda, put his arm round him, and as he drew him to his breast and kissed hime, he was Govinda no longer, but a woman and out of woman's grown emerged a full breast, and Siddhartha lay there and drank; sweet and strong tasted the milk from this breast. It tasted of woman and man, of sun and forest, of animal and flower, of every fruit, of every pleasure. It was intoxicating. When Siddhartha awoke, the pale river shimmered past the door of the hut, and in the forest the cry of an owl rang out, deep and clear. " (Hesse 48) While Siddhartha's dream may seem to be a collection of random events with no meaning, there is actually some symbolism that relates to Siddhartha's situation and spiritual state. As a child is dependent on his or her mother's milk Siddhartha is dependent on this milk, but in this dream the milk symbolizes 2 different things. As a whole, the milk symbolizes the worldly pleasures that Siddhartha experiences, as it is said to be "intoxicating". The first worldly pleasure that the milk symbolizes is that of Siddhartha's relation with Kamala as in his dream Govinda is said to be transformed into Kamala, which represents Siddhartha's shift from being with his friend to now being with Kamala. His dependance on the milk milk could also represent his lack of readiness for spiritual enlightenment as he is still a child that can not survive without these worldly pleasures. Either way, the milk is not necessarily representative of a bad thing, just as a child's dependency is not bad, it is just a thing which they grow out of later in life and in Siddhartha's case reach spiritual enlightenment after this dependency is gone. This dream was also an example of foreshadowing as later Siddhartha becomes aware of the fact that he must live without the worldly pleasures, which intoxicate him in his everyday life, in order to become enlightened.
ReplyDelete“All this, colored and in a thousand different forms, had always been there. The sun and the moon had always shone; the rivers had had always flowed and the bees had hummed, but in previous times all of this had been nothing more to Siddhartha than a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes, regarded with distrust, condemned to be disregarded and ostracized from the thoughts, because it was not reality, because reality lay on the other side of the visible.” (page 45-46)
ReplyDeleteThis passage shows that Siddhartha no longer regards the world as a lie as he did in chapter two, but now enjoys the simple pleasures in life since he has awakened. He has come so far on his spiritual journey that he now has completely changed his outlook on life, going as far as missing his connection to Govinda, whom he left so he could achieve the inner piece he would not otherwise get under Gotama’s teachings. Further in the passage, Siddhartha even comes to regret what he said to Gotama, realizing that he was not nearly as knowledgeable as he had thought himself to be at the time. When Siddhartha chooses to learn more about himself by starting anew, he begins to shed his ego, which held him back before. The aloofness he once possessed is vanishing and in its place comes a deeper understanding and love of life. “But I spent a number of good days, learned much, had much pleasure and did not hurt either myself or others through annoyance or hastiness. If I ever go there again, perhaps to buy a later harvest, or for some other purpose, friendly people will receive me and I will be glad that I did not previously display hastiness and displeasure.” (Page 68).
Here we see Siddhartha take pleasure from the company of people, he would not have associated with before his awakening. Not only does he enjoy their presence and learn from them, which he had previously said was impossible, Siddhartha dispenses valuable advice and requests that he and Kamaswami be “Good friends.”
Though later in the chapter Siddhartha admits to not being able to love, we see him begin to warm up to the world and attempt to experience the empathy of people whose troubles he doesn’t quite understand. Siddhartha has come a long way from where he began, and though he views his life as a game currently, he is living in a far more virtuous way then he ever did as a Samana.
"Then for an hour he was aware that he was leading a strange life, that he was doing all sorts of things that were merely a game, that he was cheerful, granted, and sometimes felt joy, but that real life was flowing past him and not touching him." (pg. 63).
