How happy are we with the life that we are so busy living?

We are constantly engaged in various worldly activities, thinking about everything else rather than life itself.

Here, Hermann's Sidhartha shows us a different perspective.

When we look back on the years that have passed, the moments that are gone, and the memories that fade away quickly, only to be replaced by new ones just as fast, what we truly lack is the experience of inner peace. It may be there, trapped, crumpled, and concise, but we never fully embrace the utmost sense of being at peace. Do we?

The novella explores three main themes: enlightenment, inner peace, and love.

Sidhartha is never at peace with his heart. He is constantly in search of enlightenment and always in the midst of love or not being loved. His transformative journey from a Hindu to an ascetic, a Samana, a Buddhist, a ferryman, and finally an enlightened man is described with such brilliance and precision that nothing is left untouched and nothing is said unnecessarily.

Hermann can be annoying at times. The immaturities of Sidhartha's decisions, his allegedly high claims of superiority over others, his insatiable quest for something that seems non-existent, and the overly philosophical dialogues of every other person all detract from the sheer beauty of the rhetoric.

Coming to the essential philosophy preached in the whole story,

Sidhartha proposes that one must find "unity" in all of the world. He believes that "And all of the voices, all the goals, all the yearnings, all the sorrows, all the pleasures, all the good and evil, all of them together was the world." (135)

However, this approach completely ignores the reality that life is full of constant conflict and that one's goal should be to struggle against injustice rather than ignore it. This philosophy inherently teaches passivity, which is dangerous and destructive. Although Siddhartha may have achieved peace by the river, the merchant continued to rob, the elites continued to exploit, and the poor continued to go hungry. In this light, Siddhartha's world view is both naïve and not very useful in bringing about a better world.

We can make the world a better place to live in, better than some imaginary eternal happy fields or what the scriptures propose.

I read this book yet again today, and discovered another layer of truth.

It is truly a masterpiece that is written in such a simple language. Despite its simplicity, the book delves deeply into some of the most complex philosophical, spiritual, and psychological themes. It manages to do so without getting into the intricate framework that these areas typically require to achieve something meaningful.

This is the story of Siddhartha. It is the story of a full circle of life, a story that is relevant to everyone; each one of us. It is the story of a stream of constant realization that gradually dawns on us as we age. It is about the things in the past, the emotions attached to them, and the balance in the larger ecosystem. All these are aspects that we did not understand until we switched places and saw things from the other side.

This is a story of the complexity hidden within the simplicity of life, and also a story of the simplicity that can be found within the complexity of life. It is a story of growing younger in the sense of knowing nothing, and growing older in the sense of knowing more. It is a story that highlights the importance of friendship and companionship, and also a story that shows how worthless attachments can be in the grand scheme of overall life. It is the story of the meeting place of Atman and Parmatman, and the story of the place of their separation. It is the story of the quest for knowledge, and the story of living in ignorance.

Pure, melodic, and poetic, this book should be one of the first ones on the list for every serious reader. It has the power to touch the heart and expand the mind, offering profound insights into the human condition.

The simple eloquence of this book is truly hard to match in the entire realm of literature.

The prose it presents is succinct, yet it does not lack grace. It has a certain charm that draws the reader in. The story within its pages is not only intriguing enough to keep one's attention but also has the power to make the reader think deeply.

The moral it conveys is simple on the surface but is actually profound. It teaches us that enlightenment cannot be learned from the outside, not from another person, not from a particular school of thought, nor from blindly following tradition. Each individual must embark on a unique path of their own. And in truth, no one ever really reaches a point where they can simply say, "Now I am truly enlightened." There is always more to discover, more to learn, and more to grow.

This book serves as a reminder that the journey of self-discovery and enlightenment is a continuous one, and we should embrace it with an open mind and a willing heart.

