Siddhartha

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Summary: Medicinal Reading
Review: This is a story that will speak to multitudes for a very long time to come. A story that can whisper its own timeless message as if it is speaking to the reader only. One may become lost in its pages, but not confused. For those with ears to hear and eyes to see, this is a work of importance for those who wish to know themselves.

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Summary: A total inspiration
Review: I am not a very big reader, but once I started reading Siddhartha, I was hooked. Hermann Hesse wrote it in such a way to express how love and loss, as well as fear, are such an incredible and important part of our lives. Moreover, how knowledge of our own selves is such an essential way to live and to prosper. In many ways, it is my bible. It has all the answers, and all the questions that are worth asking.

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Summary: Informative and exciting
Review: For those of you who are religous I challenge you to read this book more than others. This book of a Buddist man with a Hinndu father who shows his own take on religion. Although I myself am not very religious, I found this book to be most interesting and informative. Siddartha starts as an avarage kid looking for an answer and chooses to find it in his own way. His persoality and actions change many times throughout the book until he believes he has found the truth. This is a good story of life as Siddartha goes from aestetic to materialistic to Buddist. This is an excellent story while being most informative of basic principals to differnet religions. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning general knowledge of religion.

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Summary: A Dilettante¿s Review
Review: "Siddhartha" is a book instructing us that until we stop searching, our lives will be too cluttered to enjoy the pleasure and peace of being. On his travels he finds, repeatedly, the very act of seeking wisdom can become an end in itself, an ironic barrier to understanding.

Some students, it seems, are like Boy Scouts accumulating merit badges; they study until able to show their mentors they have learned-usually by passing a test-then they can hang the symbols of their knowledge around their neck for all to see. Siddhartha would prefer a Scout who earns just a single badge but masters the skill he's chosen-when he weaves a wallet so well he sees God in the stitches-then he'll be far beyond the most badge-encrusted Eagle Scout.

From time-to-time, when the trivial struggles of life seem unbearable, I'll wish I could follow the path Siddhartha and Govinda took when leaving their village-spend a few years in deep contemplation, unfettered by the clutter of my career and household. In this fantasy I see myself just walking away with a light pack, taking just enough money to get to nowhere. When I get there-maybe a small town in the middle of the desert-I find a job doing something like washing pots in a diner, earning just enough so I can live and think. A small room, a simple job, and complete silence-it is on this mythical stage that I can find my place in the universe.

But Siddhartha teaches us the folly of this path. Through his experience we see the only thing the ascetic (the Samana) will surely learn, is to do without. They practice the posture of wisdom, and, with their passive self-denial, trick themselves, and us, into thinking they have something we lack. But the difference is superficial. They are no more qualified to reach Nirvana than the most materialistic soul-just less preoccupied with transitory issues.

This is not to say absorption in materialism is not an encumbrance to spiritual progress; Siddhartha's years as a merchant show this. But it is the juxtaposition of his ascetic and materialistic lifestyles that allow Siddhartha to transcend the error of both paths. Only by descending from the pinnacle of morality to the depths of decadence could he discover the unity of darkness and light, the singleness of now and then, and the irrelevance of the distinction between reality and illusion.

This brings me to the central question of this story: What is Nirvana? The literal Sanskrit translation is "extinction, or blowing out." To Buddhists it means the transcendental freedom gained by extinguishing desire and egocentricity-the supreme goal of meditation-total enlightenment. In this state, self-delusion disappears and so do its associated vices, releasing man from the cycle of rebirth and suffering.

Siddhartha discovers there is no clear path to this elevated condition. Enlightenment, he finds, is not something that can be taught. You can show a student how to read, but wisdom only comes with contemplation. The danger for the student is having his ability to contemplate shattered by obsession with the lesson.

But this revelation is only the first step for Siddhartha. It is not until he leaves his complex, materialistic life, and returns to an ascetic path, that he is prepared to accept the lesson of Vasudeva's river: There is no past, no future, no beginning, no end; all things are one, and he, Siddhartha, is part of the one.

With this he finds the joy of universal love. The crook and the saint, the lion and the lamb-all part of the one. And in embracing them as part of himself-also part of the one-he found acceptance, peace and happiness.

Here is the dangerous point for the reader. It is easy to conclude that having read Siddhartha's story you share his enlightenment. This is a mistake. The reader must understand Siddhartha only leads them to the river and shows it is part of everything, and, therefore, is everything. But it is up to the reader to clear his mind enough to contemplate what this "everything" is and how he relates to it; and, more difficult still, find happiness and release in the understanding he gains from this contemplation.

