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Siddhartha

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Siddhartha is that most unusual of all stories -- one that follows a character throughout most of his life . . . and describes that life in terms of a spiritual journey. For those who are ready to think about what their spiritual journey can be, Siddhartha will be a revelation. For those who are not yet looking for "enlightenment," the book will seem pecular, odd, and out-of-joint. That's because Hesse was presenting a mystery story, also, for each reader to solve for herself or himself. The mystery is simply to unravel the meaning of life.

As the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha would naturally have enjoyed access to all of the finest lessons and things of life. Knowing of his natural superiority in many ways, he becomes disenchanted with teachers and his companions. In a burst of independence, he insists on being allowed to leave home to become a wandering Shramana (or Samana, depending on which translation you read). After three years or so, he tires of this as well. Near the end of that part of his life, Siddharta meets Gotama, the Buddha, and admires him greatly. But Siddharta continues to feel that teachers cannot convey the wisdom of what they know. Words are too fragile a vessel for that purpose. He sees a beautiful courtesan and asks her to teach him about love. Thus, Siddhartha begins his third quest for meaning by embracing the ordinary life that most people experience. Eventually, disgusted by this (and he does behave disgustingly), he tires of life. Then, he suddenly reconnects with the Universe, and decides to become a ferryman and learn from the river. In this fourth stage of his life, he comes to develop the wisdom to match the knowledge that direct experiences of the "good" and the "sensual" life have provided to him.

Few will find Siddhartha to be an attractive character until near the end of the book. Hesse is trying to portray his path towards balance and understanding by emphasizing Siddhartha's weaknesses and errors. But, these are mostly errors that all people fall into. Hesse wants us to see that we make too much of any given moment or event. The "all" in a timeless sense is what we should seek for.

There is a wonderful description of what a rock is near the end of the book that is well worth reading, even if you get nothing out of the rest of the story. The "mystery" of what Gotima experiences when he kisses Siddhartha's forehead will provide many interesting questions for each reader to consider.

I recommend that you both listen to this book on tape and read it. Hesse's approach to learning is for us to observe and feel. You will do more of that while listening than by simply reading. I was able to find an unabridged audio tape in our library for my listening. I encourage you to go with an unabridged tape as well. You will get more out of Siddhartha that way. I read the Hilda Rosner translation, and liked it very much.

After you finish listening to and reading the book, I suggest that you think about what you have not yet experienced that would help you get a better sense of life. If you have tried to be a secular person, you could try being a spiritual one. If you have focused on being a parent, you could focus on being a sibling. If you have focused on making money, you could pay attention to giving away your time. And so on. But in each case, give yourself more opportunities to experience and learn from nature. That is Hesse's real message here.

Ommmm

"A path lies before you which you are called to follow," Hesse writes in this story of enlightenment. "The gods await you." Hesse's 1922 novel opens with Siddhartha (not to be confused with Siddhartha Gotama, the Buddha) beginning "to feel the seeds of discontent within him." For the young man, "the world tasted bitter. Life was pain." Because of his unhappiness, Siddhartha abandons the comforts of his home and family, and joins the Samanas, "wandering ascetics . . . lean jackals in the world of men," with the goal of "becoming empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow." After travelling with the Samanas for three years, Siddhartha encounters the Buddha, and decides "to strike a new path" by following the Buddha's teachings on suffering: Life is pain. The world is full of suffering. There is a path to escape pain. However, always the wanderer, Siddhartha eventually rejects the Buddha's teachings--or so he believes--as he sets out to discover the truth from his own experience instead.

In time, Siddhartha finds himself "deeply entangled in Samsara," caught in the empty prosperity, possessions, and riches of the world, like "a shipwrecked man on the shore." In the spiritual poverty of his material wealth, Siddhartha's inner voice becomes silent. In his despair, Siddhartha again renounces the comforts of his life by becoming a ferryman. He ultimately learns from the river. "Above all, he learned from it how to listen, to listen with a still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgment, without opinions." Throughout Siddhartha's wanderings and enlightenment, Hesse offers up profound insights into the human predicament.

This is one of my all-time favorite novels. It teaches us that "your soul is your whole world." SIDDHARTHA had a profound impact on me when I first read it more than twenty five years ago, and now it has spoken to my soul again as I travel through my middle years. Wherever you are on your path through life, you will find SIDDHARTHA a meaningful novel.

G. Merritt

I'm looking at the different reviews about this book and while majority has been favorable, there are some that are not towards this book. Each of these reviewers is exactly correct about this book for him/herself. It's about being on a particular path in your life that is exactly the right one for you at this time of your life. Siddhartha was very intelligent, yet intelligence has nothing to do with enlightenment that he desperately sought. He often felt superior to others, yet could not experience the intensity of passion that others experienced. It wasn't until he experienced humanity himself, including the hurts of love and conceit and sorrow with the appearance and disappearance of his son, that he understood that each person's path towards enlightenment is one's alone, yet intertwined with everyone else's. My favorite part was when Vasudeva reminded him that his role was not to spare his son of pain because each person has to experience life for himself in order to fully understand his own existence within that context.