For a long time, I had wanted to read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I'm not very fond of spiritual literature, and often I even avoid it. But still, something in this book caught my attention. I had heard enough good things about this author to understand that giving Siddhartha a chance was worth it. So I started it, more driven by an impulse than by something carefully deliberated and planned.

I read the first two chapters in two weeks. This may not speak well of the literary or spiritual content of Siddhartha, but in fact, I feel that I failed to progress at an appropriate speed because at that time, I hadn't "opened up" to what Hesse could tell me. I repeat: I don't usually read this type of book. However, today I gave it another chance and tried to embark on the reading in a different way, perhaps more privately or personally. And, as you will see, I already have it finished. And I must admit that it was an extraordinary journey, through which I accompanied the saman Siddhartha in his search for supreme wisdom and the peace of the soul in a voyeuristic but no less authentic way.

As this story tells us, wisdom cannot be taught. Decomposing information into language may be feasible, but it is not the case with an experience. Wisdom is achieved through the inner self, from the outside to the inside, and it is extremely personal. Similarly, Siddhartha, somewhat contradictorily, can clarify many ideas, some rather controversial and others revealing. It is a reading that I highly recommend, as long as it is read with an open mind. I can't say more because this path must be traveled by oneself and discovered privately. So here you have it, move forward and let yourself be carried away.

There are certain roles that I truly relish in this life.
When I was younger, while babysitting, I adored playing the part of the Cool Teenage Girl. It was the most effective and energy-efficient way to win the hearts of children. Answering questions like "Do you have a boyfriend?" and "Do you go to parties?" 800 times was far easier than running around or doing crafts.
I am still a huge fan of embodying the Sympathetic Customer at any retail or service establishment I visit. Thanks to years of retail/service work, this is more of a truth about myself than a mere persona, but I exaggerate it to such an extent that it still holds true.
However, my all-time favorite character will always be the English Student Who Is Devoted Enough And Sufficiently Respected To Get Away With Sh*t Talking The Assigned Reading In Class.
And boy, did I go for the gold with this book.
When I was in high school, there was also a cult of white boys who refused to even make eye contact with any girl who wasn't Asian. There were probably six of them游荡 in the halls, actively fetishizing. Seven if you count Hermann Hesse via the copies of Siddhartha that half the junior-year English classes had to read.
This book is just bizarre.
This is part of a series I am doing where I - as I've said before and I'll say it again - claim to be reviewing books I read a long time ago, but more actively reveal unasked-for truths about my high school experience.

Most religions are acquainted with it as "Enlightenment" - that moment when the individual rises above himself and perceives himself as united with the ultimate reality. It can be theistic, like the "Aham Brahma Asmi" - "I am the Brahman" or "Tat Tvam Asi" - "Thou Art That" in Hinduism, or atheistic, such as the Buddhist Nirvana, which is based on the "Anatman" - "non-soul". But according to all accounts, the person who attains it is seized by profound rapture. To reach this stage, one must traverse a laborious path. Carl Gustav Jung named the process "individuation", while Joseph Campbell called it "the hero's journey". Herman Hesse's eponymous protagonist in "Siddhartha" is a man who undertakes this endeavor.

Siddhartha, the handsome Brahmin youth who seemingly has everything, is discontented with life and its entire pointlessness. He departs from home with his friend Govinda and joins a group of ascetics (the Samanas) who have made renunciation their way of life. However, being the true seeker that he is, Siddhartha discovers that simple renunciation does not suit him. He then joins the Buddha in the pursuit of enlightenment. Soon, he realizes that whatever knowledge he must acquire must be through experience.

Leaving Govinda to become a Buddhist ascetic, Siddhartha immerses himself in the sensual world across the river. There, the courtesan Kamala trains him in the pleasures of the flesh, and the merchant Kamaswami instructs him in the secrets of commerce. But Siddhartha soon grows weary of these as well. He returns to the river in poverty (unaware that his child is growing within Kamala) and is taken in by the aged boatman Vasudeva as a helper.

