Siddhartha
[In the following excerpt, Marrer-Tising provides an analysis of thematic elements in Siddhartha.]
Siddhartha, the most ‘Indian’ of Hesse's works outwardly, is, in actuality, more Chinese in its solution; the setting of the story is Indian, the names of the characters are Indian, but, as will be demonstrated, the Chinese influence is ultimately the key to understanding the conclusion of the work as well as Hesse's intention. In a letter to Stephan Zweig, Hesse mentions Siddhartha and confirms the Chinese preponderance, writing: “Mein Heiliger ist indisch gekleidet, seine Weisheit steht aber näher bei Lao Tse als bei Gotama.”1 As Hesse outlines the plot, his protagonist, the son of a Brahman, becomes an ascetic; he then hears Buddha's teachings, which he rejects, going into the world where he becomes a successful businessman. Only after undergoing a period of despair—as did Sinclair—does Siddhartha seek and find the Tao.2
REJECTION OF TEACHINGS
The first step which Siddhartha takes on his path to self-realization is to reject the Brahmanism practiced by his father because he feels the religion is incapable of teaching him how to permanently attain the Atman, the self;
It often seemed near—the heavenly world—but never had he quite reached it, never had he quenched the final thirst. And among the wise men that he knew and whose teachings he enjoyed, there was not one who had entirely reached it—the heavenly world—not one who had completely quenched the eternal thirst.3
Rather than continuing the act of washing away his sins and cleansing himself, listening to the Brahmans' discourses and so forth, Siddhartha wishes to find the source of wisdom within himself: “One must find the source within one's own Self, one must possess it. Everything else was seeking—a detour, error.”4 Siddhartha's dissatisfaction with the established religion of his family grows to the point where he can no longer participate in what, to him, is a hopeless endeavor. He breaks with his father and, accompanied by his friend, Govinda,5 joins the Samanas, a group of wandering ascetics. As Wilson states, “… this is an Outsider's decision.”6 Because of the Indian setting, Wilson continues, it does not seem abnormal to become a wandering seeker, but to the Western mentality it does:
… and would probably lead us to doubt the sanity of any of our acquaintances who decided to do the same. And yet it is a sensible, straightforward decision. A man only has need of the common sense to say: ‘Civilization is largely a matter of superfluities; I have no desire for superfluities. On the other hand, I have a very strong desire for leisure and freedom.’ I am not attempting to assert the validity of this solution for all Outsiders; in fact, the practical objection to it is that the wandering life does not make for leisure or contemplation, and it certainly fails to satisfy the Outsider's need for a direction, a definitive act.7
As Wilson predicts, the period of time which Siddhartha spends as a Samana leaves him just as dissatisfied as he had been before. After a great deal of effort, Siddhartha, indeed, becomes skillful in the Samana's techniques: “He lost his Self a thousand times and for days on end he dwelt in nonbeing. But although the paths took him away from Self, in the end they always led back to it.”8 Siddhartha is, however, doing the opposite of that which he eventually realizes will lead him to his goal;9 he is trying to lose his own self in order to discover the absolute Self, yet escaping the self—as he later realizes—is not the way to self-knowledge as he had thought while he was in the frame-of-mind described in the following passage:
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. When all the Self was conquered and dead, when all passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost of Being that is no longer Self—the great secret!10
When Siddhartha sees that mastery of the Samanas' methods does not bring him any closer to his goal, he explains his doubts to Govinda as follows:
‘What is meditation? What is abandonment of the body? What is fasting? What is the holding of breath? It is a flight from the Self, it is a temporary escape from the torment of Self. It is a temporary palliative against the pain and folly of life. The driver of oxen makes this same flight, takes this temporary drug when he drinks a few bowls of rice wine or coconut milk in the inn. He then no longer feels his Self, no longer feels the pain of life; he then experiences temporary escape. Falling asleep over his bowl of rice wine, he finds what Siddhartha and Govinda find when they escape from their bodies by long exercises and dwell in the non-Self.’11
Siddhartha's doubts again lead him to rejection; he and Govinda decide to leave the Samanas and go hear the teachings of Gotama, the Buddha, in spite of the fact that Siddhartha is now extremely skeptical about teachings and teachers' words.12 After hearing Gotama, Govinda and Siddhartha find that they must part company since the former decides to follow Buddha's teachings of salvation, and Siddhartha finds his initial misgivings confirmed: from a teacher he can learn nothing. He must follow his own path.13 His basic reasoning in rejecting Gotama's way is that, firstly, the salvation—the “rising above the world”14—which the Buddha promises is not in conjunction with the law of unity of the world,15 and, secondly, the secret of Gotama's experience—that which led to his enlightenment—cannot be taught to others; each must find the secret in his own way.16 Siddhartha explains his conviction to Gotama, adding:
‘You have learned nothing through teachings, and so I think, O Illustrious One, that nobody finds salvation through teachings. To nobody, O Illustrious One, can you communicate in words and teachings what happened to you in the hour of your enlightenment.’17
Gotama warns Siddhartha of the cleverness which the latter's words exhibit and leaves him to his own thoughts: “I also will conquer my Self.”18
INVOLVEMENT IN THE WORLD
Siddhartha now stands completely alone, having thrice rejected19 an outside source of help in reaching his goal: “Siddhartha stood still and for a moment an icy chill stole over him. … Nobody was so alone as he.”20 Siddhartha, now awakened, becomes involved in the world and in the art of love. “… Siddhartha has decided to turn from teaching to experience as a mode of learning. As he will say later in the novella, he comes to seek wisdom through living rather than knowledge through learning.21 He learns about worldly pleasures until he reaches such a point of satiety that, disgusted with his life, he turns from the realm where he has found worldly success—without, however, having truly belonged to it, as Kamala, his beloved, has long realized: “The people of the world, the ordinary people, were still alien to him, just as he was apart from them.”22 While Siddhartha is among the people of the world, he envies them their ability to love, which he, alone seems to lack:
… the anxious but sweet happiness of their continual power to love. These people were always in love with themselves, with their children, with honor or money, with plans or hope. But these he did not learn from them, these child-like pleasures and follies; he only learned the unpleasant things from them which he despised.23
In a conversation with Kamala, Siddhartha's inability to love is contrasted with the love ‘ordinary’ people know:
‘You do not really love me—you love nobody. Is that not true?’