ReplyDeleteThis is a reoccurring theme throughout Siddhartha's journey towards spiritual enlightenment. He is constantly trying new things, but always feels like he is just barely evading the answer he is searching for. While living at home as the son of a Brahmin, he found that he was doing no more than going through the motions. This is when he joined the samanas in hope of gaining this knowledge. Again, however, Siddhartha found Nirvana just out of reach. When Siddhartha met the Buddha, he noticed that the Buddha had exactly what Siddhartha was looking for. He also realized this could not be found through someone else's teaching. Siddhartha turned to his own path, a relaxing lifestyle void of any needs. After a dream, Siddhartha's path became intertwined with women, particularly Kamala. But, like every other trial, spiritual enlightenment was just out of grasp.
“The life that is lived here is simple, thought Siddhartha. It has no difficulties. Everything was difficult, irksome and finally hopeless when I was a Samana. Now everything is easy, as easy as the instruction in kissing which Kamala gives. I require clothes and money, that is all. These are easy goals that do not disturb one’s sleep.” Page 58-59.
ReplyDeleteUp to this point of the novel, Siddhartha had undertaken the life of a Samsara, heard the preachings of the Illustrious One, and was now heading towards a new and alternative path: the material world. After hearing the lectures of the great Buddha, Siddhartha realized that the wisdom and finding of the Self can not be seeked by the teachings and guidances of a wise person, but has to be found from the experience of the individual. That is the reason why Siddhartha decided to keep on with his journey, and not follow the path his best friend decided to take. Personally, what I find interesting in this passage is how naive and innocent the author tries to portray Siddharta; a newborn that has just discovered the meaning of life. Siddhartha believes that “requiring new, (fancy as Kamala is requesting) clothes and money” is something easy and simple in life. We can see the naivness of Siddhartha reflected in this quote since he has dedicated and devoted all his life in teachings, practices, meditation and religion. His life as a Samsara and a Brahmin will have no similarities with the material life Kamala is introducing him into. I also find a sense of irony in the author’s last sentence. Since money is a fundamental aspect in our lives, which is the reflection of our success and is the key of a good standard of living, many people can see it as the only important aspect of one’s life. The fact that he uses the phrase “easy goals that do not disturb one’s sleep” reflects how money has impacted people in a unfavorable way. The author’s idea of his book Siddhartha is not only to narrate the spiritual, Buddhist journey his character embarks, but also reflect the different difficulties in life one has to face.
I agree with your analysis in that Siddhartha has started to realize that the journey to self enlightenment is one that only an individual may partake in and that enlightenment can not be taught, however I do not think that you addressed the degree of importance that this moment for Siddhartha holds. This is one of the first times that he has made his own decision based on evidence that he has found during his journey and is a pivotal moment in his journey. Other than that I liked your reaction to the baby like portrayal of Siddhartha in this section and had almost the same opinion. Also I think that your last sentence is certainly true and that this is one of many examples in the book that could support is alternative purpose for the book.
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ReplyDelete“As a boy, I was totally involved with gods and sacrifices. As a youth, I was completely occupied with asceticism, thinking, and meditating; I was searching for Brahman and I worshiped the eternal in the atman. As a young man, I followed the ascetics, lived in the forests, suffered heat and frost, learned to go hungry, taught my body how to wither...knowledge came to me in the teaching of the great Buddha, and I felt the realization of unity of the world circulating around in me...I went and learned from Kamala the pleasures of love, learned business from Kamaswami, accumulated money, frittered money away, learned to love my stomach, learned to indulge my senses...I had to experience despair, I had to sink to the level of the stupidest of all thoughts, the thought of suicide, in order to experience grace, to hear OM again, to sleep properly again and be able to awaken properly... I had to sin to be able to live again” (Hesse 75).
