Siddhartha

Throughout one's entire existence he/she goes through countless trials to discover our true Self or some sort of spiritual enlightenment. Along the way one may encounter many teachers that can guide us along several different paths while telling us what they think is right or wrong. They offer us guidance and assistance, but still yet one makes his or her own decisions. Clearly portrayed in the German novella Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, we can easily point out the importance of teachers in ones life and how they can simply guide us and lead us to finding our Self. Throughout the text it is obvious that Siddhartha had many guides such as the Samanas, Gotama, and Kamala that ultimately led to the discovery of his enlightenment. Undoubtedly, once we reach enlightenment it leads us to a perfect relationship with the world and we soon realize that life is not all about material belongings. All of us wish to know our true self. It is not what we perceive with our senses, think with our minds, or experience with our emotions. Obviously, there is another dimension of life that is hidden from our view, but which can only be experienced through the discovery of our surroundings and guidance from our teachers.

Without a doubt, the Samanas played a vital role in helping Siddhartha reach his true meaning of self. If it weren't for this group of spiritual pilgrims he would've never been shown that you can't just ignore the material world and the things that normal human beings experience. As quoted in the text, "Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas; he learned many ways of losing the Self. He traveled along the path of self-denial through pain, through voluntary suffering and conquering of pain, through hunger, thirst and fatigue. He traveled the way of self-denial through meditation, through the emptying of the mind through all images. Along these and other paths did he learn to travel. He lost his Self a thousand times and for days on end he dwelt in non-being. But although the paths took him away from Self, in the end they always led back to it."(page 15-16) Clearly this quote reveals a crucial element of Siddhartha's approach to seeking enlightenment. Siddhartha makes some spiritual progress with the Samanas. However, even the oldest Samanas have not yet attained Nirvana, and Siddhartha becomes very impatient. He is trapped in a cycle of losing and regaining his Self, and he believes there must be a better way to Nirvana.

Unquestionably, Siddhartha's path to enlightenment began when he decided to leave his father and his own religion that he was born into and take on a role of becoming a Samana. They taught him many things and showed him that the only way to reach his true being was to forget about all things and to erase desire. As quoted in the text, "Siddhartha had one single goal-to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow-to let the Self die. No longer to be Self, to experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought-that was his goal." (page 14) In this example from the novel you can clearly see the way the Samanas guided him. They showed him that you must release all desire from your Self and to let that part of you die. This was how the Samanas guided Siddhartha.

In close analysis of the Samanas and the impact they made on Siddharthas search for his Self we can see that the Samanas' teachings aim to enable the seeker of knowledge to escape the physical world, but Siddhartha discovers that true enlightenment cannot come from ignoring the world around him. The Samanas are trapped on a path that offers temporary escape from suffering but does not lead to enlightenment. As soon as the Samanas cease their spiritual practices, the real world comes rushing back, and whatever enlightenment has been achieved dies away. Since Siddharatha is searching for a permanent answer, he cannot follow the Samanas. Thus, this leads to his next spiritual guide, Gotama.

In addition to Siddharthas many teachers, he meets an enlightened fellow named Gotama. Gotama seems to radiate pure enlightenment. His teachings include Buddhism's Eightfold Path, the Fourfold Way, and other aspects of Buddhism, as well as many practices similar to those of the Samanas. Siddhartha soon dedicates himself to these teachings. As seen in the text, "Gotama talked about suffering, the origin of suffering, the way to release from suffering. Life was pain, the world was full of suffering, but the page to release from suffering had been found. There was salvation for those who went the way of the Buddha." (page 29) Siddhartha indeed believed that Gotama held the key that unlocked his own personal enlightenment because Gotama in turn was enlightened himself.

Another example on how Gotama led Siddhartha to further advance the discovery of himself was when Siddhartha unexpectedly meets Gotama in the grove and he speaks to him about his doctrine, praising his victory in finding the unbroken chain of being, of cause and effect. As quoted in the text, "Everything is completely clear and proved. You show the world as a complete, unbroken chain, an eternal chain, linked together for cause and effect. Never has it been presented so clearly, never has it been so irrefutably demonstrated." (page 32) For Siddhartha, however, the unity is imperfect. The message cannot contain for him, or for others, the secret of what Gotama himself has experienced. He also points out a contradiction to Gotama: How can one embrace the unity of all things, as Gotama asks, if they are also told to overcome the physical world?

On the whole Siddhartha has been looking for someone to show him the path to enlightenment, but his meeting with Gotama convinces him that no formula for salvation or enlightenment can exist. However, Siddhartha has already realized during his time with the Samanas that he cannot reach enlightenment by rejecting the world of the Self. Siddhartha says that