‘Maybe,’ said Siddhartha wearily. ‘I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannot love. Ordinary people can—that is their secret.’24
Kamala is thus not surprised when Siddhartha one day disappears. Only after having tasted and rejected both the religious practices described above, as well as active participation in worldly activities, does Siddhartha reach the point of despair necessary for him to enter the final stage of his ‘becoming,’ that which actually brings him the peace and self-knowledge toward which he has been striving all along. Siddhartha has reached this condition of despair for no other reason than the fact that he has been trying to follow a path not meant for him, even though he was, outwardly, successful in all his endeavors:
Without knowing it, he had endeavored and longed all these years to be like all these other people, like these children, and yet his life had been much more wretched and poorer than theirs, for their aims were not his, nor their sorrows his.25
The Bhagavad-Gita teaches that such action will be dangerous for the inner person: “It is better to do your own duty, however imperfectly, than to assume the duties of another person, however successfully. Prefer to die doing your own duty: the duty of another will bring you into great spiritual danger.”26 Instead of finding death at this point, as is his wish, Siddhartha hears the sacred Om, which restores his true self to him: “‘Om,’ he pronounced inwardly, and he was conscious of Brahman, of the indestructibleness of life; he remembered all that he had forgotten, all that was divine.”27
NEW BEGINNING, REALIZATION OF UNITY
Shortly hereafter Govinda functions as a foil to show just how far Siddhartha had strayed from his goal: the former is, magically, it would seem, present when Siddhartha awakens from a deep sleep during which he is refreshed and renewed after having heard the sacred Om. Govinda does not realize that it is Siddhartha over whom he has been watching until the latter identifies himself. When Siddhartha tells Govinda that he is on a pilgrimage, the latter, amazed, states: “‘You are making a pilgrimage … but few make a pilgrimage in such clothes, in such shoes and with such hair.’”28 Govinda is, of course, referring to the appearance of a successful businessman. Siddhartha assures him that his outward appearance is transitory,29 that he has been a rich man, but is no longer; the friends then part, and Siddhartha reflects on his new situation:
Smiling, Siddhartha watched him go. He still loved him, this faithful, anxious friend. And at that moment, in that splendid hour, after his wonderful sleep, permeated with Om, how could he help but love someone and something. That was just the magic that had happened to him during his sleep and the Om in him—he loved everything, he was full of joyous love towards everything that he saw. And it seemed to him that was just why he was previously so ill—because he could love nothing and nobody.30
Reflecting on his past life, Siddhartha realizes that he has had to become a fool in order to find the Atman31 within himself, that he has had to sin in order to live again, that he is back to where he had started as a child, and yet he is filled with a great happiness.32 His inner voice again makes itself heard. That Siddhartha is now on the right path once more is later demonstrated by the reaction of Kamala, as mentioned in the previous chapter. Like Govinda, Kamala functions as a foil, making it clear to the reader that Siddhartha, not unlike Gotama, has followed his true destiny and reached his goal.33 Siddhartha, as demonstrated above, has rejected Brahmanism as it is practiced by his father, yet it is ultimately his knowledge of the sacred Om which brings him back to himself. Also, Siddhartha's insistence on fact, on experience, rather than theory, is indebted to Hinduism: “Hinduism is characterized by its emphasis on fact … It is experiential in character.”34
It now remains to take a closer look at the final phase of Siddhartha's development and to ascertain to what extent it is characterized by Eastern thinking and symbols. … Siddhartha comes the closest of any of Hesse's figures to reaching self-fulfillment during his life; in so doing he is true to his name: “‘Siddhartha’ is Sanscrit for ‘he who has achieved his goal.’”35 The goal, self-knowledge, consists of Siddhartha's recognition of the unity of all matter, which he is to learn from the river,36 as well as his consequential belief that he is not a part of the universe, but that he and the universe are one. As Casebeer points out, Hesse is thus offering two important elements to the young who are “… spiritually in tune with the ‘counter culture.’”37 The first is a belief that the universe makes sense, the second, the belief “… that the best way to realize that affirmation is to realize yourself.”38 Siddhartha, after having regained knowledge of his true self near the river, reflects:
Never had he found the voice and appearance of flowing water so beautiful. It seemed to him as if the river had something special to tell him, something which he did not know, something which still awaited him.39
He then seeks out the ferryman, Vasudeva—who proves to be a decisive influence in Siddhartha's development—hoping for a chance to start his new life at the ferryman's hut on the river: “It seemed to him that whoever understood this river and its secrets, would understand much more, many secrets, all secrets.”40 When Siddhartha contacts the ferryman and tells him of his intention, the latter replies:
‘It is as I thought; the river has spoken to you. It is friendly towards you, too; it speaks to you. That is good, very good. … The river has taught me to listen; you will learn from it, too. The river knows everything; one can learn everything from it. You have already learned from the river that it is good to strive downwards, to sink, to seek the depths.’41
This lesson of seeking the depths which Vasudeva, and now Siddhartha, have learned from the river is a concept taken from the Taoist philosophy: “The highest goodness is like water, for water is excellent in benefiting all things, and it does not strive. It occupies the lowest place, which men abhor. And therefore it is near akin to Tao.”42 Vasudeva, moreover, tells Siddhartha that the river, although a hindrance to most people on their journeys, is not an obstacle to the few who have “‘… heard its voice and listened to it, and the river has become holy to them, as it has to me.’”43 Vasudeva, in other words, has learned that the river is, indeed, more than just a physical entity. The river is the keeper and teacher of the secrets of the universe. It is noteworthy that an additional remark made by Vasudeva, i.e. his response to Siddhartha when the latter questions him about one other thing which Vasudeva says the river teaches, establishes a relationship between Vasudeva and Lao Tzu; Vasudeva, emphasizing his inability to talk or even think, states:
‘I cannot tell you what the other thing is, my friend. You will find out, perhaps you already know. I am not a learned man; I do not know how to talk or think. I only know how to listen or be devout; otherwise I have learned nothing.’44
