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The background of enlightenment
Enlightenment and its characteristics
The background of enlightenment
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Siddhartha was an exemplary man who was loved by all. He was well educated, strong, handsome, and graceful. He pleased everyone, but he himself was never content. He did not find peace because the teachings of the elders and the customs of his culture were never enough for him. The quote is metaphor
“One must find the source within one’s own self, one must possess it” (Siddhartha p. 5). Good morning students, my name is Michaela Laffey and I am an enlightened critic from NBCC. The National Book Critic Circle, here to enlighten to you today about the book Siddhartha written by author Hermann Hesse. If I was to ask you all a question, who are you? How would you answer it?
Siddhartha realizes he is no longer comfortable just sitting around as the big fish in a little pond, and he would like to seek true illumination that he feels cannot be found in their town. As he states to his father, “I have come to tell you that I wish to leave your house tomorrow and join the ascetics.” (Hess, p. 10). In other words, he decides to break away from his childhood village and pursue enlightenment by practicing self-discipline (becoming an ascetic). Although he tries to reach nirvana in numerous different manners, his final goal never truly changes.
Siddhartha discovers his inner peace when he goes through diverse experiences, and gains wisdom. As a young kid, Siddhartha grows up being a Brahmin’s son. His father and elders taught Siddhartha
“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.” (Siddhartha, pg.116). This quote is Siddhartha talking to Govinda and explaining to him his newfound sense of peace. Siddhartha has become content with his life and has achieved what he was looking for. This is different than Chris’s idea of enlightenment because Siddhartha believes that enlightenment is having a harmonious relationship with the world and with nature.
The story of Siddhartha tells the tale of a boy who grows up in a wealthy Brahman family. He grows to be intelligent and handsome and is loved by all his family and friends. Siddhartha seems to have everything he could want but eventually becomes frustrated with his life. He seeks enlightenment and believes that the elders in his community have nothing more to teach him spiritually. Much to his parent’s frustration, Siddhartha decides he needs to leave home and find the inner peace he seeks.
The book Siddhartha is about a young man who goes on a journey to find his true meaning in life and to find enlightenment. It takes him a while to realize his purpose in life but eventually finds it through a ferryman. In the book, Siddhartha experiences two forms of suffering:physical and mental. He goes through the physical pain of the Samaras but also passes through the mental pain of finding his way and dealing with his son. He also finds joy in his son and being enlightened.
Allusions in Siddartha Payton Cozzi Period:1 Allusion is one of the main messages in Siddartha. Everything is not always what you think it is and you really have to read between the lines in this novel. Herman Hesse has a religious tone to writing which can bring up a different type of allusions, the first one and most prominent one being, a biblical allusion. There are repeated examples of religious texts from Hindu and Buddhist bibles such as “It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself.
Any individual lives their life with many different types of influences, coming from both objects and people. In Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, a man unknowingly travels down the path of enlightenment. The man known as Siddhartha travels to seek the knowledge he longs for and encounters multiple influences along the way. These influences play an important role in the novel for him. Some of the influences in Siddhartha’s life include Kamala, his son, and the river since they help him to understand what he seeks and are the main reasons for him achieving enlightenment.
Each individual embarks on his or her own hero’s journey in life, some finding peace and enlightenment while others suffer greatly. In Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, the author slowly shows Siddhartha’s path towards finding the self and enlightenment through conflict and resolution. Finding himself is difficult, but once he does, Siddhartha is released from sorrow and depression, which finally enables him to reach enlightenment and peace. Hesse portrays Siddhartha’s spiritual hero’s journey by using unique conflicts to reveal his true self through independence, mindfulness, and responsibility.
Siddhartha realizes he is caught in this cycle, “...when he saw his face reflected in the mirror on the wall of his bedroom, grown older and uglier, whenever shame and nausea overtook him, he fled again, fled to a new game of chance, fled in confusion to passion, to wine, and from there back again to the urge for acquiring and hoarding wealth” (Hesse 80), so he tries to escape it. The symbolism used in this part of Siddhartha's life is the songbird kept in a cage by Kamala. This symbolism is made evident to the reader in a dream Siddhartha has, “Kamala kept a small rare songbird in a small golden cage.
Aya B. Jenna Berry & Brian McWilliams World History Love Herman Hesse’s novel Siddhartha is a philosophical novel that follows Siddhartha, a young man on his path to enlightenment. Siddhartha’s journey to enlightenment took nearly his whole life, and on his journey he met many people and had many relationships that helped him reach enlightenment. The most critical of these relationships, however, was Siddhartha's relationship with his son. Of all the things he learned, what he learned from his relationship with his son was a turning point for him because his love for his son, unlike other relationships, forced him to think of others for the first time, rather than his inward quest for enlightenment, and reflecting on that failed
One’s beliefs about themselves and the world around them greatly affect their actions, and while their philosophies differ, the message is still the same. A person’s mindset grows and evolves with their beliefs. This is true for Siddhartha Gautama because as his beliefs change, his mindset adapts to them. Throughout Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, Siddhartha adopts various philosophies through his time as a Samana, as a rich man, and as a ferryman that shape his identity and actions, serving as an important lesson to society today. During Siddhartha 's time with the Samanas, his goal is to shed his Self and become devoid of all earthly desires.
Chapter four “Awakening” Siddhartha leaves and walks alone to learn from himself at that moment he sees the world real and beautiful not an illusion.for the first time Siddhartha starts to see the world on his terms and that is his awakening. Siddhartha decides to make a new quest for enlightenment at that moment he realized that he is alone he left his father, he left the samanas, and he left Govinda he was alone. Chapter five “Kamala” Siddhartha is still appreciating his surroundings but he seeks experiences, he comes to a river and befriends the ferryman. The ferryman takes him across the river where he meets a woman washing clothing, she invites him to have sex but he gets cold feet and leave. Siddhartha comes to a beautiful town where he see a gorgeous woman with a lot servants, they make eye contact and she enters a grove where he wants to follow but he realizes that he still looks like a samana.
And Herman Hesse shows this by showing their trust for each other. When Siddhartha first leaves home he experiences many trials and tribulations From being a Samana, to going to the city, to almost committing suicide. Who was always there? The Ferryman. Siddhartha trusts him almost like a father, he understands all that he has gone through.