Carl Jung once said, “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for growing plant and for the soul of the child.” Siddhartha, a novel by Hermann Hesse, follows Siddhartha through his life stages. While Siddhartha searches for enlightenment and Nirvana; going from Brahmin, to the rich, then to having nothing. The audience can read about his struggles and sufferings that guide him to enlightenment. Siddhartha’s journey gives him several teachers and mentors; some were conventional and some more symbolic. All of them though were important and help Siddhartha to his enlightenment.
The first
…show more content…
“He was no Brahmins, sharing the life of the Brahmins, no ascetic belonging to the Samanas.” (33) Siddhartha thinks that he might not need a religious mentor to find his path, hence why he wants to learn from Kamaswami, who is opposite from his previous mentors. “I have learned from you how much a basket of fish costs and how much interest one can claim for lending money.” (56) Siddhartha says that to Kamaswami when he realizes that Kamaswami wasn’t as important, even though he does teach Siddhartha what isn’t important in the whole scheme of life, which helps further down Siddhartha’s path. “Now everything is easy, as easy as the instructions in kissing Kamala gives.” (49) This is when Siddhartha first decides to deflect the physical world because of the Samanas’ teachings. Now he tries the opposite and showers himself in the physical world first with Kamala’s affections and then the riches he gains because of Kamaswami teachings of merchant life. After Siddhartha’s dream about Kamala’s dead singing bird, it makes him realize that he has been stuck in Samsara and needs to leave the teachers that got him this …show more content…
“I would like to ask you to be my friend and teacher, for I do not know anything of the art of which you are mistress.” (44) Siddhartha seeks out Kamala because of her experience and he feels that he could learn plenty of things from her. “Most people, Kamala, are like a falling leaf that drifts and turns in the air, flutters, and falls to the ground. But a few others are like stars which travel one defined path.” (58) Siddhartha reflects upon his feelings to Kamala about his perspective on other people. The following 20 years with Kamala and Kamaswami, Siddhartha learns from Kamala that they are unlike everyone else and that’s why he learns so much from her and can actually connect with her. “Kamala indicated to her son and said, ‘Did you recognize him, too? He is your son.’” (92) At the end of Kamala’s life she is able to indirectly teach Siddhartha about people, so he can understand them. Siddhartha connects with the people and their feelings now all because of Kamala and his’ son, and that helps Siddhartha appreciate the ordinary people; who he never comprehends until
Siddhartha has the urge to become enlightened There was something telling him to endure on his journey to enlightenment and thus begins the Hero Journey This is the first step towards his journey After seeing the Samanas, he decides he wants to follow in their footsteps to learn more about himself and the world that he has been sheltered from his whole life When he tells his family about his decision of becoming and Samana they refuse to let him go, especially his father who has done most of
Siddhartha wanted to learn the art of love. So to accomplish this goal, he wished to become the apprentice of Kamala. Kamala was also a possibility of being Siddhartha’s only true love. She possessed both the qualities of being his mentor and lover. There is a great use of language in this quote. The author uses different words such as beautiful to show how Siddhartha feels about Kamala. It also reveals what Siddhartha wants. He wants Kamala to be his teacher and friend so they can develop a relationship.
When Siddhartha talks to Kamala she tells him that she is a courtesan and Siddhartha wants to learn from her how to live like the people from the city. Kamala taught him many things one of the most important ones was that she taught him how to act like a rich man. Teaching him to act like like a rich man was essential to him reaching enlightenment. If this never happened he wouldn’t have gone into samsara. He never would have experienced the suicidal thoughts that led him to the river and ultimately not reaching enlightenment. Years after Siddhartha left the city Kamala and Siddhartha meet again only this time she has a his son. After she dies Siddhartha tries to raise his son the best he can but his son is too stubborn. The feeling Siddhartha gets after his son leaves he can't find anywhere else and this is one of the last things that Siddhartha needed to achieve enlightenment. Kamala bring multiple things into Siddhartha's life that were absolutely essential to him reaching
Siddhartha is a much respected son of a Brahmin who lives with his father in ancient India. Everyone in their town expects Siddhartha to act like his father and become successful. Although he lives a very high quality life, Siddhartha is dissatisfied and along with his best friend Govinda- wants nothing more than to join the group of wandering ascetics called Samana’s. This group starves themselves, travels almost naked and must beg for the food they survive on. This group of people believes that to achieve enlightenment and self-actualization: body image, health, physical and material desires must be thrown away. Although this is the life Siddhartha wished for himself, he soon discovers that it is not the right choice for him. Near desolation, Siddhartha happens upon a river where he hears a strange sound. This sound signifies the beginning of the life he was born to live – the beginning of his true self. Hesse uses many literary devices to assure Siddhartha’s goal of self-actualization and creates a proper path for that success.
The beautiful courtesan, Kamala, taught Siddhartha the importance of love along with the pleasures of it. While in the town of Samsara, he was introduced to a life of luxuries by her. She taught him how to please a woman and how to keep her satisfied. He also learned how to gamble and the art of running a business from her friends. Although Siddhartha felt moments of joy, nothing fulfilled the longing in his soul. Over the years, one of the more important lessons he gained from Kamala was that he could have this life of pleasurable things and yet still yearn for a deeper meaning in his heart.