Lao Tzu, speaking of himself, gives a description which clearly supports the contention that Hesse intended to create a parallel figure in the person of Vasudeva: “I am a man foolish in heart, dull and confused. … I alone am stupid and clownish. Lonely though I am and unlike other men, yet I revere the Foster-Mother, Tao.”45
Siddhartha remains by the river and, true to Vasudeva's prediction: “‘You will learn it … but not from me,’”46 he learns the river's secret:
… he learned more from the river than Vasudeva could teach him. He learned from it continually. 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.47
The two men continue to live side by side, talking little: “Vasudeva was no friend of words. Siddhartha was rarely successful in moving him to speak.”48 Once more, the topos of the inarticulateness of the Eastern philosophies is touched upon, and a further link between Vasudeva and Lao Tzu is established; Lao Tzu teaches the following: “Be sparing of speech, and things will come right of themselves.”49 and: “Those who know do not speak; those who speak, do not know.”50 Once Siddhartha asks Vasudeva if he has learned “… that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?”51 Vasudeva replies:
‘Yes, Siddhartha,’ … ‘Is this what you mean? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere, and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, nor the shadow of the future?’52
Siddhartha confirms Vasudeva's explanation, adding:
‘That is it … and when I learned that, I reviewed my life and it was also a river, and Siddhartha the boy, Siddhartha the mature man and Siddhartha the old man, were only separated by shadows, not through reality. Siddhartha's previous lives were also not in the past, and his death and his return to Brahma are not in the future. Nothing was, nothing will be, everything has reality and presence.’53
Siddhartha has thus learned the secret of conquering time: “Was then not all sorrow in time, all self-torment and fear in time? Were not all difficulties and evil in the world conquered as soon as one conquered time, as soon as one dispelled time?”54
THE SMILE MOTIF
Having learned the above-outlined secrets from the river and having lived with Vasudeva, who serves as his model, Siddhartha begins to resemble the latter, as evidenced outwardly by the smile motif:55 “As time went on his smile began to resemble the ferryman's, was almost equally radiant, almost equally full of happiness, equally lighting up through a thousand little wrinkles, equally childish, equally senile.”56 This resemblance is a signal to the reader that Siddhartha, indeed, is now on his path to self-realization. The motif of the smile57 is also of import when Siddhartha and Kamala meet when the latter is seeking Buddha; she asks Siddhartha if he has found peace: “He smiled and put his hand on hers. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I see it. I also will find peace.’”58 The smile motif is repeated when Siddhartha and Govinda meet at the conclusion of the work:
And Govinda saw that this mask-like smile, this smile of unity over the flowing forms, this smile of simultaneousness over the thousands of births and deaths—this smile of Siddhartha—was exactly the same as the calm, delicate, impenetrable, perhaps gracious, perhaps mocking, wise, thousand-fold smile of Gotama, the Buddha, as he perceived it with awe a hundred times. It was in such a manner, Govinda knew, that the Perfect One smiled.59
The last paragraph of the story intensifies the contention that the smile is proof of Siddhartha's having reached his goal; Govinda reacts to Siddhartha as he would to the God-head, seeing in him the entirety of creation, of all that he loves and values:
Govinda bowed low. Incontrollable tears trickled down his old face. He was overwhelmed by a feeling of great love, of the most humble veneration. He bowed low, right down to the ground, in front of the man sitting there motionless, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, of everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life.60
OVERCOMING DESIRE
Before Siddhartha has reached this goal, however, he had had to endure a great loss, which also serves to help him reach his goal; when Kamala dies of the snake bite while on her pilgrimage to Gotama—she has found Siddhartha instead—her and Siddhartha's son, still a young boy, remains with his father for a brief period of time. Siddhartha tries to take over the upbringing of the boy, but since the latter is accustomed to the pleasures a rich woman was able to provide him, Siddhartha's endeavors prove to be in vain. One of Siddhartha's and Vasudeva's discussions demonstrates that, in spite of the sorrow which Siddhartha feels due to his failure to reach the boy's heart, he has nonetheless applied the Taoist principles which he has learned from the river and has thus been true to himself in his actions. Vasudeva states: “‘You are not strict with him, you do not punish him, you do not command him—because you know that gentleness is stronger than severity, that water is stronger than rock, that love is stronger than force.’”61 Siddhartha's failure to grasp the concept of being free of desire62 (i. e. he desires the presence of the son he has grown to love), leads to his greatest sorrow; when the boy runs away, Siddhartha wants to go find him and bring him back. Vasudeva goes to great lengths to convince him that the boy has a right to find his own way—even if it means leaving his father—just as Siddhartha had once done as a youth. Vasudeva argues as follows:
‘… let him go, my friend, he is not a child any more, he knows how to look after himself. He is seeking the way to the town and he is right. Do not forget that. He is doing what you yourself have neglected to do. He is looking after himself; he is going his own way. Oh, Siddhartha, I can see you are suffering, suffering pain over which one should laugh, over which you will soon laugh yourself.’63
In spite of Vasudeva's admonition, Siddhartha goes after his son, but soon realizes that he cannot help the boy and that the wound of love which he feels will heal in time; he now accepts the necessity of giving up his son. “And when he felt the wound smarting, he whispered the word Om, filled himself with Om.”64 Vasudeva, having followed Siddhartha to the city, awakens him from his trance: “When he saw Vasudeva's kind face, looked at his little laughter wrinkles, into his bright eyes, he smiled also.”65 The sorrow which Siddhartha feels—and which he eventually overcomes—about his son strengthens him and helps him attain self-realization: having learned what it is to love another person so much that he can sacrifice his own desires for the well-being of that person, in this case, his son, and having overcome the resultant sorrow, Siddhartha has recognized a further aspect of the truth which the river has taught him.
Had not his father also suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son? Had not his father died long ago, alone, without having seen his son again? Did he not expect the same fate? Was it not a comedy, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this course of events in a fateful circle?
