Siddhartha
A young Indian mystic, a contemporary of Buddha, sacrifices everything to search for the true meaning of life.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars An essential read
I read this book at least once a year, and every year, I find unexpected ways to grow and understand the world. It's an exquisite, essential read.
5 Stars Samsara is nirvana
There are some books everyone talks about but nobody reads. And then, there are books everyone reads but nobody understands. "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse seems to be one of those. I didn't expect much from this book after reading about it on the web. I expected it to be a really bad hippie book about some libertine who callously abandons his wife and kid, and then expects to "learn from the river", or whatever. I definitely didn't expect it to be Buddhist. Actually reading the book was therefore a pleasant surprise. Apparently, force-feeding high school students with "Siddhartha" is a really bad idea, LOL.
Hermann Hesse's novel, first published in 1922, is obviously based on a close study of different Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Perhaps the author also studied Tantrism. The book is very clever, and contains allusions to both the Bhagavad Gita and the legend of the Buddha. "Learning from the river" turns out to be another allusion. Note also the deliberate confusion in naming the main character Siddhartha, while referring to the real Buddha as Gotama. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha's full name was Siddhartha Gotama!
Whether the book is "Buddhist" or not is mostly a matter of definition. While Siddhartha rejects the Buddha, he eventually becomes enlightened himself by a path that could be accepted by some Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In the last chapter, Siddhartha realizes that samsara is nirvana, and grasps the concept of shunyata, fundamental tenets of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. More controversial are Siddhartha's libertine escapades. I think it all hinges on how you interpret his words that the libertinism was "inevitable". Was it inevitable in the sense that the path to enlightenment goes through rank antinomianism? Outside "left-hand" Tantrism, that would be a very controversial statement. Or was it inevitable in the sense of being fated and karmic? If so, I think most Buddhists would agree with Hesse. Some people just don't get it in the present lifetime… What the correct interpretation is, I honestly don't know.
Siddhartha seems to reject four purported paths to salvation. First, he rejects the empty ritualism of the Brahmins. Then, he rejects the extreme asceticism of the Samanas. His reaction to the Buddha is more complex. On the one hand, Siddhartha admires the Buddha, who is clearly an enlightened being. On the other hand, Siddhartha feels that one cannot become enlightened by a strictly logical philosophy, or by reliance on a teacher. He senses a dualism in the Buddha's teaching, a dualism between False and True he somehow suspects doesn't exist in reality. Also, he believes that the strict logic of Buddhist metaphysics cannot explain the existence of the Buddha himself! Enlightenment looks "illogical" in a self-contained, purely philosophical system. Interestingly, the Buddha seems to tacitly accept Siddhartha's criticism, as if a secret understanding existed between them. Exoteric versus esoteric teaching?
More difficult to fathom is Siddhartha's entanglement with Kamala and Kamaswami. To some extent, it sounds Tantric. Siddhartha indulges himself in sex, gambling and money without being affected by it, like an antinomian sage. And yet, in the end he *does* become affected, sinking deeper and deeper. My personal take on this, is that our hero rejects the Tantric path as well. Eventually, Siddhartha becomes a ferryman and "learns from the river". He realizes the essential emptiness and non-duality of all things, and finally reaches salvation. His friend, the Buddhist monk Govinda, experiences a mystical vision in Siddhartha's presence, similar to Arjuna's theophany in the presence of Krishna as recorded in the Bhagavad Gita. (Note the weird fact that the monk's name is Govinda, another name for Krishna!) Govinda reaches the conclusion that although Siddhartha's words are incomprehensible and doesn't sound Buddhist, he has nevertheless attained the same state as the Buddha. Govinda throws himself at Siddhartha's feet, and there, the story ends.
Perhaps I should point out that I'm not a Buddhist by any standard. Still, I found the book to be extremely cleverly written, and it's now one of my favourites. Five stars!
PS. I read another edition than this one. It was marked "Penguin Modern Classics" and had a foreword by Paulo Coelho. This edition doesn't seem available from the American site of Amazon. I have therefore placed my review here, purely at random. I haven't read this particular translation. I think… 
4 Stars in "ALL"
It took few hours to finish the novel. As someone has said in the review, an audio version would be better i think. Overall, the writing is clear.
5 Stars Simple, yet thought provoking
This simple but thought provoking book will have your mind reeling with questions about family, friendship, and the true meaning of life. Hesse invites his readers to join Siddhartha in his journey to self-discovery and challenges readers to look deep into their own lives to find what makes them tick. At the age of thirteen Siddhartha willing leaves his family and his home to go in search for the ultimate nirvana, self-fulliment. He takes with him only his clothes and the three priniciples that will carry him through life; patience, fasting, and meditation. Full of vibrant, youthful idealism, Siddhartha forges into the world struggling to find his place, as well as create a life that is simple and meaningful.