Here, while ferrying people across the river, Siddhartha finally attains enlightenment - not from a great teacher, not from years of penance, and not even from the kind Vasudeva (even though he shows the way) - but from the river. Kamala's death and his son's abandonment of the stranger father complete his education, as distress gives way to peace. Then it is time for Vasudeva, the mentor, to vanish - leaving his student alone with the river.

The river flows and becomes one with the ocean. The vapor from the ocean forms into clouds and descends on the mountains, becoming the river once again. The river keeps flowing; it is inconstant, ever-renewing, never the same - yet it is eternal. The river flows, and the river is. On its surface, you can see the faces of all your loved ones: whether alive, dead, or yet to be born. In the roar of the river, if you listen closely, you can hear the sacred "AUM" - the first syllable outward, the second one inward, the third one silence... and the fourth one, the all-encompassing silence that bears the sound of the cosmic ocean in its womb. Highly recommended.

Siddartha is an allegory that delves into the profound premise of 'Happiness for Dummies'. While it may not be as simplistic as that, it does explore the attainment and nature of happiness.

The novel, like its eponymous protagonist, progresses through several significant milestones or turning points. These mark the development of the story and the growth of the character, signifying the changes brought about by chance or when Siddhartha experiences what is commonly referred to as 'awakening'.

I have never been a fan of the term 'awakening'. My slightly cynical eyes have been tainted by the countless New Age slogans and advertising jingles that pervade our spiritually-hungry but commercially-driven culture. Any word associated with this New Age school of thought immediately raises red flags in my mind, and I respond with a certain two-syllable word.

However, despite my wariness, I must admit that Siddhartha does not resemble those works that claim to offer liberation and answers to spiritual questions in the typical sense. Hesse is not trying to sell happiness in a how-to-guide format. Instead, he tells a story that presents the search for spiritual fulfillment in an allegorical form and examines how it unfolds and is resolved.

To fully understand Siddhartha, we must consider its historical context. Herman Hesse, a German writer and Nobel Prize winner, was influenced by his exposure to Indian culture through his parents' work as Christian missionaries and his study of Arthur Schopenhauer. Hesse's work is informed by Buddhist and Hindu philosophy, which provides the setting for Siddhartha.

Siddhartha is significant because it was the first major work dealing with Eastern philosophy and thought written in the West, predating the Beat movement and the hippie culture of the 1960s. It introduced many Western readers to Buddhist and Zen philosophy and influenced the work of Jack Kerouac and other members of the Beat Generation.

Hesse explores the search for spiritual fulfillment by having his characters embody different aspects of personality and living. Siddhartha experiences various stages of life, including being a seeker, an ascetic, a lover, a trader, a gambler, and finally, an awakened being. His journey is one of trial and error, as he wavers between two extremes in his pursuit of oneness with the universe.

Siddhartha makes many mistakes and has numerous teachers along the way, including the Samanas, the Buddha, Kamala, Kamaswami, the ferryman, and the river itself. His loves also take many forms, including platonic, brotherly, romantic, and fatherly love.

Compared to other books dealing with existential angst, such as The Stranger by Albert Camus or Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Siddhartha stands out for its uplifting and somberly optimistic tone. Hesse's prose is well-written and at times simple, but not simplistic. The central message of the novel, that wisdom cannot be taught but must be learned through personal experience, is exemplified in the final meeting of Siddhartha and Govinda.

In conclusion, different people will interpret Siddhartha differently. While it may not have changed my life, it did give me something to think about. It is a thought-provoking and engaging novel that offers insights into the human search for happiness and spiritual fulfillment.

Hesse never really made the grade with this one in my young mind. I read it in 1973, and found it compounded my youthful confusion. Simply put, it conflicted jarringly with an insight I had been blessed - or cursed - with three years earlier.

That insight was that the purity of Being is insulted by our widespread profligacy. We, as humans, seem to be constantly engaged in actions that disrespect the very essence of our existence.