In this passage, Siddhartha has had the realization that all these events that occurred in his life have helped him become a whole new being. Throughout the book, and in this passage as well, I have found that a very strong motif in this book is love. As a young boy, we see the love that Siddhartha has for his father and how he rejects this love in order to become a shramana. The love that he feels at this stage, restricts him of realizing spiritual enlightenment, so he abandons it. When Siddhartha goes to the Buddha, he learns love in the way of compassion, when the Buddha accepts and understands the reasons for Siddhartha’s leaving. Siddhartha must abandon this love because it is apart of the teachings that do not help him reach enlightenment. In Kamala, Siddhartha learns physical pleasures of love and the importance of it. However, he can not accept this because he does not know how to give and receive this love. Another motif that I found was the importance of the OM. When Siddhartha finally understands the concept of the OM, he then can truly reach enlightenment. While he is with the Brahmins, he learns what the OM signifies, however he feels that the people in his village have not fully achieved an understanding of it. Throughout his journey, he finds people who chant the OM and understand the concept but their lives do not reflect the enlightenment that goes along with embracing the OM. Finally, he hears this OM again by the river and realizes that he needs to stop trying to force his life down paths by steadying different teachings and learn to just live. Once Siddhartha hears the OM, he realizes that both the spiritual world and the material world are united and you must understand and experience both in order to reach enlightenment.
“‘And do you know,’ continued Siddhartha ‘what word it pronounces when one is successful in hearing all its ten thousand voices at the same time?’
ReplyDeleteVasudeva laughed joyously; he bent towards Siddhartha and whispered the holy Om in his ear. And this was just what Siddhartha had heard.
As time went on his smile began to resemble the ferryman’s, was almost equally radiant, almost equally full of happiness, equally lighting up through a thousand little wrinkles, equally childish, equally senile.” (page 108)
In this quote it is seen that Siddhartha gains a peace he never before experienced. Always, Siddhartha had been seeking a goal, whether it was enlightenment, or to discover himself, or Kamala’s attention, he had always been striving towards a goal. However, now that he has heard the river, Siddhartha is no longer seeking something, rather, he is content to stay with Vasudeva and listen to all the river has to teach him, ferrying people across. Without his all consuming thirst for knowledge, and without his ego, Siddhartha is finally happy and at peace. He feels no bitterness towards the fact that he suffered greatly in his search for enlightenment, but instead views it as a step towards where he is now, too distant to affect him, and merely another life he had lived as a different person. When kamala was dying, she compared Siddhartha’s peace to Gotama, who Siddhartha had known to achieve enlightenment, and this reveals that Siddhartha had finally found his enlightenment. He found it through the river he had once scorned, learning something which he had said could not be taught. It was not the texts he had studied, or the tricks he had learned under the Samanas that finally brought him peace, but from the sound of the Om, which he had learned to say before he had ever set out on his journey. Though he knew how to say it internally, how to breathe it in and meditate to it, Siddhartha had not known the meaning behind it, had not heard the ten thousand voices that all said it. it was only when he was brought down to his lowest and was prepared to take his own life did he finally lose his ego and hear the voices that created the holy Om.
“He saw bright pearls rise from the depths, bubbles swimming on the mirror, sky blue reflected in them. The river looked at him with a thousand eyes-green, white, crystal, sky blue. How he loved this river, how it enchanted him, how grateful he was to it! In his heart he heard the newly awakened voice speak, and it said to him: “Love this river, stay by it, learn from it.” Yes, he wanted to learn from it, he wanted to listen to it. It seemed to him that whoever understood this river and it’s secrets, would understand much more, many secrets, all secrets.” (Page 101-102).
