Siddhartha Journey
IRP: Siddhartha How far would one go to search for the truth behind the universal understanding of life, or Nirvana? In Siddhartha, a continual search for the truth is viewed as crucial for achieving an amicable relationship with the world. Siddhartha, a young Brahmin who is driven to extremes by his desire to understand himself, embarks on an internal spiritual quest to attain enlightenment, leading him far from home and through various paths of wisdom before reaching his spiritual goal. As Siddhartha relies on intuition for guidance, the different paths he followed put him on a path of maturation, which is marked by self-discovery and the spiritual awakening. Hesse’s Siddhartha shows the importance of the concept of journey to fully develop
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a person’s identity through his experience with the river, and understanding the concept of Om.
After following different paths throughout his journey, Siddhartha achieves enlightenment and is able to reach his spiritual goal through time spent near the river, a foremost symbol.
The river embodies the incessant cycle of life and time and the path to enlightenment. It defines and unifies the transitions in Siddhartha’s journey and ultimately demonstrates the vast vision of totality and timelessness. “And all the voices, all the goals, all the yearnings, all the sorrows, all the pleasures, al the good and evil, all of them together was the world. All of them together was the stream of events, the music of life” (Hesse, 105) shows the river’s ability to hold a myriad of things while still illustrating unity and wholeness. The readers can view the river as Siddhartha’s final guide as his epiphany on the riverbank lead to intuitive wisdom. It is from the river that Siddhartha learns that time does not exist; it flows forevermore and cannot be termed with neither past nor future. He eventually understands because the essence of enlightenment already exists within ourselves and dictatorial paths can divert us from ourselves …show more content…
and from the wisdom we aim for. Thus, Siddhartha approaches indirectly as it gives him a broader perspective of the world and is therefore able to provide the necessary distance from the unity of the world. Also, the river taught one last lesson to Siddhartha, to make him the man that he is at the end: love. In the first half of the novel, love restricted Siddhartha’s ability to realize spiritual wisdom, thus neglecting it. However, he feels affectionate when meeting his son, and jeopardizes Siddhartha to sidetrack from his course as he “underwent all the follies of love” (101). Later on, he learns that he must embrace love in its totality to achieve Nirvana. Through his experience with the river, Siddhartha shows his maturation and self-discovery in order to fully develop and understand his identity, as the ferryman; after understanding that time has no existence.
Whilst listening closely to the river, Siddhartha is able to come in terms with the concept of Om, as it is his entrance into enlightenment.
When contemplating suicide, after losing his son, near the river, he hears the word Om. He realizes that he must overcome his suffering and must learn to “be,” and not try to force his life in a specific direction. In “Om,” suffering acts as a humanizing force for Siddhartha. Through suffering, Siddhartha finds consensus among his roles as son, father, seeker, allowing him to see his unity with the world. As he is no longer in the high class of Brahmin, his suffering has shown him that he is like anyone else, and only his similarities with the rest of the world can allow him to achieve the compassion essential for true enlightenment. He slowly uncovers the complexity of the Om and how it involves time and both the physical and spiritual world. Thus, through overcoming his sufferings, he is able to achieve enlightenment and fulfill his spiritual quest; he achieves it when he finally comprehends that all things exist at the same moment, time is trifling, and all possibilities are rational. Due to the “Om,” Siddhartha was able to figure out his identity as a son, father, and seeker attempting to reach enlightenment. As he is able to find common ground between two differing worlds—material and spiritual—he understands that Om is the unity of polarity and that one cannot achieve enlightenment if one embraces opposite beliefs and
ideas.
Siddhartha shows the significance of the concept of journey to fully develop a person’s identity through the experience with the river and grasping the concept of Om. Siddhartha’s fundamental desire to fathom his life through spirituality makes him crave for Nirvana, an end goal every man aspires to reach. Whilst on the journey to find the truth, Siddhartha walks on diverse paths that enabled him to grow and slowly learn more about himself. Thus, Siddhartha realizes, at the end of his journey, that everything is as it should be; it cannot be improved upon and gradually accepts his place in the world. The individuals, with their desires and cravings, are in harmony as a whole and that all human experience is a part of the expansive unity.
a person’s identity through his experience with the river, and understanding the concept of Om.
After following different paths throughout his journey, Siddhartha achieves enlightenment and is able to reach his spiritual goal through time spent near the river, a foremost symbol.
The river embodies the incessant cycle of life and time and the path to enlightenment. It defines and unifies the transitions in Siddhartha’s journey and ultimately demonstrates the vast vision of totality and timelessness. “And all the voices, all the goals, all the yearnings, all the sorrows, all the pleasures, al the good and evil, all of them together was the world. All of them together was the stream of events, the music of life” (Hesse, 105) shows the river’s ability to hold a myriad of things while still illustrating unity and wholeness. The readers can view the river as Siddhartha’s final guide as his epiphany on the riverbank lead to intuitive wisdom. It is from the river that Siddhartha learns that time does not exist; it flows forevermore and cannot be termed with neither past nor future. He eventually understands because the essence of enlightenment already exists within ourselves and dictatorial paths can divert us from ourselves …show more content…
and from the wisdom we aim for. Thus, Siddhartha approaches indirectly as it gives him a broader perspective of the world and is therefore able to provide the necessary distance from the unity of the world. Also, the river taught one last lesson to Siddhartha, to make him the man that he is at the end: love. In the first half of the novel, love restricted Siddhartha’s ability to realize spiritual wisdom, thus neglecting it. However, he feels affectionate when meeting his son, and jeopardizes Siddhartha to sidetrack from his course as he “underwent all the follies of love” (101). Later on, he learns that he must embrace love in its totality to achieve Nirvana. Through his experience with the river, Siddhartha shows his maturation and self-discovery in order to fully develop and understand his identity, as the ferryman; after understanding that time has no existence.
Whilst listening closely to the river, Siddhartha is able to come in terms with the concept of Om, as it is his entrance into enlightenment.
When contemplating suicide, after losing his son, near the river, he hears the word Om. He realizes that he must overcome his suffering and must learn to “be,” and not try to force his life in a specific direction. In “Om,” suffering acts as a humanizing force for Siddhartha. Through suffering, Siddhartha finds consensus among his roles as son, father, seeker, allowing him to see his unity with the world. As he is no longer in the high class of Brahmin, his suffering has shown him that he is like anyone else, and only his similarities with the rest of the world can allow him to achieve the compassion essential for true enlightenment. He slowly uncovers the complexity of the Om and how it involves time and both the physical and spiritual world. Thus, through overcoming his sufferings, he is able to achieve enlightenment and fulfill his spiritual quest; he achieves it when he finally comprehends that all things exist at the same moment, time is trifling, and all possibilities are rational. Due to the “Om,” Siddhartha was able to figure out his identity as a son, father, and seeker attempting to reach enlightenment. As he is able to find common ground between two differing worlds—material and spiritual—he understands that Om is the unity of polarity and that one cannot achieve enlightenment if one embraces opposite beliefs and
ideas.
Siddhartha shows the significance of the concept of journey to fully develop a person’s identity through the experience with the river and grasping the concept of Om. Siddhartha’s fundamental desire to fathom his life through spirituality makes him crave for Nirvana, an end goal every man aspires to reach. Whilst on the journey to find the truth, Siddhartha walks on diverse paths that enabled him to grow and slowly learn more about himself. Thus, Siddhartha realizes, at the end of his journey, that everything is as it should be; it cannot be improved upon and gradually accepts his place in the world. The individuals, with their desires and cravings, are in harmony as a whole and that all human experience is a part of the expansive unity.