The river laughed. Yes, that was how it was. Everything that was not suffered to the end and finally concluded, recurred, and the same sorrows were undergone.66
Siddhartha relates his experience to Vasudeva and at the same time realizes even more than before the concept of unity taught him by the river:
Disclosing his wound to this listener was the same as bathing it in the river, until it became cool and one with the river. As he went on talking and confessing, Siddhartha felt more and more that this was no longer Vasudeva, no longer a man who was listening to him. He felt that this motionless listener was absorbing his confession as a tree absorbs the rain, that this motionless man was the river itself, that he was God Himself, that he was eternity itself. As Siddhartha stopped thinking about himself and his wound, this recognition of the change in Vasudeva possessed him, and the more he realized it, the less strange did he find it; the more did he realize that everything was natural and in order, that Vasudeva had long ago, almost always been like that, only he did not quite recognize it; indeed he himself was hardly different from him. He felt that he now regarded Vasudeva as the people regarded the gods and that this could not last. Inwardly, he began to take leave of Vasudeva.67
Siddhartha, in seeing Vasudeva in this way, has moved closer to his own goal. Just as Demian leaves Sinclair, Vasudeva will soon leave Siddhartha, but before doing so, Vasudeva leads Siddhartha once more to the river, saying: “‘You have heard it laugh, … but you have not heard everything. Let us listen; you will learn more.’”68 Siddhartha concentrates on the river and learns the truth of unity as if for the first time:
Siddhartha tried to listen better. The picture of his father, his own picture, and the picture of his son all flowed into each other. Kamala's picture also appeared and flowed on, and the picture of Govinda and others emerged and passed on. They all became part of the river. It was the goal of all of them … Siddhartha saw the river hasten, made up of himself and his relatives and all the people he had ever seen. …
Siddhartha listened. … He had often heard all this before, all these numerous voices in the river, but today they sounded different. He could no longer distinguish the different voices—the merry voice from the weeping voice, the childish voice from the manly voice. They all belonged to each other: the lament of those who yearn, the laughter of the wise, the cry of indignation and the groan of the dying. They were all interwoven and interlocked, entwined in a thousand ways. And all 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. All of them together was the stream of events, the music of life. … when he did not bind his soul to any one particular voice and absorb it in his Self, but heard them all, the whole, the unity; then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om—perfection.69
It is after this episode that the afore-mentioned smile appears on Siddhartha's face: “His wound was healing, his pain was dispersing; his Self had merged into unity.”70 Vasudeva now leaves Siddhartha to his own destiny: he leaves, “… his steps full of peace, his face glowing, his form full of light.”71 Vasudeva knows that Siddhartha will no longer fight against his destiny since he “… has found salvation.”72
GOVINDA'S VISIT
The conclusion of the work, as has been observed, confirms Siddhartha's self-realization. Govinda, having heard tell of a wise ferryman, decides to go see him since his own quest is still not fulfilled. He approaches Siddhartha, whom he does not at first recognize and expresses his desire to talk with him. Siddhartha, as Vasudeva had cautioned him before, cautions Govinda of the folly of words and of seeking too much, telling him that finding what one is seeking eliminates the goal altogether. In order to help Govinda, Siddhartha picks up a stone:
‘This,’ he said, handling it, ‘is a stone, and within a certain length of time it will perhaps be soil and from the soil it will become plant, animal or man. Previously I should have said: This stone is just a stone; it has no value, it belongs to the world of Maya, but perhaps because within the cycle of change it can also become man and spirit, it is also of importance. That is what I should have thought. But now I think: This stone is stone; it is also animal, God and Buddha. I do not respect and love it because it was one thing and will become something else, but because it has already long been everything and always is everything. I love it just because it is a stone, because today and now it appears to me a stone. I see value and meaning in each one of its fine markings and cavities, in the yellow, in the gray, in the hardness and the sound of it when I knock it, in the dryness or dampness of its surface. There are stones that feel like oil or soap, that look like leaves or sand, and each one is different and worships Om in its own way; each one is Brahman. At the same time it is very much stone, oily or soapy, and that is just what pleases me and seems wonderful and worthy of worship. But I will say no more about it. Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another.’73
This passage is central in demonstrating the reality of Siddhartha's having attained self-realization. On the one hand Siddhartha makes clear the apparent foolishness of his words, comparable to Vasudeva's (and Lao Tzu's) viewpoint; and, on the other hand Siddhartha, by way of his explanation, exhibits the attitude of one who possesses wisdom as it is described in The Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita, as evidenced by the following passages:
As a lump of salt when thrown into water melts away and the lump cannot be taken out, but wherever we taste the water it is salty, even so, O Maitreyi, the individual self, dissolved, is the Eternal—pure consciousness, infinite and transcendent. Individuality arises by identification of the Self, through ignorance, with the elements; and with the disappearance of consciousness of the many, in divine illumination, it disappears. Where there is consciousness of the Self, individuality is no more.74
(The above passage is taken from The Upanishads, the following from the Bhagavad-Gita): “Earth, stone and gold seem all alike to one who has mastered his senses. Such a yogi is said to have achieved union with Brahman.”75
When Govinda asks Siddhartha why he has told him about the stone, Siddhartha replies: “‘I did so unintentionally. But perhaps it illustrates that I just love the stone and the river and all these things that we see and from which we can learn. I can love a stone, Govinda, and a tree or a piece of bark.’”76 Govinda's mind is not completely set to rest even after talking to Siddhartha; he asks the latter to give him something to help him on his way and, reminiscent of, but in reverse to Demian's giving Sinclair a kiss from his mother before leaving him, Siddhartha tells Govinda to kiss him on the forehead. Govinda does so and experiences the following:
He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces, many faces, a long series, a continuous stream of faces—hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha.77
Siddhartha, by doing nothing at all (inaction), has assisted Govinda in experiencing the concept of unity just as Siddhartha had experienced it while looking into the river.78
LOVE AND SERVICE
The last concepts to be analyzed in this discussion are those of love and service to mankind (and thus to God). According to Hesse's triadic rhythm of humanization, true humanity, including love and service, is possible only on the highest level, attainable in turn only after much effort and suffering, and the direct product of a despair which has not led to downfall but to salvation; in Siddhartha's case this occurs in the form of the recognition of unity. As was demonstrated by the river motif and the sacred Om, the concept of unity which Siddhartha has experienced is the key to his attainment of self-realization. Without love as the synthesizing element, however, unity would not have its full meaning. Siddhartha has to experience human love for his son, making him one of the ‘ordinary’ people, before he can experience universal love: “… Hesse wishes to stress in his last chapter that man's most important act in the universe is the act of love, for it is the act of ‘joining’ together that which in reality has never been apart.”79 Siddhartha is the only main character in those works by Hesse analyzed in this study to not only implicitly attain this stage,80 but to actually live in and act on this highest level long enough to have the distinction—within the framework of the story—of being a sage, one who loves and can help others.