ReplyDeleteAs we know, Siddhartha is about to finish the endless journey of the discover of his Self. Born from the Son of a Brahmin, to enduring the lives of a Samara, evoking the teachings of Gotama, and escaping from the materialist world, Siddhartha is now closer than ever to his Enlightenment. He does this by learning from the river. Hesse uses the river as a symbol representing eternity in all things of the Universe, specially time. The author introduces this key figure in Siddhartha’s journey by emphasizing the personification of the river, creating a sort of character out of it. The words “bright pearls, mirror, and sky blue” chosen by Hesse in the first sentence generates a vivid image of a clear, magical and enchanting watercourse. As a reader, we can picture this river as being magical and peaceful, as well as mysterious and spiritualistic, which is what the author intends to evoke, acknowledging Siddhartha’s present state of awakening. We can also see by Hesse’s language and word choice how Siddhartha feels towards the river, since he clearly states that it “looked at him with a thousand eyes-green, white, crystal, sky blue”. What the author is trying to show here is not only the physical description of the water, being a weave of green and white and crystal blue, but also how it actually came to life, and gave Siddhartha back his by just ‘looking at him’. We can recall Siddhartha’s attempt of suicide in previous pages, and how the river spoke to him and awakened him from his despair. The river is a symbol of life in Hesse’s novel, it represents the turning point of Siddhartha and his search for Enlightenment, which is seen when he abandons the teachings of the Buddha (which he believed awoke him), and when he abandons the life of the ordinary and rich (which also awakened him).
"Siddhartha had learned how to transact business affairs, to exercise power over people, ... But he had always felt different from and superior to the other others; he had always watched them a little bit scornfully, with a slightly mocking disdain, which a Samana always feels towards the people of the world."(Hesse 76) In this passage Hesse is listing all of the things that Siddhartha had learned to do, or had practiced during his time in the city. All of these things are what people with a successful life may have partaken in at the time. However, Hesse goes on to describe how Siddhartha's state of mind had not changed and how after he left he had still retained his previous views on people that he had attained from the Samanas. This goes to show how during his time living in the city and seeking worldly pleasures he was not growing whatsoever in a spiritual sense. This passage also shows the lack of importance in general that is carried during one's spiritual journey, by the experiences associated with worldly pleasures. This seems to be a message that takes Siddhartha a while to realize, however once he does realize that his state of mind and attitude toward others which has been shaped by his worldly pleasures are out of alignment with what he might consider to be healthy for an enlightened person he is able to adjust and recalibrate himself.
ReplyDelete"The bird: the cheerful source and voice in him were still alive; and that was why he felt this joy, why he laughed, why his face beamed under his graying hair." (pg. 87).
ReplyDeleteThe little bird, while only mentioned after Siddhartha's companionship with Kamala is seen throughout the book. This bird symbolizes Siddhartha's joy and happiness, and his spiritual enlightenment, the ability to fly. While a Brahmin, Siddhartha finds no happiness as his efforts to gain enlightenment prove fruitless. The bird is in an egg, where what's expected is behind a shell, and can't crack until another step is taken. This occurs when Siddhartha becomes a samana. He is finally able to make progress, but same as the baby bird, is far from spiritual enlightenment. Upon meeting the Buddha, the baby bird takes flight for the first time as Siddhartha learns how to find spiritual enlightenment. But the bird stumbles and falls when Siddhartha turns towards worldly things. The bird knows it was destined for the sky, so it tries again. Kamala sets the bird free on pg. 76, symbolizing that she sacrificed her happiness so that Siddhartha could find his. The little bird, having experienced both flight and the fall, can now soar above the trees. Siddhartha expirienced both sides of the spectrum, expanding his knowledge and his horizons. He finds true happiness in taking off down a spiritual path. The little bird, mentioned on pg. 87 is a metaphor of Siddhartha's life and journey towards spiritual enlightenment.
ReplyDelete“Siddhartha wandered into the forest. He was already far from the city. He knew only one thing-that he could not go back, that the life he had led for many years was over and gone. He had sucked it and drained it to the point of revulsion. The songbird of his dream was dead. The bird in his heart was dead. He was profoundly enmeshed in samsara. He had sucked nausea and death into himself from every side, as a sponge sucks up water until it is full. He was bloated with excess, with misery, with death. There was nothing left in the world that could attract him, nothing that could bring him pleasure or console him” (Hesse 68).