In a short essay or summary format, it is impossible to adequately describe in words the many qualities which make Herman Hesse's book, Siddhartha, a deeply satisfying masterpiece. However, the chance of bringing such a special book into the lives of others makes an attempt worthwhile. It has been written that Siddhartha is Hesse's most famous and influential work, and in many ways, I can easily understand why. This is a most effortless, yet incredibly profound book to read. The lucid, sagacious style in which Hesse explains an utterly complex subject matter is in itself an achievement to wonder at. From beginning to end, the words weaved within the story's context invoke curiosity, and at times a longing for what lies within the pages to come; and when those pages do come, the radiant words cultivate a deep spiritual air of enlightenment that will awaken your senses and encompass your thoughts.

According to Hesse, "the true profession of man is to find his way to himself." Indeed, he may just be correct, if only in part. I would personally modify this assertion by saying that finding the way to ourselves is the profession of man's first stage of life; the other stage being that man must find his way to knowing and giving love in all its forms. Thus, the true profession of man is to find his way to himself and to others; but I do not believe that my latter assertion can be accomplished without first having successfully discovered the former. Perhaps everyone at some point learns to understand this, as the yearning for the way to ourselves is innate in each of us. The search for the inner-self and quest for answers to life's mysteries is one that has occupied and eluded mankind since the dawn of time; but in a small way, Herman Hesse's Siddhartha is an excellent blueprint in creating a roadmap to help you set your own course or direction in that journey. The sooner you move on from the first stage to the second, the longer your true happiness will have been found. I do believe Hesse understood this, however, as he writes: "It seems to me, Govinda, that love is the most important thing in the world." He continues, "...I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect" (Siddhartha, p. 147).

As for the story itself, I suppose an oversimplification of Siddhartha will suffice for some, which is to say this is a rich and colorful novel about the search for self-knowledge and meaning of life; but to leave it at that would be to sell it short. An amazing piece of literary work originally published in 1922, Siddhartha is an enchanting, iridescent tale of one man's spiritual quest. The story is told in the context and feel of Eastern religious thought and philosophy that was most likely found in parts of India during the early 1900's. The novel begins as the title character, Siddhartha, is already a young man. Born the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha was blessed in appearance, intelligence, and charisma. He is at a point in his life where he begins to come of age. Having already long taken part in learned men's conversations, engaged in debate with his close friend, Govinda, we learn of Siddhartha's progress in life thus far. Well-practiced at contemplation and mediation, Siddhartha is well on his way to developing an astute intellect and discernment. He is a source of happiness and pride for his parents and all who know him. He is adorned with the love and adoration that many people would only dream of. Yet, true happiness still eludes him.

Siddhartha's indomitable thirst for enlightenment is as innate as breathing. This ceaseless longing must be cultivated, which makes it necessary for him to leave his family and embark on a quest to find his true inner-self; and so begins Siddhartha's journey in pursuit of the ultimate enlightenment, nirvana. In an incredible saga of many personal evolutions, Siddhartha follows several paths in his life, going through several lifestyles, perspectives, and states of mind. Siddhartha leaves his family behind to become a wandering ascetic, but all is eventually lost as his spiritual gains erode and he is seduced by the pleasures of the flesh. He slowly begins to be enslaved by his earthly passions and is completely subjugated by his base desires until he becomes like all the other "child people" that he so loathed. Ultimately, Siddhartha frees himself from the grips of vice and moves on to live a quieter and simpler life; but it is not until he is an old man that Siddhartha, who has experienced a great deal in his lifetime, finally has an epiphany which challenges many of the Eastern ideals of enlightenment. It is in this revelation that Siddhartha finally realizes the answers for which he has thirsted for so long.

Though it is not a grievous task to read Siddhartha, it may take a lifetime to truly comprehend its prodigious message. Subsequent readings will almost certainly provide revelations that were not realized previously. As time passes, I am realizing that, at first read, the depths and duality of its message may remain beyond comprehension; especially to the reader who has not learned to listen to their own "river" yet. As you read and follow along the path of discovery with Siddhartha, you will also discover, or perhaps rediscover, much about yourself in the process. Hesse makes it so easy to believe that the meaning of life is perhaps not as complicated as we think it is. Truly, my affection for this story has lingered since reading it, and I believe this affection will continue to linger in my heart for all the days of my life. I have a strong feeling that it will have the same effect on many, if not most of you, as well. Siddhartha is a satisfying, must-read book that everyone who possesses any depth to their soul should experience.

