From Siddhartha Gautama's Journey To Enlightenment

Allen Parrish

Siddhartha and Gotama; Two men, One Path

“The Buddha said that it didn’t matter what a person’s status in the world was, or what their background or wealth or nationality might be. All were capable of enlightenment.” (Boeree) In Herman Hesse 's Siddhartha, Hesse splits Siddhartha Gautama (the founder of Buddhism) into two major characters in his novel, Siddhartha and Gotama Buddha. Hesse develops these characters to mirror Siddhartha Gautama 's journey to enlightenment and his life as a teacher to point out the irony in the authentic Buddha 's teaching and to show the reader that enlightenment is not based solely on teachings or experience. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is a novel about the protagonist, Siddhartha, and
This journey is a parallel to the life of Siddhartha Gautama up to his enlightenment. According to Dr. C. George Boeree, Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince into a wealthy Brahmin family and left to live life as an ascetic (Boeree ). He then figured the extreme practices were leading him no where so he left the life of an ascetic in search of a middle way and he reached enlightenment while meditating under a fig tree (Boeree ). I feel that these similarities are not simply coincidence. Hesse intentionally mirrors Siddhartha 's life after the real Buddha 's life and his path to enlightenment. Siddhartha, Hesse writes, was “a prince among Brahmins,” (2) just as Siddhartha Gautama was. “Wandering ascetics (Samanas)”, passed through Siddhartha 's town and because “Siddhartha himself was not happy,” Siddhartha “is going to become a Samana.” (4-6) After he lives as a Samana and finds it unfulfilling, he looks to his experiences to teach him, “I will no longer study Voga-Veda, Atharva-Veda, or asceticism, or any other teachings. I will learn from myself, be my own pupil; I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha.” (32) Both Siddhartha and Siddhartha Gautama grow up as Brahmin princes, become ascetics, find that life unfulfilling, and reach enlightenment on a middle
Herman Hesse gives us details of his teachings and of rumors about Gotama and this creates a perfect mirror to Siddhartha Gautama. Boeree, in his biography of Siddhartha Gautama, writes “He explained to them the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path,” (Boeree) referring to the Buddha 's first sermon after enlightenment. In the novel, Hesse writes “The Illustrious One (Gotama Buddha) spoke in a soft but firm voice, taught the four main points, taught the eightfold path,” (23) so there is not doubt that Hesse is mirroring Gotama 's teachings after Siddhartha Gautama 's teachings in his novel. Another similarity that Hesse includes is the fact that the Ascetics thought negatively about both Gotama and Siddhartha Gautama. In reference to Siddhartha Gautama, Boeree says that “The five ascetics saw him and concluded that Siddhartha had given up the ascetic life and taken to the ways of the flesh, and left him.” (Boeree) In the novel, Hesse includes a passage that