Call it ontological if you prefer, but following Heidegger I saw the Crown of Being as the very germ and goal of a spiritual quest. It was like a distant star that I was determined to reach, no matter how difficult the journey might be.

Stephane Mallarme spins an imaginative simile for this effect: calling it “le cristal par le monstre insulte.” I’ve always found that metaphor apropos, because it clearly reifies the feeling as a concrete image. It's as if the purity of our being is like a precious crystal that is constantly being attacked by a monstrous force.

There are two ways to embark on a quest: following the Eastern path, or stepping in line with the Western mystical canons. The Eastern path, at least in modern times, is a way of peaceful meditation. It was not always so, but we moderns have relaxed our world views and our ideals. The Western way is similar nowadays, though traditionally we were made of sterner stuff.

In Hesse’s time the Eastern Way promised the lure of romantic exoticism. But by the time he wrote Siddhartha, he lived in an existential fire pit of despair. He needed its peace as well. So in modern times the image of religion has been pasteurized, sanitized and commercialized. Kids see very little promise in it, let alone a way out of their inner storms. This is the uncomfortable legacy we have bequeathed to them, and it makes me squirm.

But for me, fifty years ago, founded in learning and philosophy, it was the Quest for Being amidst its opposing indecent insult by the world. The real outside world offered no help. So I took my struggle within. Now, a full half century later I’ve found rest for my soul. And - no - it bears no resemblance to Siddhartha’s ceaseless though romanticized flux. No. It’s the quiet, concrete simplicity of an everyday life.

Henry Miller said about this book: Siddhartha is a healing drug that is more effective than the New Testament

I must admit that Siddhartha also healed me

And another admission is that whenever I see this low-level review, I am ashamed of myself

Because it is very incomplete

Maybe I will read the book again and bring here all that I have taken from the book

That is, the whole book

:)

About the book

Siddhartha is a young man who has lost his way in search of the spark of truth. He first experiences the Brahmin life and then the ascetic life. The ascetics' all efforts are to get rid of the "self". After several years, Siddhartha realizes that this "self" is always with him and cannot be eliminated

The beauty of the story begins after this transformation

Of course, this Hindu "self" is different from the Freudian "self", and in fact, it is the same "ego" or "id" in Freudian theory, which is expressed as the spiritual soul in religion

Conclusion

Everything that exists in a person, whether it is reason or emotions such as anger, pride, love, lust, etc., is not placed in our existence without a purpose. According to Al-Ghazali, we should form a combination of all these and move towards perfection

In the search for why we are here, many philosophers and sages have come to the answer that it must be sought in the existence of the human being itself

Sometimes in this book, the words of Hafez resonate with me

For years, the heart of the seeker of the cup made us a cup

What it had, it desired from the stranger

In the ruins of Magan, I see the light of God

This wonder, from where do I see such a light?

The moth counts the candle as a treasure

This transaction will not last until dawn

Although Imam Muhammad Al-Ghazali does not call himself a philosopher, many people consider him a philosopher

The following text is from the Alchemy of Happiness

Knowing that the key to the knowledge of God - Exalted is He - is the knowledge of one's own soul, and for this it is said: "He who knows himself, knows his Lord"... In short, nothing is closer to you than yourself. Since you do not know yourself, how can you know others? And just as you know your own self to the extent that when you are hungry, you eat bread, and when anger comes, you fall on someone and all the stars are against you. So you must seek the truth of yourself, what you are, where you came from, where you want to go, why you have come to this abode, and for what you have been created, and what is your happiness and where it is, and what is your strength and where it is?

And these qualities that have gathered within you, some are the qualities of the stars, some are the qualities of the angels, some are the qualities of the devils, and some are the qualities of the jinn. Which of these are you?