Siddhartha see things united and somehow entangled in a seemingly endless and meaningless circular chain of events. Allusions frequently show Siddhartha's conditions by means of clever imagery suggesting circular motion and an immobile state. Siddhartha is first compared to a potter's wheel that slowly revolves and comes to a stop. From here, Siddhartha meets the elegant and beautiful, Kamala, gets caught "off track" and entangles himself in a "senseless cycle" of acquiring and squandering wealth.
While it seems as if Siddhartha’s early stages of following the teachings of others and immersing himself in material goods did not help Siddhartha on his quest, Siddhartha views these stages in a positive way. “I experienced by observing my own body and my own soul that I sorely needed sin, sorely needed concupiscence, needed greed, vanity… and to love it and be happy to belong to it.” (120). Siddhartha states how he needed sin, vanity, and all of these feelings to realize how corrupt his view of enlightenment was. Siddhartha understands, through viewing his own body and soul, that he needs to accept the world he lives in for what it is, and learn to love it. This flaw that Siddhartha has throughout much of the novel is crucial, as Hesse is able to display how wisdom can only be achieved by looking within the self, not through the words or doctrines of others.
Siddhartha was a proactive, self-sufficient young man. He quickly absorbed the Brahmin’s doctrine and decided he wanted to learn even more; he had to become a Samana. Of course, in order to make such a step he needed his father’s permission. When he first requested, his father rejected the idea and said he should not speak it again. However, Siddhartha persisted. Respecting his father’s words, he stood patiently and waited for his request to be granted. His father asked him why he was waiting. Siddhartha responded, “You know why.” He continued on saying he would wait until he died. His father said, “And you would rather die than obey your father...
The second step of Siddhartha's journey is realizing that although he has knowledge, knowledge is not enough without experience. Experience can be gained through practicing knowledge. Also he realizes that thought and sense must be used together to find the way. He meets with Kamala whose beauty and intellegence overwhelms him. Kamala's observation and sensitiveness help Siddhartha to develop his sense of love. To paid for her lectur, he has his "think, wait, and fast"(chapter 5, page 46). With Kamala's help in another lecture, he gains the combination of the simplicity and intelegence.
Throughout history there have been countless numbers of teachers: artisans, craftsmen, ideologist, to name a few. They have all master some skill, gained some wisdom, or comprehended an idea. These teachers have achieved knowledge which allows them to excel and to be above and beyond regular people. Knowledge is something everyone strives for, and many desire. To achieve knowledge, one must have an eye-opening experience, and epiphany that leads to the increase of one’s intellect and skill set. In Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, the main character, Siddhartha, goes in an almost never ending quest to achieve knowledge. Throughout this journey, Siddhartha encounters many teachers, whom which he learns a great deal, but fails to attain that knowledge he achieves for. However, each and every single one of them teaches him something which ultimately contribute to his final achievement of knowledge. As Siddhartha mentioned to his good friend Govinda:
Through out the novel Siddhartha had constantly taken risks that he believed would lead him to nirvana. He would take these risks even if it meant leaving his family, his best friend, and having to live as a poor man searching for himself. Siddhartha has many teachers during his journey. Although he had many teachers he believed that with or without them he would have learned what he needed to learn to obtain nirvana.
It could be very calm and nonchalant. But on the other hand it could be a furious current, where one cannot wade. This was the state in which Siddhartha’s life was in when he met Kamala and Kamaswami. Siddhartha decided to leave the Samanas because they too lacked what he need to reach his own form of spiritual bliss. He embarked on another adventure and ended up in a town where he knew nobody, had nothing, and didn’t now hat to do. However, the first thing he sees is a beautiful maiden b the name of Kamala, and he instantly fell in love, although Siddhartha was ignorant to the feeling of love and everything that came with it. “She drew him to her with her eyes… knowledge and learning which unfolded itself before his eyes.”(57) Siddhartha’s naiveté is very predominant even though he learned so much from his father, the Samana’s, and even the Buddha himself. But these were not comparable to the arts which Kamala could teach him; those of love, passion, and women. This is the beginning of his disregard of the knowledge he obtained from the Samana’s begins. He begins to obsess with earthly possessions, the exact opposite of what he lived during the three years he was an ascetic. Kamala introduced him to this world, but it is Kamaswami who really helps Siddhartha delve deeper into the world of business and riches. Kamaswami is the richest merchant of the village and Siddhartha seeks his help so he could
Throughout the tale, Siddhartha strives to be one with Atman, or internal harmony/eternal self, but by his own attainment. Even when he is offered the insight of Gotama, the divine and perfect one, who is the embodiment of peace, truth, and happiness, he refuses following him and decides to attain Nirvana in his own way. In this, Siddhartha shows his prideful nature but also reveals a positive aspect: self-direction. He realizes that others' ways of teaching can only be applied to their past experiences, but is still reluctant to ac...
Siddhartha, a member of the wealthy Brahmin Caste, is unhappy due to his inability to achieve nirvana. Siddhartha appears to be perfect, possessing the good luck, charm, and intelligence. This is what all Brahmins wish to possess. The young Brahmin cannot be taught anymore by the Brahmin teachings and rituals, and this makes him discontent. Siddhartha believes that knowledge is required to attain Nirvana and he feels that he is held down by his material possessions.
Beginning with Siddhartha, Siddhartha is the ideal boy, beloved by all, “They all loved Siddhartha he brought