This passage uses excessive negative connotations to demonstrate the horrific time in Siddhartha’s journey. During this time, Siddhartha left the life he dislikes behind, including his love Kamala, to continue his journey. Siddhartha feels as though he has failed himself, his journey, father, and friend, Govinda. They all wished for him to become enlightened and he has been unable to reach that as of now. Hesse’s use of gloomy diction in this passage allows the reader to visualize and understand Siddhartha’s feelings and this point in his journey. When it states that the songbird and bird in his heart are dead, Hesse is using the bird as a positive connotation, possibly having something to do with life. Although, they are quickly shattered by being labeled as dead. That describes how not only his dream and heart are dead, but also at this point Siddhartha is contemplating suicide. Hesse uses a metaphor, comparing his nausea and death to a sponge, to display how all of Siddhartha’s body trembles, as he is contemplates ending his own life. He is so full of nausea and death, he is unable to think clearly, prior to his reawakening. Hesse states that, the only Siddhartha is for sure of, is that he can not return to the city. The city represents the direct opposite of his morals. Even through all of the negative connotations in this paragraph, which lead you to believe Siddhartha is heading in a negative direction, it is actually him walking away from and turning his back on the possibility of caving into his morals.
ReplyDelete“He felt now that he had completed his learning of how to listen. He had often heard all these things before, these many voices in the river, but today he heard it in a new way...he no longer distinguished the many voices...they were all part of each other...and everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure-everything together was the river...when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego...when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: OM, perfection” (Hesse 105).
In this passage Siddhartha finally reaches enlightenment, but he does so without any teachings from someone else. In a way Vasudeva is a teacher to Siddhartha, but he never attempts to to tell Siddhartha how to reach Nirvana. Instead, he tells Siddhartha to sit and listen to the river and search within himself for an understanding. The river itself never tells Siddhartha what the answer to enlightenment is, but instead the river shows Siddhartha the complications of life through sounds and images. Siddhartha then takes this information and comes to the realization through his own inner guidance. The river itself is a symbol for unity and the eternity of all living things. The river is always present at the times of great transition during Siddhartha’s journey. For example, when he left the Shramanas and when he abandons his wealth. Now, the river is present at the time of Siddhartha’s enlightenment. It provides knowledge without words, causing Siddhartha to become a listener. Through listening, Siddhartha hears sounds from all living things. This represents the natural sounds that come from a river. After meditating on this revelation, Siddhartha is then rewarded with the understanding of the essence of life and how every voice and every emotion that he encountered were all united together in order to help him reach enlightenment. The unity that he receives from the river then helps destroy his ego. This makes the river the final instructor in Siddhartha's journey.
“He had never been able to do this, and it had then seem to him that this was the biggest difference between him and the ordinary people. But now, since his son was there, he, Siddhartha, had become completely like one of the people, through sorrow, through loving. He was madly in love, a fool because of love. Now he also experienced belatedly, for once in his life, the strongest and strangest passion; he suffered tremendously through it and yet was uplifted, in some way renewed and richer.”
ReplyDeleteAs a reader, what I feel the author is trying to portray here is the idea of the cycle of Samsara, which Siddhartha goes through repeatedly throughout the novel. At the beginning of the Hesse’s book, Siddhartha in a sort of way differentiates himself from the normal, ordinary people, since he believed he was superior and wiser in many different ways. This is especially seen in the chapter ‘Amongst the People’, where he is actually introduced to the world of business and money. As a Samana, Siddhartha had learned how to not be dependant on things, and had learned to acquire the skills of waiting, fasting and thinking. As he began to live amongst the people of the village, Siddhartha transformed completely from the Samana he used to, and began eager of money and power; what he thought distinguished him with other humans. However, the real difference between Siddhartha and the ordinary was the ability to love, which is the author’s last “theme” to present in his novel. Hesse makes us believe that Siddhartha was going to conquer and experience the meaning of true love with Kamala, but he instead bases love upon family. This is the last turning point of Siddhartha, or the last ‘bump’ he goes through in his everlasting journey, experiencing the most powerful and distorted kind of feeling there is.
