How Is Siddhartha Meaningless

Siddhartha becomes a rich man and soon loses his desire to search for Nirvana.  Along with Kamala, a man named Kamaswami influences Siddhartha.  He convinces Siddhartha that material possessions can "fill" his life.  Siddhartha takes the advice, and he begins to live his life for money.  He starts to gamble and to compromise his true beliefs for material pleasure. While living in the village, Siddhartha slips into a deep depression.  He feels that he has lost a part of his soul, and he attempts to commit suicide.  However, during this attempt, Siddhartha becomes reborn and longs once again for Nirvana (http://splavc.spjc.cc.fl.us/hooks/ew/SmithSidd.html).  At this time, Siddhartha meets a ferryman named Vasudeva.  Vasudeva fascinates Siddhartha the way Buddha did (Welch 71).  Vasudeva tells Siddhartha that the way to find inner peace is by listening to the river.  He also tells Siddhartha that the river will teach him two things; however, Siddhartha must learn these things on his own.  Siddhartha's relationship with the ferryman is the key for Siddhartha to reach Nirvana.  Eventually, Siddhartha takes the place of Vasudeva as ferryman, and he soon attains

time,” is a statement which this book The Daughter of Time demonstrated very well. It showed how

Siddhartha is constantly flowing down the river of life, "Certainly I have learned that from the river too; everything comes back/ You, too, Samana, will come back" (49). He sees that life is never stagnant. It is constantly changing, ebbing and flowing. It takes a lifetime to satisfy Siddhartha's hunger for religious fulfillment. Siddhartha is found relating to the river: "A chilly emptiness in the water reflected the

Siddhartha's experience of a rebirth and his way of life after this experience is parallel

There have been many teachers in one’s lifetime, some more important than others. These teachers and instructors affect different people in different ways, and lessons are learned that are important to prepare for real life situations. In the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, a young Brahmin named Siddhartha is not content with his current spiritual self. Siddhartha is directed to spiritual enlightenment and Nirvana because of his guidance and teaching from Kamala, Kamaswami, and Vasudeva.

The ferryman mentions “Everything comes back again” (44), implying that the world is run in a cyclical fashion. He believes that everything is connected, suggesting that Siddhartha and himself, will see each other for they have crossed paths. The ferryman learns about this by studying the river’s water movements.

Siddhartha’s life was more of a journey, a journey filled with whimsical decisions and many questions; Siddhartha simply did as he pleased. After living this capricious lifestyle, he noticed that he felt empty inside. He wondered why he felt this way for a long time and decided to leave his current life. He abandoned all possessions and left his father in a quest to seek peace with the shramanas. Soon the cycle of the nature of Siddhartha was formed. Siddhartha would seek something and pursue that something blindly and by abandoning his previous lifestyle. It was not until he was an old man did he finally reach peace through the guidance of a river. Siddhartha’s life had changed immensely numerous amounts of times by the time he was old, but the change he experienced was not necessarily caused by of outside influences. He experienced change, but every change originated inside of him; of what he wanted to follow next. Of course, this still required Siddhartha to change to his new surroundings in every instance he obeyed new lifestyle. When he followed the shramanas, he left everything he had previously known and owned. When he left for the city, he completely changed his demeanor and became rich. Once again, when he lived by the river, he abandoned all possessions and former values. I believe that Siddhartha

Every hero faces an ordeal. Siddhartha begins to realize that he is consumed with greed and has lost his will to live. He leaves the village and goes to the river. Siddhartha decides that he should end his life and begins to attempt to drown himself in the river. Suddenly Siddhartha hears the holy word “Om” and again gets “reborn”. This is called the reward. Siddhartha has faced death and survived. Because of this, Siddhartha has gained a sense of happiness and radiance. Siddhartha begins to follow the river until he meets the ferryman, who teaches Siddhartha how to learn the way of life from the river.

Time does not exist; love is eternal; death brings peace. Siddhartha illustrates each of these themes in the novel, Siddhartha. Throughout his life, Siddhartha is very independent. For example, Siddhartha demonstrates self-determination when he leaves his overbearing father “to begin the life of the Samanas” (Hesse 10). There, he escapes from the physical world to soon realize that enlightenment cannot come from ignoring the world around him. He decides to follow the Buddha and learn his teachings; however, he is unsuccessful. As Siddhartha goes through his unaccompanied journey towards Enlightenment, he comes to realize that he must let his loved ones go and “that each man must find the way by himself” (Malthaner 3). Foolishly, he falls

New ideas derived from self-reflection enable us to develop in ways that are spiritually linked to the future. The inexorable passage of adulthood is established by the motif of time, indicating that life is continuously moving forward. The personification of time “guiltless minute hand” suggest that time is not responsible for our future, but we are. Additionally, the dysphemistic personification of “time was killed” foreshadows the cessation of childhood. Eventually, the

Time, a river of random sources acting upon the minds of existence. The idea of existence, a moral strife of which is created by the natural order of survival. In history people have related this to the past revelations of the human individual and technology, but in sentience it is not of this impression. Morality is the key to this and is the main reason why even animals realize not to kill their own brethren, or other animals similar to their own niches. Morality is also the reason why people believe because of their own past insecurity that even in the present they cannot find their own future, like a wall across the universe, it is just an excuse and could easily be broken by the universe’s shining stars.

Time itself is a never-ending cycle, however; our time as humans on Earth is finite. Both “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse and “If God Existed, He’d Be A Solid Midfielder” by Aleksandar Hemon portray the importance of time, showing how patience and contentment is acquired over time. Although each reading incorporates characters that experience moments of unease, losing a touch of their passion and goals, their interpretation of time differs; Hesse portrays time linearly while Hemon views time circularly. Siddhartha seeks Enlightenment by taking the road less traveled, a Western belief ironically chosen by Siddhartha despite his residence in the Eastern hemisphere. Similarly, Hermon displays pursuits of the Eastern belief of time within the Western

   In Siddhartha's quest for enlightenment, Herman Hesse makes the river the final focal point of the novel. Siddhartha is set on his journey to the river by listening to his inner voice and questioning authority. The river comes to represent the ideas through which Siddhartha reaches enlightenment. The essential concepts of time and how it relates to life are discovered by Siddhartha through listening to the river. He comes to realize that his previous conclusion is correct, wisdom cannot be taught. When he reaches nirvana, he also sees how spiritualism and materialism both have a place in the cycle of life. Acting as Siddhartha's inspiration to his ultimate goal, the river

When Siddhartha leaves the town and returns to the river, he feels miserable and shame. He ponders the paths he has taken in search of enlightenment. Hopelessly, Siddhartha contemplates suicide. When he is deliberating, “the Om touched Siddhartha’s ears, he slumbering spirit suddenly awoke and it recognized the folly of his action”(79). This inner voice of Om awakes Siddhartha and finally saves him.

It could argued that our common-sense notion of endurance through time is incorrect. That this mistaken self-conception lead us to experience the passage of time. If so, this would be illusory no? And if this enduring ‘me’ is an illusion then so is the passage of time.