¶ … Siddhartha a Buddhist? Originally published in 1922 by German writer Hermann Hesse, the classic novel of personal discovery Siddhartha has since become one of the most widely read works of religious fiction ever written. By presenting the tale of a young man named Siddhartha coming of age in ancient India, the European-born and Christian-raised Hesse manages to portray mankind's collective yearning for spiritual satisfaction through a highly readable and relatable narrative. While the novel focuses on the age of Gautama Buddha, whose teachings attracted millions of followers and eventually formed the foundations of modern Buddhism, Siddhartha himself is the son of a respected Hindu Brahmin and has trouble identifying with any particular system of belief. Embarking on an epic journey of reflection and awakening, Siddhartha experiences both self-sacrifice and the temptation of worldly pleasures as he grows into manhood, before eventually encountering Gautama Buddha in the flesh. After gaining firsthand knowledge of the ascetic lifestyle endured by the Samanas, as well as the materialistic existence enjoyed by the wealthy, Siddhartha is forced to decide between these conflicting ways of life and the path offered by Gautama Buddha. Although Hesse has weaved the basic tenets of Buddhist faith throughout his story, from intense meditation sessions to the use of the holy word "Om," Siddhartha's ultimate rejection of the great master's teachings leaves the reader struggling to decide whether or not he...
By examining the text of Siddhartha closely while comparing the writings with Hesse's actual experiences traveling through India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, it is possible to form a fully informed conclusion on the protagonist's true spiritual identity.
Siddhartha meets Vasudeva the ferryman. He sees in Vasudeva a quality of peace that he associates with enlightenment. Vasudeva embodies that which Siddhartha has been looking for since he was a boy. His materialistic existence momentarily comes back to haunt him when Kamala approaches Siddhartha with their son. Kamala dies, leaving the son with Siddhartha. The son is a great disappointment who steals Siddhartha's money. Siddhartha has no choice or
One primary example of the common ground on both sides of Siddhartha's revelation is in his persistence at meditation, which Hesse is able to use accordingly to reflect a time and place where this was considered standard theological training. The already existent nature of this foundation in Hinduism, which Mossman describes as elucidating a status of 'religious prodigy' in Siddhartha, offers a natural passage into the search of inner-truth. In his
Western civilization has been developing according to a set of coordinates that are entirely separated from the ones of its Eastern counterpart. The focus of this paper is to propose subjective psychologically-minded interpretations to a series of Asian stories and poems extracted from the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. The storyline of Searching for Buddha begins with the account of a monk's lengthy and arduous journey towards finding Buddha. When
East/West An Analysis of Eastern Influence in Western Art The American/English poet T.S. Eliot references the Upanishad in his most famous poem "The Wasteland," a work that essentially chronicles the break-up of Western civilization and looks to Eastern philosophy for a kind of crutch in the wake of the abandonment of Western philosophy. Since then, Westerners, whether in literature or in film, have continued to look to the East for inspiration and
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