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Summary: Listen to the river.
Review: Siddhartha finds peace at the end of his life by giving up the search for enlightment, giving up goals, giving up the wisdom of other teachers, and instead simply sitting by the river patiently and quietly listening to its eternal voice. Siddhartha hears a voice of love and acceptance for all things coming from the river and the message finds a place in his heart, transforming him from a seeker to one who finds nothing lacking in himself. When Govinda, his old friend, stoops to kiss his face he sees the Buddha there. Siddhartha is awake at last. I have read this book three times and will surely read it again. For those reading it for the first time, you have a treat in store for you.

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Summary: A Mystical Look at a Universal Problem
Review: Set in India, Siddhartha is subtitled an "Indic Poetic Work" and clearly it does owe much to both Buddhism and Hinduism, however the philosophy embodied in Siddhartha is both unique and quite complex, despite the lyrically beautiful simplicity of the plot.

Siddhartha is one of the names of the historical Gautama and while the life of Hesse's character resembles that of his historical counterpart to some extent, Siddhartha is by no means a fictional life of Buddha and his teachings.

Siddhartha is divided into two parts of four and eight chapters, something some have interpreted as an illustration of Buddhism's Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to Enlightenment.

Elements of Hinduism can also be found in Siddhartha. Some critics maintain that Hesse was influenced largely by the Bhagavad Gita when he wrote the book and that his protagonist was groping his way along a path outlined in that text. Certainly the central problems of Siddhartha and the Gita are similar: how can the protagonist attain a state of happiness and serenity by means of a long and arduous path?

Hesse's protagonist, however, seeks his own personal path to fulfillment, not someone else's. It is one of trial and error and he is only subconsciously aware of its nature. Although many see Siddhartha's quest as embodying the ideals of Buddhism, Siddhartha objects to the negative aspects of Gautama's teaching. He rejects Gautama's model for himself and he rejects Buddhism; Siddhartha insists upon the right to choose his own path to fulfillment.

The primary theme of Siddhartha is the individual's difficult and lonely search for self-fulfillment. Both the means used by the hero in his quest and the nature of his fulfillment are of prime importance and reflect recurring themes that thread their way through all of Hesse's work.

Although Siddhartha listens with great respect to the words of Buddha and does not reject Buddhism as being right for others, he, himself, does not become Buddha's disciple, but decides to pursue his goal through his own effort, not by following a teacher. As in Demian, Nietzsche's influence is apparent; the reader is strongly reminded of Nietzsche's Zarathustra who exhorts his listeners not to follow him, but to excel themselves.

Siddhartha's sense of fulfillment is a mystical one and cannot be defined with precision. In this respect, it resembles the Nirvana of Buddhism. The most important aspect of Siddhartha's growing awareness, however, is an unselfish and undirected love.

The division of the world into the two opposing poles of masculine and feminine is another common theme in Hesse's writings. The Father World, or masculine, is dominated by the intellect, reason, spirit, stability and discipline; the Mother Word, or feminine, by emotion, love, fertility, birth, death, fluidity, nature and the senses.

While this symbolism is more pronounced in other works, such as Demian and The Glass Bead Game, it is also present and consistently developed in Siddhartha.

Siddhartha's position vis-a-vis the two worlds changes during the course of the novel. At times, he seems to embrace one world more than the other; at other times he unites the virtues of each.

Two symbolic elements thread their way through Siddhartha; that of the river and that of a smile. Suggestive of fluidity as well as the paradoxical union of permanence and flux, the river is an age-old symbol of eternity and spiritual communion.

A second important symbol in Siddhartha is that of the smile. The characters in the story who attain a final state of complete serenity are each characterized by a beautiful smile reflecting a peaceful and harmonious state of being.

Each of these symbols is associated with Siddhartha at key junctures in his quest.

Siddhartha is written in an extremely simple style, in keeping with the inherent simplicity of the plot, theme and general tone of the book. The syntax is uncomplicated and except for a few technical terms from Indian philosophy, the vocabulary is straightforward. Frequent use is made of leitmotifs, parallelism and repetition and, in the original German, the language is rhythmic and lyrical, reminiscent of a poetic religious text with a definite meditative quality.

Siddhartha is told by an omniscient third person narrator with frequent direct and indirect quotations of the words and thoughts of various characters, especially Siddhartha. The narrator, almost invariably, looks at things from Siddhartha's perspective, and even when other characters are discussed or quoted, it is always to shed light on Siddhartha, himself.

A mystical and lyrical book, Siddhartha is a beautiful story of a truly personal quest towards the self-fulfillment we all must strive to attain.