Siddhartha is confronted with love as a strong emotional force when his son stays with him and Vasudeva for a short time after Kamala's death, as brought out above. This love does not, however, bring Siddhartha joy and happiness, but rather sorrow and trouble, since it is not returned by the boy. The feeling of love has positive aspects for Siddhartha's development in spite of, or even because of, his suffering; because he learns what it is like to lose himself in another person, Siddhartha, for the first time, feels like an ‘ordinary’ person:
… he had never undergone the follies of love for another person. He had never been able to do this, and it had then seemed to him that this was the biggest difference between him and the ordinary people. But now, since his son was there, he, Siddhartha, had become completely like one of the people, through sorrow, through loving. He was madly in love, a fool because of love. Now he also experienced belatedly, for once in his life, the strongest and strangest passion; he suffered tremendously through it and yet was uplifted, in some way renewed and richer.81
After the boy runs away, and Siddhartha has to bear the pain of loss and try to overcome desire for the son he has loved and lost, people take on a new meaning for him:
… they no longer seemed alien to him as they once had. … he shared with them life's urges and desires. Although he had reached a high stage of self-discipline and bore his last wound well, he now felt as if these ordinary people were his brothers. … These people were worthy of love and admiration …82
Only after Siddhartha learns how to reconcile his newly-gained ability to love one person with the concept of unity83 which he has learned from the river—enabling him to love the whole universe84—is Vasudeva able to leave him. It is now possible for Siddhartha to continue alone and to tell Govinda, after giving the example of his love for the stone in an effort to explain the concept of unity, the following:
It seems to me, Govinda, that love is the most important thing in the world. It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But 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.85
When Govinda rejoins that Gotama calls such earthly love as Siddhartha has described an illusion, that he does not preach such love, Siddhartha protests, saying that this is why he distrusts teachings and words, and that Gotama's actions demonstrate love even if words obfuscate the issue:
‘How indeed, could he not know love, he who has recognized all humanity's vanity and transitoriness, yet loves humanity so much that he has devoted a long life solely to help and teach people? Also with this great teacher, the thing to me is of greater importance than the words: his deeds and life are more important to me than his opinions. Not in speech or thought do I regard him as a great man, but in his deeds and life.’86
When Govinda, having kissed Siddhartha's forehead, sees all the faces and forms in the latter's smiling face, he, too, becomes aware of the importance of love, unity and service: “He saw all these forms and faces in a thousand relationships to each other, all helping each other, loving, hating and destroying each other and become newly born.”87 Govinda is thus overwhelmed with love at the conclusion of the novella. This concept of love, as Hesse has incorporated it into the plot, while having decidedly Christian elements,88 also has aspects which correlate with both the Indian, as has been demonstrated, and the Chinese traditions. As Hsia points out, love is one of the main characteristics of the Tao: “Die Liebe ist ein nicht unwichtiger Aspekt des Tao, ja in gewisser Hinsicht sogar seine Hauptsache, denn Tao beschirmt und umfasst alle Wesen.”89 A decisive passage in Siddhartha, i. e. the above-quoted passage in which Siddhartha speaks of his love for the stone, for things as well as beings, also points to love understood as being a part of the whole (or the Tao) rather than a traditional Christian love for one's fellow man to the exclusion of things: “Siddhartha liebt den Stein, nicht weil er ein Teil der Schöpfung Gottes ist, sondern weil er Dauer und Wandlung symbolisiert, mit anderen Worten: weil er Tao ist.”90 Lao Tzu, speaking about the attributes of Tao, states: “It loves and nourishes all things …”91
In the Hindu tradition, man's goal is primarily, via the turn inward—which Hesse stresses in all his works—to recognize the Atman, or Self, within, which is at one and the same time Brahman, or the creative force of the universe. By loving and serving the God within oneself,92 one serves the universe and, necessarily, the whole of mankind. (The sacred Om is thus comprehensible as the symbol for Brahman and the Self, which is the omniscient Lord.)93
SUMMARY
Siddhartha, as demonstrated, has fulfilled the requirements, as set up by Hesse, for genuine self-fulfillment by having learned to overcome suffering, to love and serve the whole of creation and, above all, to follow his own, and not someone else's path.94 He has rejected authority, family tradition, material success and prestige to realize his goal and thus provides a message for the disenchanted youth of the technological society. Giving up what he has, he has found peace, thus leaving the reader with a feeling of optimism. Casebeer summarizes this as follows:
Thus, as brief as the novella is, Siddhartha gives us the ideal man in the ideal plot making the ideal resolution of the apparently irreconcilable dualities of the world. The reader will never again see Hesse so optimistic as he is in Siddhartha, but it may well be that with his country destroyed, his wife insane, his family shattered, his own mind recently unhinged, Hesse never had had such need to be optimistic.95
By providing and utilizing Eastern symbols and philosophy, Hesse manages to convince many of his youthful readers that self-realization and salvation, while elusive, are, indeed, attainable if one is true to one's own destiny and follows his own, and not another's, path.
Notes
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Michels, Materialien … Siddhartha, p. 173. The letter was written Nov. 27, 1922.
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Hsia, op. cit., p. 238. This situation, comparable to that of Sinclair in Demian, again illustrates Hesse's triadic rhythm of humanization, despair being an integral part of the development.
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Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha. Trans. Hilda Rosner (New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1951), p. 5. Hermann Hesse, Gesammelte Werke 5 (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1970), p. 359. It is noteworthy that a passage from the Bhagavad-Gita contains a similar phenomenon; Arjuna is talking with Sri Krishna: “‘Krishna, you describe this yoga [i. e., the yoga of meditation] as a life of union with Brahman. But I do not see how this can be permanent. The mind is so very restless.’” From: Swami Prabhavananda, op. cit., p. 68.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 5. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 359.