ReplyDelete“Now he no longer distinguished the many voices, the happy from the grieving, the childlike from the manly. They were all part of each other-longing laments, the laughter of the wise, cries of anger, and the moans of the dying-all were one, all were interwoven and linked, intertwined in a thousand ways. And everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure-everything together was the river of what is, the music of life. And when Siddhartha listened attentively to the thousandfold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego-when he listened to all of them, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: OM, perfection” (Hesse 105).
This passage in the novel, is used to describe the moment when Siddhartha truly becomes enlightened. Here, Siddhartha hears the river as one sound, and describes it as perfection. In the beginning of the passage, Hesse compares the “voices” of antonyms, to describe the unison of all the voices, and how everything in life is learned and occurs, and it all eventually flows together. The river itself symbolizes life, and someone’s journey to their goal of enlightenment. Earlier, Siddhartha heard individual voices from the river, but now hears one voice for every emotion, calling it the “music of life”, symbolizing his reaching of enlightenment. As a reader, the thorough description of the sound Siddhartha heard, allows us to visualize how Siddhartha was feeling during his moment of enlightenment. The sound is referred to as, “the music of life” and “perfection”, which both bringing positive thoughts. This allows the reader to draw the conclusion that this is the moment when Siddhartha becomes fully enlightened. He is able to remember all past experiences, and bring them together to gain wisdom from them. This passage states, “he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing”, demonstrating that it was not only fate or Vasudeva that brought him to reach enlightenment but also his own individual focus and work to reflect on his life as a whole. Siddhartha has experienced many emotions that exist in the world, love, failure, loss of loved one, and together he is able to come to peace with it and with the rest of the world.
I do agree that this moment is when Siddhartha has become enlightened for the first time, however I saw a different symbol for the river. Rather than being a symbol for life I see it as a tool, or mirror that allows for one who wishes to look into themselves to do so and to gain spiritual enlightenment while doing so. However, this symbolism still relates to your general idea that its flow can help to bring one's emotions and desires together as one, as negative things. It also brings the positive aspects of one's spiritual state together and thus the river is neither a good or bad thing, it just allows for individuals to see into themselves.
Delete"His father's image, his own image, his son's image flowed in and out of one another. ... They all merged into the flow, they all flowed as a river toward goal..." (pg. 118).
ReplyDeleteHerman Hesse describes Siddhartha's son as either young Siddhartha or the boy, to help portray how similar Siddhartha and his son are. The child, throughout the book is never named. This gives diminishes his own personality, and links him closer to Siddhartha. Every time the boy is talked about, he is mentioned alongside Siddhartha, leading readers to find parallels between Siddhartha and his son. Siddhartha himself realizes this later, but much like his own childhood, the boy needs to find his own path, and be let go. While this is hard for Siddhartha to accept, he realizes that his father must have gone through the same thing, and decides to make peace with his son's decision. Through Hesse's naming of Siddhartha's son, readers can easily see the parallels between Siddhartha and his son.
Your analysis is very interesting. It made me ponder the river and Vasudeva's involvement in Siddhartha letting his son go to follow his own path. Vasudeva states, “But the river laughs, he laughs at me, he laughs at you and me; he shakes his laughter over our foolishness” (Hesse 92). The river is deemed to be the the item with the most power in the novel, and it doesn’t believe that Siddhartha should be wasting his time attempting to connect with a distant son. In fact, the river finds Siddhartha idiotic for trying to do this. Siddhartha was told to listen to the river, as following it leads to enlightenment. This demonstrates the possibility that Siddhartha listened to the river. Immediately following that passage, Hesse uses the dialogue of Vasudeva to demonstrate his feelings toward Siddhartha’s son. Vasudeva constantly questions Siddhartha’s motives, and his son’s feelings towards him. This makes Siddhartha question his morals and love for his son. Either way, it is true that Siddhartha sets his son free, similar to what is father did with him.
DeleteHe now regarded people in a different light than he had previously: not very clever, not very proud, and therefore all the more warm, curious, and sympathetic.