I leave you with but a taste for your palate. Bantam Book 1971 edition, translated by Hilda Rosner:

"'When someone is seeking,' said Siddhartha, 'it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose'" (Siddhartha, p. 140).

"I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary to sin, that I needed lust, that I had to strive for property and experience nausea and the depths of despair in order to learn not to resist them, in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave it as it is, to love it and be glad to belong to it" (Siddhartha, p. 144).

this is a book that not only everyone should read, but if it is a long time since they read it, it is worth every moment to read again! not many books truly fall into that category. siddhartha is one of those classic tales that grow more meaningfull as you grow older. it is a tale of eastern religion and thought, one man's path to enlightenment, that is written in such a simple and elequent manner as to be thoroughly absorbing to western minds. it is the perfect antidote to a society obsessed with " the material world ." we follow siddhartha through the three main stages of his life, in his quest for enlightenment. at times he rebels from the conventional wisdom of his day, at times he loses his moral and spititual compass, seemingly completely, but yet he always finds his way back. this is a brilliant tale that can help each of us focus on how we conduct ourselves in a very complicated society.

Siddhartha turned my life around because I was ready to let it. If you read the book with your heart and head open, it can happen for you. I was a Jr. in High school (1989-1990) and was failing English. I had not a care about school or where my life was heading. I didn't even read Siddhartha at first (while the rest of the class was reading it). However, I managed to stay awake for the class discussions on this book I had never picked up, and I heard the message loud and clear. I began to read and did not put it down. Subsequently, I took the LEAD on classroom discussions about Siddhartha and went on to make straight A's in my English classes from then on. (The next book we read that year was Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya -- another good one). As a 26 year old, I am purchasing Siddhartha. It may not be as awe inspiring as when I first read it, but reading it the first time made it possible for me to be here, today.

Overview:

The name "Siddhartha" which is a Sanksrit word is composed as "Siddha" + "Artha", Siddha meaning great achievement or perfectiom and Artha could denote wealth or meaning. All in all it conveys the idea of a man who is a seeker of Truth or even more accurately one who has actually acheived the ultimate wealth of the true meaning (of life). Herman Hesse's Siddhartha is one such soul who was born with an "unquenchable thirst" - in his own words - to know and realize the meaning of life. Even his early childhood years are spent with an acute suspicion and later - a deep belief that there is more to life than just what one sees, eternal Truth beyond the "Maya" or illusory world of sensory and sensual experience, or even differently put, that realization of the True Self is the ultimate goal of a human being.

What the author does is trace his spiritual journey, the years he spent in forests in self-denial practising the Shamana way of seeking the Self, his truly momentous meeting with the Englightened One (Gautama Buddha), and his subsequent conviction thereof that a full immersing experience in the real world is paramount to spiritual ascent, and then his wordly experiences, travails and tragedies, and ultimately of his finding peace and elusive existential bliss.

Synopsis:

Young Siddhartha's intellectual consciousness is uneasy and usatisfied in the mundane mantra-repeating Brahmin community, and the Upanishads unfailingly sow in him the seeds of passion to discover Atman or the Universal soul - knowing which all is known, and to attain Nirvana (in more conventionally popular terms),...The book traces his subsequent leaving of home and chronicles his years spent in self-denial with the Shamanas in the forest. The Shamanas' doctrine teaches that once the senses are conquered and their consciousness is transcended, the True Self can be effectively communicated with. What he did realize from his experiences was that such terrifyingly numbing "flights" from sense and reality did nothing but take him further away from his Self - which he was really seeking.

Siddhartha's time with the Buddha is very important since he (Siddhartha) realizes that True Knowledge cannot be communicated, and that it has to be experienced, that it cannot be taught by a teacher or written down in a book; it has to be a lone spiritual journey undertaken by the individual soul itself. Siddhartha spurns the Buddha's spirited following and embarks very determinedly to immerse himself in worldly experience. Firstly, discovering his sexuality by communing at all levels with Kamala - the courtesan, and then living for several years as a successful businessman and productive member of the community - but with the driving goal to still stay detached from material accretions and achievements, and even from egos and satisfactions derived from pure professional or solely intellectual successes. His gambling tendencies quite adequately highlight this very motivation of his - to stay afloat like a Lotus flower even while thriving in gutter water. But several years of prosperous worldly existence dilutes his intellectual acuity, numbs his senses, breeds tremendous ennui, and leads to a spiraling recrudescence of petty and diluting human emotions. His flight from that comfortable living, his meeting with his son (begottten of Kamala) who he is unable to relate to, and the ensuing heartburn, and his finding of peace and tranquility by the shores of a river, form the rest of this enthralling and thought-provoking tale.

When the gates of Hell opened wide and my soul entered the forest of uttermost darkness Siddhartha fell into my lap.

The journey Hermann Hesse carries you through is one that is profoundly deep, meaningful, captivating.