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Stolte, op. cit., p. 145: “Govinda hat in allem das gleiche Ziel wie Siddhartha, nur sein Weg ist ein anderer.”
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Colin Wilson, op. cit., p. 273.
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Ibid.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 12. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 356.
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cf. Stolte: “‘Von sich selbst wegsterben, nicht mehr Ich sein’, so heisst es bezeichnenderweise. Und geradezu unmerklich hat sich diese Verwandlung des ursprünglichen Zieles vollzogen, dass man zunächst nur an eine etwas ungenaue oder unachtsame Formulierung des Dichters glaubt, bis mehr und mehr offenbar wird, dass hierin gerade das menschlich-religiöse Problem zu finden ist. Aus Einkehr in das eigene Ich ist Flucht vor dem eigenen Ich geworden.” From: Stolte, op. cit., p. 147.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 11 Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 364.
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Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., pp. 366–67.
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Ibid., p. 18. Ibid., p. 372.
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Having no teacher at all goes against the Hindu practice; The Upanishads teach that a teacher's aid is necessary for the attainment of the knowledge leading to salvation: “… the knowledge that the Guru imparts will alone lead to the supreme Good.” From: Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood (Trans.), The Upanishads—Breath of the Eternal (New York: The New American Library—Mentor Books, 1971), p. 66. Siddhartha eventually turns to Vasudeva and becomes, in effect, his disciple.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 26. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 380.
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cf. Beerman, who explains why Siddhartha does not become Buddha's disciple: “He is not interested in attaining Nirvana—he wants to search for a world of Becoming in which the plurality of the world of sensual perception shall give rise to Unity. Thus, Siddhartha turns away from the teachings of Buddha, unable to tolerate for himself the negativistic, life-denying character of Gautama's message.” From: Beerman, op. cit., p. 33.
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“To refuse Gotama is tantamount to refusing all teachers, a decision already discernible in Beneath the Wheel.” From: Boulby, op. cit., p. 136. It is very much in character for Siddhartha, the former Hindu, to reject theory in favor of experience since the Hindu tradition places emphasis on fact.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 27. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 381
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Ibid., p. 29. Ibid., p. 382.
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It is noteworthy that, along with the triadic structure of the book (cf. Ziolkowski, The Novels …, Chapters Four and Eight), the triadic rhythm of humanization and the trisyllabic pronunciation of the sacred ‘Om,’ Siddhartha rejects three different religious sources before turning to the world of the ‘ordinary’ people.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 33. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 386.
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Casebeer, op. cit., p. 35. The Upanishads teach that only verifiable truth is useful, that knowledge gained from books is secondary to wisdom gained through experience. cf. “The sage must distinguish between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is of things, acts, and relations. But wisdom is of Brahman alone; and, beyond all things, acts, and relations, he abides forever. To become one with him is the only wisdom.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, The Upanishads …, p. 42. cf. also: “… the real study in religion is first-hand experience of God.” Ibid., p. xii.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 60. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 410.
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Ibid., p. 62. Ibid., p. 412.
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Ibid., p. 59. Ibid., p. 410.
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Ibid., p. 67. Ibid., pp. 417–18.
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Swami Praghavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 48.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 72. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 421. cf. also the following passage from The Upanishads: “Whosoever knows Om, the Self, becomes the Self.” (Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 51.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 75. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 425.
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With this remark, Siddhartha proves his indebtedness to Hindu thought: “Matter and the body are temporary, and if one only engages himself for bodily pleasure, he is conditioned by temporary things. But if he engages in self-realization, then he is engaged in something permanent.”
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 76. Hesse, G. W. 5., pp. 425–26. cf. “While the older Brahmanism postulated knowledge and Buddhism an ethical-ascetic way of life as the only means for salvation, the Gita teaches that the vital force of life is devotion or love.” Beerman, op. cit., p. 30.
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The Atman is, according to the Bhagavad-Gita, “… the Godhead that is within every being.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 37.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, pp. 77–79. Hesse, G. W. 5., pp. 426–27.
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Ibid., p. 93. Ibid., p. 442. This point is discussed in detail in chapter six of this study.
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Beerman, op. cit., p. 29.
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Zeller, op. cit., p. 103. Zeller, op. cit., p. 95.
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cf. the discussion on unity in chapter six of this study, as well as the discussion of the mirror motif in Demian and Steppenwolf in this chapter. Regarding the river, the relationship between it and Taoism becomes clear from the following saying of Lao Tzu: “Tao as it exists in the world is like the great rivers and seas which receive the streams from the valley.” Giles, op. cit., p. 23.
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Casebeer, op. cit., p. 20.
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Ibid.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 81 Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 431.
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Ibid., p. 83. Ibid. The figure, Vasudeva, is intimately connected to the river, and Siddhartha ultimately resembles him. cf. “It is to Hesse's advantage to make Siddhartha and Vasudeva almost indistinguishable: two simple, joyous old men in love with a river because their life near it has shown them the harmony in the universe.” (Casebeer, op. cit., p. 46.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 85. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 434.
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Giles, op. cit., p. 26.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 86. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 435.
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Ibid. Ibid. cf. “Lao Tse scheint dem Weg Siddharthas zur Vollendung so sehr Pate gestanden zu haben, dass die Vermutung nicht von der Hand zu weisen ist, die Gestalt des Vasudeva sei ein Porträt Lao Tses. … In einem Brief vom 2. 6. 1922 an Emmy Ball-Hennings spricht Hesse im Hinblick auf Vasudeva von einem ‘freundlichen alten Trottel, der immer lächelt und heimlich ein Heiliger ist’.” Hsia, op. cit., pp. 246–47.
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Giles, op. cit., p. 59. A further point of interest regarding this figure: Vasudeva is a name of Vishnu and means: “… that all beings abide in that supreme being, and that he abides in all beings.” From: Garrett, op. cit., p. 690.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 86. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 435.
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Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p. 436. It should be noted that Vasudeva, although not formally a teacher, does function as Siddhartha's guru to some extent. As Ziolkowski points out, the phenomenon of ‘mystical transference,’ to be explained in connection with Vasudeva's death, characterizes Vasudeva's and Siddhartha's relationship. See Ziolkowski, The Novels …, p. 153.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 87. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 436.