And which is the true essence that because of this ignorance, you cannot seek your own happiness: because each of these is a different food and a different happiness: the food of the stars and their happiness is eating, sleeping, and satisfying desires, but the food of the angels and their happiness is obedience, worship, and patience, and the food of the devils is sin, mischief, and deceit, and the food of the jinn and their happiness is seeing the beauty of the presence of the Almighty. And there is no way for anger, pride, and other bad qualities with them. If you are a celestial angel in essence, strive to know the presence of the Almighty and lead yourself to see that beauty and save yourself from lust and anger, and seek to know why these bad qualities and vices have been created in you?

They have been created for that purpose so that they can enslave you and make you serve them and torture you day and night, or so that you can enslave them and torture them on the journey that you have been sent on, and make one part of yourself a combination and another part a weapon, and in these few days that you are in this abode, use them to hunt the seed of your own happiness with their help, and when you have obtained the seed of happiness, trample them under your feet and place them in the abode of your own happiness

What is the meaning of life?

This is a profound question that has puzzled humanity for centuries. I, for one, don't have a clear answer.

You might think that you could find the solution within the pages of this book, but I'm here to tell you that you won't.

However, I have come across some reviews from readers who assert that this very book has had a life-altering impact on them.

It's quite interesting to see how different people can have such diverse experiences and interpretations.

Maybe for some, the ideas presented in the book resonate deeply and lead to a newfound understanding of life's meaning.

But for me, the mystery still remains.

Nonetheless, it's fascinating to explore the various perspectives and opinions that exist on this topic.

Who knows, perhaps one day, I'll stumble upon the answer that eludes me now.

Until then, I'll continue to seek and question, hoping to gain a deeper insight into the enigma that is the meaning of life.

I recently reread Hesse's Steppenwolf, a book I had not touched since my teens. It took me on a wonderful memory trip. Hesse was of great significance to me in my youth. I learned a lot from this romantic German seeker who journeyed to the East and wrote about a spiritual tradition that I felt was less judgmental and binary compared to my Dutch Reformed Calvinist upbringing. Siddhartha was extremely important as it brought to life, through story, a way of synthesizing western and eastern spiritual ideas. Hesse, a German, traveled east to study the Buddhist spiritual tradition and created the character Siddhartha on a life journey to enlightenment, helping us see how such a synthesis could occur.

“We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.” We were all on that road to self-discovery as I saw it then. So many young people in the late sixties, disenchanted by sexism, racism, the onset of environmental disaster, and more war, were seeking alternatives to the western capitalist society that had led us to the “Eve of Destruction.” Hesse showed scruffy, anti-Establishment idealists like me how to start creating a different life, one that was more communal, more accepting, and more committed to love and serving others. With Siddhartha, we tried to learn to laugh with the river.

Of course, as Siddhartha himself made clear in the book, things would change, we would betray those ideals, and we would stray from the path of enlightenment. But he also saw that the staying and straying were all part of the same path, and vestiges of that idealism would remain as we circled back over time to those early commitments.

Hesse gives us, in this late middle-aged reader's reading of the book, a story of enlightenment. It's about a man who leaves home against his father's wishes and travels to the East to meet the Buddha. For a time, Siddhartha goes down a different path of materialism, licentiousness, gambling, and lust, which leads to despair. But then he rights the ship and returns to the better way on his spiritual path. He is supported by a good friend, Govinda, a Buddhist, and he meets a woman, Kamala, who teaches him the path of love.

“So she thoroughly taught him that one cannot take pleasure without giving pleasure, and that every gesture, every caress, every touch, every glance, every last bit of the body has its secret, which brings happiness to the person who knows how to wake it.” With Kamala, he also has a son, also named Siddhartha, who leaves him as he left his father.

Siddhartha actually meets Gautama, the Buddha. He is also guided in part by conversations with a boatman, Vasudeva, who teaches him to laugh and be accepting.