The simplicity of his words reflect God's authority and grace. That is precisely what I criticize about heavy books such as the Bible, the Koran..

Although these Holy books are beautiful in their own right they leave way too much to interpretation.

Siddhartha is simple, clear, powerful. A great guide to better understand the complexities of Truth.

Don't let the simple, minimalistic style of Hermann Hesse's writing fool you. While "Siddhartha" is a short novel and quite easy to read, it should not be taken lightly. What seems at first to be a simple story actually contains numerous layers of thought and meaning, and the end result, if the reader takes the time to seriously ponder the book's message, is a truly enlightening experience. We are first introduced to the main character, Siddhartha, as an adolescent on the brink of manhood (or so it would seem - we aren't actually told what age he is). Siddhartha is the son of a Brahman (also spelled "Brahmin"), a member of the priestly class in ancient India. However, he has come to feel that there is something lacking in this way of life and is disillusioned with the traditional sacrifices and rituals. Hoping to find the secret to nirvana (release from samsara, the repeating cycle of life), Siddhartha sets out with his friend Govinda on a lifelong spiritual journey.

During the course of his quest for self-discovery, Siddhartha encounters a wide and varied array of mentors. First he joins the ranks of the Samanas, wandering ascetics who believe nirvana can be achieved only when one manages to completely eliminate the Self. After a few years of this life, word reaches Siddhartha of a holy man, Gotama, the Buddha, who is said to have achieved enlightenment while meditating under a bo tree. After listening to the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhartha still does not feel that he has found what he seeks, and his journey continues. His next mentor is Kamala, the beautiful courtesan who instructs him in the art of love. After a while he leaves Kamala and apprentices himself to a rich merchant, hoping to learn the workings of the business world. He soon finds himself becoming enmeshed in the material world of abundance and indulgence. Finally, sick and depressed, he leaves everything behind him and joins up with an old ferryman. It is here, at last, now an old man himself, that Siddhartha begins to piece together the truth about life, compiling all the bits of wisdom his various mentors have given him.

The language itself is uncomplicated. Yet each word is saturated with meaning, and a reader who wishes to get the most from this book will need to carefully examine and reflect on them all. I'd advise against rushing through this one, despite its initial appearance of simplicity. Read a chapter, and then take a little time to think about it. Re-read any parts that stood out for you, or that you did not entirely grasp. It's amazing what you'll pick up. Also, don't be put off by the main character. For much of the book, Siddhartha seems rather distant and alien. He is not a character one can readily identify with. In fact, the only time at which he displays any depth of regular emotion is during his interactions with his son. But all of this has a purpose. Siddhartha is not only alien to us, the readers, but also to himself, and it is not until the last pages of the book that he discovers the secret of what it means to be human.

It may help potential readers to first familiarize themselves with some basic information on Indian history and the origins of Buddhism (if these are not subjects you are already knowledgeable about). The story of Siddhartha is loosely based on the life of the Buddha himself (and interestingly, the Buddha's full name was Siddhartha Gotama - also spelled "Gautama"). The story contains much vocabulary that the lay-person may not recognize, and a little research beforehand will contribute to one's overall understanding of the book. For instance, "samsara" is the wheel of life, a never-ending cycle whereby a person will be repeatedly reincarnated, placed in either a better or worse life based on the good or bad "karma" they have accumulated in the previous life. The state of "nirvana" is said to be enlightenment and release from the cycle of samsara. There are several other such words and concepts that one would benefit from being familar with as well. Understanding of the book does not require a very detailed knowledge, but some small amount of background information is certainly helpful.

On a final note, it is important to realize that "Siddhartha" is very relevant to modern-day life as well. Hesse, a German author, wrote the book from a Western perspective. Though it takes place in India and is filled with Eastern religious concepts, Hesse has adapted the ideas to make them applicable to Western life. Nor is it a book about religion per se, but about the discovery of self and finding the secret of contentment with one's life. This amalgamation of ideas is what makes "Siddhartha" stand out among the modern classics as a truly brilliant work. "Siddhartha" is a book I would recommend to anyone without hesitation. It is one that should be read first in high school, if possible, thought about carefully, and re-read many times throughout one's life. The story has much to offer and carries a powerful message, and will remain one that I cherish for decades to come.

This review refers to the 1997 MJF Books edition, translated by Hilda Rosner.

The review by the previous gentleman (a Muslim from Turkey) shows what is so precious about this book. Although the setting is in ancient India, and Siddhartha studies and practices with Hindu brahmins and the Buddha, his experience is not restricted to any specific religion. It is something that an open-minded person of any religion would be able to recognize as a true spiritual search, which is really the essence of all the world's great religions. And any person sincerely drawn to their own spiritual search will see something of Siddhartha in themselves, regardless of the particular dogmas of their own religion or culture. I think this is why this book has stood the test of time and still inspires today.