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Giles, op. cit., p. 33.
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Ibid., p. 49.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 87. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 436.
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Ibid. Ibid. cf. also: “All-pervading is the Great Tao. It can be at once on the right hand and on the left.” From: Giles, op. cit., p. 23.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 87. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 436. Harry Haller learns a similar lesson in the Magic Theater, as will be demonstrated.
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Ibid., p. 88. Ibid.
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The smile is a symbol which Hesse did not borrow from the figure of Lao Tzu, as evidenced by the latter's own description of himself: “I alone am still, and give as yet no sign of joy. I am like an infant which has not yet smiled, forlorn as one who has nowhere to lay his head.” From: Giles, op. cit., p. 59.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 88. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 437. cf. the following: “Siddhartha's smile in the preceding passage is the best example of the new dimension that we find in this novel. Here, in brief, we have the same story that we encountered in Demian: a man's search for himself through the stages of guilt, alienation, despair, to the experience of unity. The new element here is the insistence upon love as the synthesizing agent. Hesse regards this element as ‘natural growth and development’ from his earlier beliefs, and certainly as no reversal or change of opinion. In the essay ‘My Faith’ (1931) he admitted ‘that my Siddhartha puts not cognition, but love in first place: that it disdains dogma and makes the experience of unity the central point.” From: Ziolkowski, The Novels …, p. 170. The Hindu tradition, in stressing joy, provides a link between the idea of the smile as an outward expression of joy and the recognition of the self as one with the universe, i. e., unity characterized by an all-encompassing love; the following passages elucidate the relationship and interdependence of these motifs: “Only that Yogi Whose joy is inward, Inward his peace, And his vision inward Shall come to Brahman And know Nirwana.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 61. “The Infinite is the source of joy. There is not joy in the finite. Only in the Infinite is there joy.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, The Upanishads, p. 73. “He who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, hates none.” Ibid., p. 27.
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The smile is first introduced in Siddhartha on p. 29, when Siddhartha reflects on the Buddha's smile.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 93. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 442.
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Ibid., p. 122. Ibid., p. 470. cf. Ziolkowski's definition of this smile: “The beatific smile is the symbol of fulfillment: the visual manifestation of the inner achievement.” From: Ziolkowski, The Novels …, p. 171.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 122. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 471. Siddhartha's motionlessness is in accord with the Chinese doctrine of inaction. cf. “Attain complete vacuity, and sedulously preserve a state of repose.” Giles, op. cit., p. 34.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 97. Hesse, G. W. 5., pp. 445–46. cf. the following sayings of Lao Tzu: “It [i. e., Tao] loves and nourishes all things but does not act as master. … The softest things in the world override the hardest.” From: Giles, op. cit., p. 34. “There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, yet for attacking things that are hard and strong there is nothing that surpasses it, nothing that can take its place.” Ibid., p. 50.
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Lao Tzu states that the Tao “… is ever free from desire.” From: Giles, op. cit., p. 23. The Upanishads also stress the importance of being free from desire: “When a man is free from desire, his mind and senses purified, he beholds the glory of the Self and is without sorrow.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, The Upanishads, p. 18.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 101. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 450. Vasudeva, by his actions, fulfills the Hindu definition of a saint or sage. cf. the following passage from the Bhagavad-Gita: “An Incarnation of the Godhead and, to a lesser degree, any theocentric saint, sage or prophet is a human being who knows who he is and can therefore effectively remind other human beings of what they have allowed themselves to forget: namely, that if they choose to become what potentially they already are, they too can be eternally united with the Divine Ground.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, The Upanishads, p. 18.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 103. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 452. Meditation in its Eastern form plays an important rôle in Siddhartha just as in Demian: by meditating, one is able to transcend the physical body and reach a state of spiritual purification otherwise unobtainable. In Hesse's terms, this state would be phase three of the triadic rhythm of humanization: “During deep meditation it is possible to dispel time, to see simultaneously all the past, present and future, and then everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman.” Ibid., p. 116. Ibid., p. 464. Referring to meditation, Casebeer reports the following: “Some SIMS members of my acquaintance refer to the experience as ‘tripping out’—the state not only has some relationship to the psychedelic experience (which will be encountered, by the way, in Steppenwolf's Magic Theater) in its quality but also seems to have some physiological connection in that psychedelic drugs interfere with its occurrence.” From: Casebeer, op. cit., p. 29.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 104. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 452.
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Ibid., p. 107. Ibid., p. 455. cf. also the following: “The truly wise mourn neither for the living nor for the dead.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 36.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, pp. 108–09. Hesse, G. W. 5., pp. 456–57. Vasudeva, in accordance with Lao Tzu's explanation of the doctrine of inaction—i.e., the sage, occupied with inaction, conveys instruction without words (Giles, op. cit., p. 33.)—helps Siddhartha comprehend a higher reality by doing, on the surface, nothing.
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Ibid., p. 109. Ibid., p. 457.
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Ibid., pp. 110–11. Ibid., pp. 457–58.
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Ibid., p. 111. Ibid., p. 459. Because this study does not concern itself with the stilistic aspects of the translations of Hesse's works, no mention has thus far been made of occasional inaccurate or questionable—in the researcher's opinion—renditions of the passages presented. In the case of this passage, however, an exception will be made. The phrase ‘Seine Wunde blühte’ which is translated ‘his wound was healing,’ should have been translated as ‘his wound was flourishing,’ while the passage ‘sein Leid strahlte,’ translated as ‘his pain was dispersing,’ should have been translated ‘his pain shone’ or ‘his pain radiated.’ The translations as they are in the English version mislead the reader into thinking Siddhartha is in the process of forgetting or overcoming his wound, while it was Hesse's intention to show that he was finally confirming it with all its pain; Siddhartha is now accepting life with its good side and its bad, its happiness as well as its sorrow, and is growing stronger for the experience. The emphasis is thus on the confirmation of, not the subduing of, pain. Siddhartha can now concentrate on the laughter of the river (cf. p. 111, resp. p. 459) rather than his sorrow, as evidenced by the smile which is now on his face.