In Siddhartha, Hesse urges readers to look beyond the material world to find what is within mankind that is honorable and can be used to find happiness. Siddhartha, throughout the book relies on his patience to see him through, his fasting to help him survive, and his meditation to center his life. Each time Siddhartha falls into a lifestyle of possession and desire, he quickly releases himself from obligation and returns to his journey. The journey, however physical, is also a journey of the soul- the path back to himself. Each road he takes in the book is a learning experience, and each place leads him to a new light about the mind.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a desire to learn about their surroundings in a elevated sense, and who enjoys beautiful writing. Fall into an adventure that is as breathtaking as it is heartbreaking, and follow Siddhartha's simple but powerful words of wisdom as you compile a new appreciation for the art of patience and meditation.
5 Stars Great
Siddhartha, a bildungsroman by Herman Hesse, first published in 1922, is simply one of the greatest books ever written. I say that not because I agree with its essential philosophy (which is problematic in some of its over-simplicity), a predisposition that far too often accounts for why critics recommend or do not recommend a work of art, but because it is the embodiment of one of the oldest maxims that defines great literature: saying the most in the least amount of words. Technically, the book- which I have read several times, the last over a decade ago, is a long novella of just under 40,000 words (in English translation- and I read the famed Hilda Rosner version; the original German may be a few hundred words longer or shorter) yet the amount and depth of information it reveals about its titular protagonist has rarely been equaled in works five to ten times its length. It is this remarkable poetic compression that is at the heart of the book's greatness; and a style rarely used. Recently, I just finished reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation And Empire (the second book of his original Foundation trilogy) and was struck at how similar the two (or three- counting the original Foundation) books were in their approaches to narrative and characterization. It is well known that Asimov's masterpieces- which go well beyond the sci fi genre- were based upon the excellent historical stylings of Edward Gibbon's The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, and it is in that fact that the key to Siddhartha is turned.
Even though Hesse's book is fiction, and its lead is not based upon the real Siddhartha Gautama (the original Buddha)- although he makes a fictive cameo, Hesse employs the same pseudo-historical approach to the tale. This allows for him to leap over great periods in the main character's life by tossing off bon mots and facts as if they were generally known beforehand by the reader. Later, many of these observations are revealed or reinforced by the `on stage' actions of Siddhartha and his colleagues. Of course, this is not the usual style of character revelation- which is dependent upon scene setting, interior analysis, symbolism, etc. Instead, Hesse's narrative simply puts the characters into situations where they have to tell what they feel. Siddhartha encounters the Buddha, the prostitute Kamala, or the ferryman Vasudeva, and instead of `showing' us, he `tells' us what is going on with the characters. Yet, he does it so well that to `show' us would require the novel being stripped of all its originality, and fabular qualities, in favor of another didactic tract on how to live one's life. Yet, slyly, the very fact that the characters, especially Siddhartha, tell us so much reveals their character very effectively. Siddhartha, himself, glosses over years in a few sentences, but the very fact that he does not feel inclined to tell us- or himself in interior monologue- certain details says quite a bit about his way of dealing with the world and himself. Rationalization is a quality few characters have as a prime one, so the fact Siddhartha has it in spades sets him up very uniquely.
I see this form of characterization as `silhouetting' for what stays hidden, but can be presumed, is as important as that known. Asimov also uses this technique to great effect in his portrait of Foundation and Empire's villain The Mule. Little is known or revealed about the mutant until the last chapter, when all the hints coalesce into one of the great villainous perorations in literature; surpassing that of many arch-villains in thrillers and detective novels. The Mule, like Siddhartha, is sketched in great detail by all that is left out when key points are made. It's a wonder more writers have not picked up on this technique….It's no accident that the final image and focus of the book is not on the Western lead character, but his Eastern sidekick, for the book is an indictment, or, to be kinder, a trial of the Eastern way of life.
Whether it passes that test or not is for each reader to decide, as is the test all great art faces in front of its audience. To recapitulate the book's greatest virtue, I say: YES!
Related posts:
- Wesak Greetings
- What the Buddha Taught – Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada
- The Dhammapada – Classics of Indian Spirituality
- An End to Suffering – The Buddha in the World
- The Heart of the Buddhas Teaching
- A World First: Historic Buddhist Relics Brought to France
- Awakening the Buddha Within – Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World
- Buddhas Brain – The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom
- If the Buddha Dated – A Handbook for Finding Love on a Spiritual Path
- The Three Pillars of Zen – Teaching, Practice and Enlightenment
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4 Responses to “Siddhartha”
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Correct me if I'm mistaken but in the heading of this review it says, Siddhartha, an Indian Mystic, a contemporary of the Buddha… Didn't Siddhartha become the Buddha?
You are right, Sheri. Siddhartha indeed became the Buddha. Good catch! This book, however, is a fictional allegory, which is probably why the publisher uses the word "contemporary."
Awe, that makes sense. I guess I should have read it before making the comment;-) I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse way, way back in my early 20\'s, and it\'s still one of my favorite books.
Sheri, we LOVE comments here! Actually, you made a good point. The book blurb could have been written much better. Siddhartha is one of those "timeless" books that are worth reading again and again.