Student’s Surname 1 SIDDHARTHA Herman Hesse was a renowned author of the early 20th century. Born on the 2nd of July 1877, he studied Greek, Latin and Theology and later changed his focus to mechanics. Towards the end of his teens, he would again change the course of his career to bookkeeping in book shops in Basle and Tubingen. These include Siddhartha, a 1922 novel, Demian and Goldmund, 1930 novels and Die Morgenlandfahrt, which was a 1932 novel. By the time of his death in 1962, he had authored many books and become an influential writer. His works have been translated into many languages and read across the world. He is particularly popular among younger generations. In the course of his life, Hesse interacted with several different cultures and this is evident from his works. For instance, Siddhartha is based on Indian characters are Indian characters, whereas the other is of German origin. His works are different from most other Western writers of the time.
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Student’s Surname 2 Hesse’s background influenced his character to a significant extent. His father was a Russian who renounced his citizenship and became a citizen of Sweden. Herman also renounced his German citizen ship and became a Swiss citizen. His parents were missionaries and in the course of their work, they travelled to India frequently. His work was also influenced by his mother, who was from India. In the period during which he wrote Siddhartha, Hesse was experiencing significant difficulties in his life; from the long illness of his son to the insanity of his wife. His works during this period are reflective of the mental turmoil that he was experiencing. ‘In Sight of Chaos’ has religious themes, just like ‘Siddhartha’. As he wrote these series of novels, he lived in seclusion where he would invite people rarely. During this period, he searched within himself for answers to many life’s questions. The self-analysis was marked by books such as ‘Demian’ and other semi-autobriographical novels. As a result of Besse’s deep introspection of this period, one of the main themes in this novel is enlightenment. In the novel, Siddhartha, most of the characters are in pursuit of inner peace and enlightenment. Siddhartha also seeks love and intimacy. ‘Steppenwolf’ is another of Hemme’s works of this periods. It covers themes that are similar to Siddhartha’s such as aloneness and isolation. It also studies the main character’s search for an indentity. Siddhartha is one of his most popular works to date. It is the tale of a man who makes it his purpose to attain spiritual enlightenment. The title is aptly called ‘Siddhartha’, which means, the one who has achieved his objectives in life. Siddhartha is keen to discover himself from a spiritual perspective. To do this, he learns to listen to his inner voice and be more introspective. In his quest to find himself, he tries a number of paths; from immersing himself deeply in spirituality to abandoning spirituality and going in search of worldly pleasures.
Student’s Surname 3 Siddhartha begins to lose touch with his inner voice when he abandons the path of enlightenment and begins to pursue material wealth and other sensual pleasures. The Samsara was a crucial path to Siddhartha’s enlightenment. He had to pursue the worldly things for him to realize that they were not fulfilling for him. He was simply discontent with his life, and all he knew was that he needed a more significant purpose. He did not want to have an empty life like most people. Therefore, the more he became an astute businessman and his wealth accumulated, the more he realized that it did not make him happy. In this path to enlightenment, it was crucial for him to realize that wealth was not a source of fulfillment. To find himself, he had to take a path that was unique to him, and even though it was lonely and scary sometimes, he decided to continue pursuing it until he achieved his goal. Siddhartha was so focused on becoming spiritually enlightened that he decided to refute the teachings of Buddha and other spiritual gurus. He tells his friend Gotama that one finds themselves through the process of searching, meditating, realizing and thinking; studying the teachings of other leaders did very little, if anything, to help one become enlightened. His conversation with Buddha helped him realize that enlightenment was a deeply personal concept. His decision thereafter was to seek spiritual enlightenment by himself or die in the process of it. His experience of the Samsara was very important to his journey of spiritual enlightenment because to achieve Nirvana, he first had to learn to be content with living in simplicity. He learns how to love from Kamala, a woman he was deeply attracted to, and how to have a successful business from Kamaswami, a wealthy man. Despite learning these skills from the best talents available, he did not feel a sense of achievement for long. He regrets his decision to pursue sensual and material pleasures. Hemme writes that Siddhartha felt disgusted with himself like a person who had had too much to drink and eat and was now trying to purge it out of his body (Hesse 54). Although the process of
Student’s Surname 4 vomiting was painful, he was grateful for it because it provided relief. Where there is uncertainty, experience is one of the best teachers, because it makes the lesson very clear. Likewise, the experience of pursuing worldly pleasures taught Siddhartha that he was more content with a simple life. If Siddhartha had not had this experience, he would not have realized that enlightenment comes from within and not from the material pursuits of the world. In the stages he pursued on his journey to becoming spiritually enlightenment, he realizes that there are things that one cannot be taught,; personal experiences are the best teacher in life. While it is evident that is was necessary for Siddhartha to go through various stages to discover himself, critics might argue that it was not a necessary part of the process. They would claim that Gotama became spiritually enlightened without pursuing material and sensual pleasures, while Buddha also became enlightened by only studying, meditating and epiphanies. Also, the followers of Buddha became spiritually enlightened without taking that path. It was therefore possible to achieve enlightenment through a different process. However, it is important to note that in life, everyone’s path is different. Therefore, what worked for other people in their journey to enlightenment might have been different from what Siddhartha needed to achieve the same. Siddhartha was by nature a very curious person, who learned best from having his own experiences. When he joins the Samanas, after some time he realizes that he would not benefit significantly from following them. This is shown when he tells Govida that the leader of the Samanas is around sixty years old and is still in the pursuit of enlightenment. He says that the leader will get to seventy years, and even eighty years, still trying to get to that stage. Therefore, like the Samanas, fasting, meditation and thinking deeply would not have helped him to become enlightened. Siddhartha needed a more profound experience that would jolt him to the realization that the simple things in life were more important. It is also worth noting that following
Student’s Surname 5 Buddha’s teachings was not the path to enlightenment. Those who followed Buddha appeared to be enlightened, but in reality, the enlightenment did not happen from deep within. Tand hey were always in search for more teachings. True enlightenment happened when one was content and feeling awakened; they no longer had the continuity thirst for more knowledge. Gotama adhered to the rules and tried to learn as much as possible from the gurus of spiritual teachings but in the end, this did not help him achieve enlightenment. Likewise, Siddhartha went through various teachers and experiences prior to becoming enlightened. There is no single guaranteed approach to becoming spiritually enlightened, everyone must curve their own path. For instance, Buddha fasted, meditated and had a series of epiphanies over a long period to become enlightened. Siddhartha, on the other hand, had to experience the sensual and material world to understand that the quest for such things was futile. Without this realization, he would not be able to become enlightened. There is more than one path to enlightenment, and none is more superior than the other. On the path to enlightenment, it is not possible to be completely righteous or completely evil, there has to be a middle ground where happiness and contentment are the actual goals. To discover this middle ground that eventually leads to enlightenment, Siddhartha experiences both extremes; the material world as well as the spiritual world. His enlightenment relies on viewing life from different perspectives. Siddhartha’s path to enlightenment involves passing through the Brahmans Samanas and the material world. He finally goes to the river where he meets a ferryman who teaches him to search within calmly in order to find himself. It would not have been possible for Siddhartha to find enlightenment from other sources because by nature he was a curious person who needed a variety of experiences to learn.
Student’s Surname 6 In conclusion, most human beings seek to discover the greater purpose of their lives. Siddhartha is on this same mission, but ends up having to take a long route to this ultimate goal. This shows us that it is important to trust the process without being very critical of oneself.
Works Cited Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha. Macmillan Collector's Lib, 2020.