The Themes of Siddhartha Essay -- Hesse Siddhartha Essays

The Themes of Siddhartha There are two themes developed in Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. One theme is that people can teach religious doctrine, but it may not lead one to find ones true inner egotism. The other theme is that knowledge can be taught, but wisdom comes from experience. The of import character, Siddhartha, came to these understandings during his glorious trip to find spiritual enlightenment. In order to find his self, Siddhartha undertook a quest that was split into four main parts. These parts involve understanding, escape from self, knowledge of self, and wisdom, (enlightenment). The first part, understanding, involved him living with his father who was a brahmin. Siddhartha realized that he made everybody else happy but that he himself wasnt. He also got the feeling that he had already learned the best of what his teachers had to teach but it still wasnt enough. He still wasnt satisfied. One day he and his friend, Govinda, meditated by a banyan tree . Siddhartha recited the verse Om is the bow, the arrow is the soul, Brahman is the arrows goal At which one aims unflinchingly.(8) It was after meditating with Govinda that he realized what he had to do. In an commence to reach the arrows goal, he would leave his father to join the Samanas who he thought had the secrets to finding the self. While with the Samanas Siddhartha learned many ways to escape the self. He would do this through meditation, abandonment of the body, fasting, and the holding of breath. He abandoned his body thro... ... the river that he had crossed dour ago and met the same ferryman that had been kind to him. During his run with the ferryman he realized that the river was a symbol of spiritual transition timelessness, and a teacher of the unity of all things. He had gained spiritual enlightenment. The reasons for the trials and tribulations experienced during Siddharthas glorious journey were to show that time was irrelevant and the wor ld of appearances was transitory. In other words, he went through many changes in appearance and time didnt matter as long as he had achieved his goal. Siddhartha had spent his whole life trying to gain spiritual enlightenment and at the end he finally achieved it. Like in the verse, Siddhartha used Om like a bow to direct his soul, the arrow, to spiritual enlightenment.