ReplyDeleteWhen he now took the usual kind of travellers across, businessmen, soldiers, and women, they no longer seemed alien to him as they once had. He did not understand or share their thoughts and views, he understood and shared their life, but he shared with them life’s urges and desires. (page 129)
Siddhartha has lost all ego. Here it is shown that he no longer separates himself from other people, having felt and lost love, and though he does not understand all their motivations, he can fully empathize with them. Before it was his ego, ever present, that always made him unhappy. No matter how lost he got, he was always separate, distant, and above everyone else, unable to ever do more than listen, his ego preventing any empathy. Due to this, Siddhartha felt he was unable to love, until he had his son. It was then that he was utterly lost to love, and when his son left him, it consumed him, despite his enlightened state.
Before Siddhartha loses his ego, love is something that Siddhartha acknowledges exists, but never experiences. Love itself then humbles Siddhartha, and it becomes the most important thing to Siddhartha. He fully embraces love, reveres it despite being hurt by it, and when he meets up again with Govinda, it is love that bonds the two, and creates a far deeper relationship between the two men. In the Brahmin’s son, Govinda talks of his love for Siddhartha, but one can tell that the love is more reverence, and slightly one sided. After Siddhartha has lost all ego and has embraced love, the love between the two men seems more equal, more pure. What separated them before, ego and thirst for knowledge, has disappeared, as both men get what they have always desired, but in the last places they ever expected to find it.
We both think that the idea of love is an important theme in Hesse's novel, and that it is the turning point of Siddhartha in his journey, his last acquisition and lesson. However, I do believe that the way Hesse portrays love between Kamala and Siddhartha is also an important part to acknowledge when mentioning love. This is because in that part of the book, as you have mentioned, Siddhartha was dominated by his ego, which made him, in a sort of way, blind and imprudent. We can see how Siddhartha is introduced to the love Kamala offers him but does not accept it, and instead prefers to take advantage and learn from the other teachings of his mistress. The fact that you compare the love between Siddhartha and Govind before and after his Enlightenment made me think about how the author also used the character of Govind to reflect the love of friendship and admire.
Delete""You will learn it, but not from," said Vasudeva, "but not from me. The river has taught me to listen; you will learn from it, too. The river knows everything; one can learn everything from it." " (Hesse 105 in 1971 Paperback edition) The context of this passage is that Vasudeva has just proposed that Siddhartha live with him on the river and Siddhartha has accepted his proposal. Siddhartha sees that this would be a great opportunity for him to gain knowledge in his spiritual journey. However, he makes the ingenuous assertion that he would be learning from Vasudeva. Vasudeva corrects Siddhartha and says that rather than learning form Vasudeva Siddhartha would be learning from the river. Hesse uses personification here, but it caries true meaning. He says, "The river knows everything", which is not literally true, however it is a fitting metaphor that is much more elegant than what Hesse could have said. In context this metaphor is used to show that rather than learning from the river literally Siddhartha must learn about himself through the river. Vasudeva goes on to talk about becoming submersed entirely in the river and diving to new depths within the river. This again is a metaphor for learning more about oneself through the river by looking deeper past the so called surface layers, not only of the water, but one's mental and spiritual state. The metaphors, personifications, and similes that Hesse sprinkles throughout the book help to contribute to a more understandable text by using relatable examples that give more specific details about the happenings or interpreted meanings which are very prevalent as well.
ReplyDeleteMy idea is very similar to yours in the fact that the river is the teacher, and determines when Siddhartha reaches enlightenment rather than Vasudeva. For example, you discuss how personification is used to describe the power of the river, while I discussed the power of the river through the knowledge it has and displays about Siddhartha’s life. The knowledge is also displayed during the time when Siddhartha sees different scenes and people of his life float down the river. That is when Siddhartha realizes those moments are in the past and he must come to peace with it. Siddhartha then uses the “voices of the river” to reach peace and become enlightened.
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