Rating:
Summary: Let your search end here
Review: When I first picked up this book, my expectations were a fictional account of Gotama Buddhas life written by some German guy. When I read it what I got was one of the most moving, life changing pieces of literture of the twentieth century. This book will change the way you think. And will change the way you value your thoughts. In addition to being a good overvue of what it truely means to be a buddha, there is a great story here. This book is for anyone. Anyone who wishes to be enlightened. But don't take my word for it because..."Wisdom is not communicable. Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it,be fortified by it, do wonders through it,but one cannot communicate and teach it."

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Summary: A mystical quest for the truth of our existence
Review: Hesse's Siddartha is a compelling story and a book that almost hypnotizes the reader with its simple, subtle approach to wisdom and existence. It combines the enigmatic brevity of the haiku with the matter-of-fact narrative of an Icelandic saga, all within a Hindu-Buddhist framework infused with Hesse's own brand of Western existencialism.

The young man Siddharta, the Brahmin's son, is precocious and learns at an early age the traditional ways of worship and meditation. He eventually grows dissatisfied with their approach to salvation, and with his good friend Govinda he joins a wandering group of ascetic Samanas. During his life with the Samanas he learns the skills of 'thinking, waiting, and fasting'; but after three years he realizes that his old teachers have yet to find salvation, and that the ascetic life can not be the way he seeks. He and Govinda go to meet Buddha and listen to his teachings. Govinda decides to join Buddha's disciples, but Siddhartha will not accept the doctrine of the Illustrious one. He thinks that the Buddha is indeed a holy and enlightened man, but that such holiness and enlightenment can not be communicated. After living for a while as a rich merchant and learning "love" from a courtesan, Siddhartha eventually comes closer to what he has sought when he gives up his riches to live with Vasudeva, a ferryman. Through living with Vasudeva by the river he learns to listen, to fall and be drawn in, into the unity of all things. He learns to be and become without seeking, to abandon words, thoughts and the concept of time so as to better dissolve his Self into this all-encompassing whole.

Although this is in a certain sense a celebration of the individual journey to truth and salvation, and surely an existencialist work, it is much less Nietzschean that Hesse's Steppenwolf. The negation of the self, the limits of human communication, and the importance of observation and pure being is more reminiscent of Kierkegaard and especially Heidegger (although Siddharta precedes Being and Time). Mixed with ancient Eastern mysticism and philosophy and a truly unique and captivating style of writing, this little book offers more inspiration and food for thought than virtually any other book you can read.

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Summary: Too Deep for My Blood....Maybe!
Review: As a Global History teacher in New York it is very important to teach about religions. Religions has been a major topic on most of the statewide Global History and Studies tests for the last few years. And of course, when talking about Global religions it is very important to discuss Buddhism and its founder Siddartha.

Having taught Buddhism for over 5 years now, I finally got the chance to read Hesse's novel Siddartha. I found it on a display of recommended high school reading.

I must say I enjoyed sitting in a local park, looking at a nearby pond and reading this book. I especially enjoyed the parts when Siddartha gave up his material items. I found the passages when he realized life was suffering and that he must rid himself of desires, wants, and material possessions.

However, one aspect of the novel confused me enough to leave me with mixed feelings about it. Call me stupid, but what messed me up was that there was a character in the book known as the Buddha, Gautama, and yet Siddartha was another character. Siddartha was the founder of Buddhism and his title was Buddha, and yet they were two different people in the book. Or were they? Was Siddartha and the Buddha in the book really the same person but Hesse just did not come out with it directly? Or is Hesse contrasting his character, a fictional Siddartha, with the real Buddha? I am not sure.

Also, as a teacher I would not assign this entire book to a 9th or 10th grader which are the grades who study Buddhism. Personally, I do not think this is the type a book most high school students would enjoy or fully understand. I had trouble with it and I am the teacher. However, there were certain parts and passages of the book that I certainly would discuss in class. So I recommend certain parts of this book to be used in school and not assigning the whole book to kids.

I am glad I read this book and look forward to reading it again and understanding even more of it. This strikes me as the type of book you learn something new from each time you look at it.

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Summary: siddhartha
Review: Siddhartha is Hermann Hesses own 'Journey to the East' in it he gives us an insight into the Spiritual Life of India and one road that canbe travelled to Self-realization or union with God or Truth or Ultimate Reality. Being born into the priestly class of Indian Culture Siddhartha abandons its confining bondaries in order to find liberation for himself through experiensing life in its full measure. Highly recomended book for all seekers of wisdom.