Siddhartha

​

StephanieArnold

Setting

​

• India as Siddhartha encounters the Buddha (563 BC – 483 BC)

​

• The immediate setting changes several times as Siddhartha moves throughout civilization as a member of most of the castes.

​

• The city, the river, the desert and his parents’ home.

Hinduism

• Possibly the oldest religion in the world.

​

• The concept of “perfection” can be related to the idea of reincarnation

​

• Successive lives accumulate karma , which determines “placement” in the next life.

​

• Upon reincarnation, one will be higher or lower on the karmic ladder. The farther up the karmic ladder, the closer to perfection or Nirvana.

Hinduism

Caste system divides people into social classes.

​

Strict and hereditary.

• Brahmin—the priest class
• Nobility—royalty
• Merchants—those who engage in trade
• Servants
• Untouchables—those who deal with any type of human waste, disposal of carcasses, etc.

Hinduism

The Four Life Stages

​

1. The student

2. The householder

3. The retired person

4. The ascetic

Hinduism

The Four Life Goals

1. Dharma- the practice of virtue.

2. Artha- the goal of success and achieving success.

3. Kama - the pursuit of pleasure.

4. Moksha - is a rejection of all the life-affirming goals and a pursuit of release from life.

​

Hinduism

The Four Life Goals and Stages

​

• The first three life goals are life-affirming goals, and the last is life-negating.

​

• The first three celebrate life and confirm the participation in certain life duties as necessary to spiritual development.

​

• The last item in each set, the life-negating item, typically is a rejection of worldly pleasures and goals.

​

Buddhism

• The story of Hesse’s Siddhartha is similar to what is known about Siddhartha Gotama
• The real man was born an Indian prince in approximately 623 BC.
• He was born a Hindu, and many of his teachings have their roots in that religion.
• Near age 29, Siddhartha Gotama left his family and the comforts of wealth and walked the world for six years as an ascetic where he practiced extreme self-denial and self-mortification

Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gotama decided that there were no known ways that could lead him to himself.

​

• He began his own individual path that avoided both extremes of self-mortification and self-indulgence, often referred to as the middle way.

​

• Siddhartha Gotama found enlightenment while meditating under the fabled Banyan tree.

Buddhism

*** Siddhartha Gotama’s teaching challenged Hinduism.

• Questioned the authority of the Brahmin class
• Rejected all divisions
• Condemned the developing philosophies regarding “religion” (it is only what one does, not what one believes, that matters).
• No God, nor any specific ritual, can bring enlightenment

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

​

1. Suffering Exists (Life is Suffering): Humans are self-centered which leads to pain, misery, sorrow, not fulfillment.

​

2. Desire Causes Suffering:We suffer because our ego fools us into believing that we need that which is not permanent

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

3. Cessation of Desire Brings the Cessation of Suffering: One must see things as they really are, not simply as they are for ourselves. We must accept a universal compassion toward all living creatures. This is not a belief, it is an action.

​

4. The Cessation of Desire Is Found Through the Eightfold Path: The observance of the truths of the Eightfold Path is the heart of Buddhist life.

Relation to the Novel

Allegory - a story that represents abstract ideas or morals; both a literal and symbolic meaning.

• For purposes of Hinduism and Buddhism, it operates as a religious allegory.
• For Hinduism – the novel and Siddhartha’s journey mirror:
1. The four life stages
2. Four life goals
3. Journey of Siddhartha begins in innocence, followed by knowledge ("sin"), which, together, lead to a higher state of innocence accompanied by increased awareness and consciousness.

​

Relation of Hinduism and Buddhism to the Novel

3. For Buddhism – the novel and Siddhartha’s journey mirror in Buddhism:

a. Four Noble Truths

b. Both Siddhartha and Buddha are logical, scientific, and rational in their approach.

c. They do not speak of supernatural phenomena or an afterlife, and dismiss the possibility of miracles.

d. Both taught self-reliance.

e. Love and a deep attachment to anyone or anything was wrong, since it leads to suffering.

f. Life Journey was similar – from wealth to poverty to wealth and then understanding.

Herman Hesse

• His Life:
• Born in Germany on July 2, 1877
• Both parents were Christian missionaries in India
• Same religious fate was expected of Hesse; he joined seminary
• Left the seminary in 1892; rebelled against parents’ strict religious upbringing
• Due to death of his father and other pressures, underwent psychoanalysis in 1915. Became serious student of psychology (Freud & Jung) and Eastern religions and philosophy.

​

​

Influence of Carl Jung

• Jung’s theories of archetypes and collective unconscious influenced Hesse’s works
• Archetypes are symbols/patterns we contact through art. These archetypes are part of our collective unconscious: a uniting, primal memory.
• Siddhartha contains several archetypal characters.
• Siddhartha’s journey shares many characteristics of the archetypal hero’s journey

​

​