Transcript Herman Hesse*s Siddhartha: An Introduction to Buddhism and

Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha: An
Introduction to Buddhism and
Hinduism
Herman Hesse
-Born in southern Germany in 1877
-Came from a family of missionaries,
scholars, and writers with strong ties to
India.
-This early exposure to the philosophies
and religions of Asia provided Hesse
with some of the most pervasive
elements in his short stories and novels,
especially Siddhartha (1922)
Siddhartha, set in India, clearly owes much to
Indian religions.
Elements of both Hindu and Buddhist thought are
present, and it is useful to make distinctions
between them when the sources of the novel are
discussed.
Buddhism
Siddhartha is one of the names of the
historical Gotama, and the life of Hesse's
character resembles that of his historical
counterpart to some extent.
Siddhartha is by no means a fictional life
of Buddha, but it does contain numerous
references to Buddha and his teachings.
The basic teaching of Buddha is
formulated in the Four Noble Truths and
the Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths
1. Suffering exists
2. This suffering arises from the human desire for
things, and this desire can never be satisfied
3. There is a way to achieve a release
from suffering
4. The manner of overcoming suffering and
attaining true knowledge is the Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path
-leads to the cessation of suffering
1. Right understanding - a person must first discover and experience the
correctness of the Four Noble Truths (it is not sufficient to profess a
superficial belief)
2. Right resolution - A person must resolve to follow the correct path.
3. Right speech
4. Right behavior
5. Right livelihood
6. Right efforts
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right contemplation
- By these means, the follower of Buddha can arrive at Nirvana
-Nirvana, or Enlightenment,
is the supreme state free
from suffering and
individual existence.
-The ultimate goal of
Buddhism.
-The attainment of nirvana
breaks the otherwise
endless rebirth cycle of
reincarnation. Buddhists
also consider nirvana as
freedom from all worldly
concerns such as greed,
hate, and ignorance.
-No one can describe in
words what nirvana is. It
can only be experienced
directly.
Nirvana
Hinduism
Dharma – the natural path of righteousness
• Goal – worldly joy or supreme happiness
• Vedas & Upanishads – codes of righteousness and
conduct that define dharma
Karma – actions of the
body and mind.
• Good karma is
gained by living
according to dharma
Moksha – supreme
spiritual happiness &
union of soul and all
existence
Reincarnation – cycle of death and
rebirth
• Belief that all living creatures
are reborn in a new body after
death
• Body that one receives in
rebirth is determined by karma
gained in previous life
• Attaining moksha (ultimate
spiritual peace) ends the cycle
of reincarnation
Brahma – the
Creator God
Vishnu – the
Maintainer God
Shiva – the
Destroyer/Transfo
rmer God
The Bhagavad Gita and Siddhartha
- A sacred Hindu text that follows the dialogue
between Krishna, a deity, and Arjuna, as
Krishna attempts to help Arjuna through
confusion and moral dilemmas.
-The dialogue assumes topics of philosophy that
are now considered to be central to Hinduism,
and also acts as a guide to living life.
-The basic central problems of Siddhartha and
the Gita are similar: how can the hero attain a
state of total happiness and serenity by means
of a long and arduous path?
The path in the Gita:
Action -> Knowledge -> Wisdom
Action - produced by acceptance of the Divine element in an individual
Knowledge - of the Self and of the Absolute, which ultimately are revealed to
be identical.
-The renouncing of all earthly attachments is a necessary component of
each of the first two stages of development.
-A kind of self-fulfillment is stressed.
- An individual must find and follow his own path, for the ultimate goal
cannot be attained by any form of imitation, however noble and
admirable the model or teacher may be.
Wisdom - the final, and highest, stage is characterized by reverence and
wisdom. The seeker reveres and even worships the Absolute, with which he
is identical.
Hesse's hero seeks his own path to
fulfillment.
Siddhartha is identified with the Buddha,
possessing the given name of the person who
historically came to be known as the Buddha.
The early events in the life of the novel's
protagonist closely parallel the traditional
story of the Buddha's life.
In the third chapter of the book, the fictional
character, Siddhartha, meets Gotama, a
portrayal of the historical Buddha.