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Ibid., Ibid. cf. “The Sage is … luminous but not dazzling. From: Giles, op. cit., p. 56.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 111. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 459. This passage, like the one in footnote 240, is inaccurately translated. A better rendition, one which also is truer to the Eastern flavor of the book, would be: ‘… who understands perfection …’ cf. also Boulby: “Siddhartha, now ‘seeing’ and thus united with the One, bids farewell to the departing Vasudeva, now Sri Krishna leaving this incarnation: ‘Radiant he departed’ …” From: Boulby, op. cit., p. 150.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 117. Hesse, G. W. 5., pp. 464–65. cf. “‘A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi (or mystic) when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything—whether it be pebbles, stones or gold—as the same.’” From: Bhaktivedanta, op. cit., p. 34.
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Swami Prabhavananda, The Upanishads, p. 88.
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Swami Prabhavananda, Bhavagad-Gita, p. 64.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 117. Hesse, G. W. 5., pp. 465–66.
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Ibid., p. 121. Ibid., p. 469. Govinda also sees in Siddhartha's face “… all present and future forms …” (p. 122, resp. p. 470.) A parallel passage, indicating a similar concept of unity and timelessness, is in the Bhagavad-Gita; it is spoken by Sri Krishna and reads as follows: “There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these kings. Nor is there any future in which we will cease to be.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 36.
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cf. Lao Tzu: “Conveying lessons without words, reaping profit without action,—there are few in the world who can attain to this.” From: Giles, op. cit., p. 34. Regarding Govinda, the meaning of his name may be an indication that Hesse intended to imply a further mystical transference, i. e., from Siddhartha to Govinda, which would ultimately lead to Govinda's own realization of perfection, and thus, like Vasudeva and Siddhartha, he would have the ability to help others attain the same; the name Govinda is one of the names of Sri Krishna and means ‘Giver of Enlightenment.’ (cf. Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 32.
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Casebeer, op. cit., p. 47.
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Sinclair, the protagonist of Demian, as the conclusion of the work implies, will eventually become like Demian, his mentor. Harry Haller reaches the third stage in Hesse's triadic system for only brief moments; Joseph Knecht reaches his goal through death, and so forth.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 99. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 448.
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Ibid., pp. 105–06. Ibid., p. 453.
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Having learned that everything and every creature is a manifestation of the creative force—in Hindu terms, Brahman—one learns to love the Self alone rather than individual manifestations of it. cf. “‘Where there is consciousness of the Self, individuality is no more.’” From: Swami Prabhavananda, The Upanishads, p. 88. cf. also: “This Self, which is nearer to us than anything else, is indeed dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than all beside. Let a man worship the Self alone as dear, for if he worship the Self alone as dear, the object of his love will never perish.” Ibid., p. 80.
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“… to Hesse the most important fact about each one of us was not our individuality but our relationship to the whole universe.” From: Casebeer, op. cit., p. 25.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 119. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 467. cf. “A man should not hate any creature. Let him be friendly and compassionate to all. He must free himself from the delusion of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’ He must accept pleasure and pain with equal tranquillity. He must be forgiving, ever-contented, self-controlled, united constantly with me in his meditation. His resolve must be unshakable. He must be dedicated to me in intellect and mind. Such a devotee is dear to me.” From: Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 99.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 119. Hesse, G. W. 5., p. 467. cf. the following: “Und während Buddha gelehrt hatte, dass der Mensch sich aller Gefühle, aller Bindungen an Menschliches entäussern müsse, weiss der weise gewordene Brahmanansohn am Ende, dass der rechte Sinn eines Lebens und seine rechte Erfüllung im Göttlichen nur dann die letzte Lösung bringt, wenn sie nicht jenseits, sondern diesseits, innerhalb des Menschlichen und seiner Bindungen geschieht. Dieses Innerhalb und Diesseits, diese Bindung im Menschlichen, ist die Liebe.” From: Stolte, op. cit., pp. 154–55.
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Hesse, Siddhartha, p. 121. Hesse, G. W. 5., pp. 469–70. Ziolkowski states: “… as Govinda looks into Siddhartha's face at the end, what he perceives is no longer the landscape of the soul, but rather: the soul as landscape. Siddhartha has learned the lesson of the river so well that his entire being now reflects the totality and simultaneity that the river symbolizes. As in a painting by Marc Chagall or in Rilke's poem ‘The Death of the Poet,’ the landscape is actually reflected in Siddhartha's face. He has reached fulfillment by affirming the totality of the world and by accepting it as part of himself and himself as part of the development of the world.” From: Ziolkowski, The Novels …, p. 169.
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Much of the secondary literature recognizes only the Christian aspect of the concept of love in Siddhartha, one example being the following: “… the book's doctrine of love is not Indian at all, but Fransiscan, or at the very least Christian.” Boulby, op. cit., p. 152. cf. Hsia: “Doch die Hauptsache für Siddhartha ist die Liebe. Sie ist für viele Interpreten—zuweilen auch für Hesse selbst—ein ausschliesslich christliches Element. Doch hat das Christentum, obwohl die Botschaft Christi zweifellos eine Botschaft der Liebe ist, durchaus nicht das Monopol auf sie.” (Hsia, op. cit., p. 247.)
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Hsia, op. cit., p. 248.
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Ibid.
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Giles, op. cit., p. 23.
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cf. the following: “Perform every action with your heart fixed on the Supreme Lord.” (Swami Prabhavananda, Bhagavad-Gita, p. 40.) “Do your duty, always; but without attachment. That is how a man reaches the ultimate Truth; by working without anxiety about results. … Your motive in working should be to set others, by your example, on the path of duty.” Ibid., p. 47.
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cf. Swami Prabhavananda, The Upanishads, p. 18.
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The text stresses the importance of following one's own path; the three figures who actually reach their goal of self-realization, Siddhartha, Gotama, and Vasudeva, all attain it by taking different paths, independent of any organized body of teachings.
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Casebeer, op. cit., pp. 53–54.
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Herman Hesse. Siddhartha: Between the Rebellion and the Regeneration
From Demian to The Glass Bead Game: Themes and Variations