“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.” It's a simple story, a kind of allegory of spiritual searching. It may even be quite didactic as it is more of a spiritual teaching text. But as a novel, it does reveal the complexities of Siddhartha's character and the depths of his relationships. Not everyone chooses the path Siddhartha chooses. His friend Gautama chooses Buddhism; Kamala chooses the way of physical pleasure, and Siddhartha's son chooses a more licentious life. And they are all good for them, Hesse makes clear. He does not judge them. He accepts others and learns to be at peace and laugh.

“It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.” I finally liked it very much, again. At first, in rereading it, I thought it was simplistic and too didactic. (Someone said literary types thought of Hesse as Thomas Mann-lite, a kind of easy, pop spiritualist.) But then I rediscovered the kind of purity he brings to his story. If we think of The Brothers Karamazov as a kind of spiritual journey depicting an array of choices, as it surely is, in a way, Dostoevsky's novel is far greater and far more complex. But Siddhartha has an earnestness to it. Is it a young person's book? I think so, but I liked it more than I had anticipated. It made me think of my own life and path.

“When someone seeks,” said Siddhartha, “then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.”

Cat Stevens, “On the Road to Find Out”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPv0-...

* There may be a little spoiler *

The time is set in the distant past. The place is India. There is a young man named Siddhartha, who is adored by everyone. He is a wise and upright individual who inspires those around him, yet he himself is not content with his life and the world around him, especially on a spiritual level. He feels that there is something lacking. Why isn't it enough? It's hard to say, but it's human nature to question the essence of things, such as the existence of God or any higher power. Siddhartha, however, is in a more fortunate position. He is aware that a superior entity exists, and he simply desires to know and feel more.

Siddhartha believes that all he has acquired is not sufficient to bring him satisfaction and bliss. He thinks that his father and the other Brahmans have already imparted all the wisdom they possess. But as he says, "the vessel was not full, the spirit was not content, the soul was not calm, the heart was not satisfied." So, he makes the difficult decision to leave his family and his good friend Govinda and embarks on a life of contemplation, hoping to attain spiritual enlightenment. He becomes a Samana, but their philosophy fails to satisfy his heart, and thus he continues his solitary quest.

After crossing a river with the help of a ferryman, he arrives at a city. There, Siddhartha meets a beautiful and intelligent woman who teaches him about love and other aspects of life. However, after a few years, this empty lifestyle of worldly pleasures wears him down, and he returns to the river that once gave him inspiration. After some time and through various experiences, he is able to listen to the river's voice along with the ferryman, who becomes his spiritual guide. Eventually, Siddhartha finds enlightenment and reaches Nirvana on his own.

This is a beautiful story of a man's journey of self-discovery. A wise young man who experiences the highs and lows of life like everyone else. After a period filled with pleasures and materialism, he returns to the spiritual life he craves. Nevertheless, the time he spent with the woman cannot be considered a waste. It was a necessary step for him to achieve something greater. Everything he has endured has contributed to his growth and experience, leading him back to the path he was meant to take. We often need to reach rock bottom in order to find our way back to the right track. If listening to a seemingly talking river can help us and enable spiritual growth, then so be it.

Leaving aside any sarcastic remarks, I truly loved Siddhartha. In my opinion, there is no comparison between this book and some other novels involving alchemists. This one is truly an inspiring work that makes us question and reevaluate the things we thought were clear. I read it in both English and Spanish simultaneously, and of course, it was like reading two different books. But I can say that I enjoyed Hesse's writing, although I'm not sure if his style is accurately captured in those translations. (I really need to learn French, German, and Italian to truly understand his work.)

Metaphors, reflections, descriptions, characters, and emotions are all beautifully depicted by Hesse. He has a tendency to repeat words within a passage, which gives the reading experience a pleasant rhythm (although sometimes it can seem redundant). I'm not sure if this only makes sense to me. Probably.

I have a penchant for philosophical novels, and this one was no exception. I'm not certain if it will change my perspective on life (since I haven't encountered any talking rivers yet), but Siddhartha was a joy to read.

Jun 23, 2013

* Also on my blog.