Siddartha’s Journey
Uploaded by megatow on Dec 05, 2004
Siddhartha lends itself perfectly to a hero’s journey. His journey is long, painful, and dangerous, but Siddhartha comes out better because of it. The book was written by Hesse in 1922 and based on a character set in the 500 BCs. It is odd that the book applies to modern India just as it applied to the India of 2 millennium ago (when Siddhartha supposedly lived). This, coupled with a captivating story line makes this a fun book to read, as well as an interesting point of view into early Indian culture. Siddhartha searches for “why” we are on the Earth, and finally finds his answer after many long years.The book begins with Siddhartha as a young boy living with his Brahmin parents in a moderately wealthy city in India. His father is a rich and powerful Brahmin priest, and Siddhartha is expected to follow in his footsteps as a Brahmin. He learns the ways of his people quickly, and at a tender age, his is participating in conversations with his elders.This is the time when Siddhartha starts to here things preached to him. He may have already decided that he must find his own way of doing things instead of falling under the spell of his teachers and elders. He has a thirst for knowledge-- the author puts it well by saying that he is a “vessel that in not full”. He discovers that the elders and teachers have only placed a drop in the bucket for his quest of knowledge, but it is all they know. He is not happy with his lifestyle because he knows he must strike out into the world and discover for himself the ways of the world.Still young, Siddhartha tells his father that he wishes to join the wandering squad of possession-less Samanas. His father disagrees, but does not get violent. They have a standing disagreement, and Siddhartha stands by the window in protest all night long. In the morning, his father tells Siddhartha that he may join the Samanas if he wishes. His father tells him that if “you find bliss in the forest, you should come back and teach me. If you finds disillusionment, come back, and we shall again offer sacrifices to the gods together”. Siddhartha is called into the world to discover what knowledge there is out there for him, and to answer the question that nags at him--...