Siddhartha

by Hermann Hesse

Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.

To be sure, many verses from the holy books—especially the Upanishads of the Sama-Veda—spoke about these innermost and most important things—majestic verses. “Your soul is the whole world” was written there; it was also written that the person who slept in the deepest slumber went within to their innermost place and lived in Atman.

He often spoke to himself out of the Chandogya-Upanishad: “Verily, the name of the Brahman is Satyam—in truth, one who knows this enters daily into the heavenly world.”

“Om is the bow; the arrow is the soul, The Brahman is the arrow’s goal That one should continuously hit.”

Meditation

One goal loomed before Siddhartha, and only one: to become empty, to be empty of thirst, of wishing, of dreams—empty of all joy and pain. He wanted the self to die, to no longer be an “I”, to find peace with an empty heart. His goal was to stand open to the wonder of thoughts conceived in self-dissolution.

And Siddhartha spoke quietly, as if to himself: “What is mystic contemplation? What is an out-of-body experience? What is the cessation of breath? It is flight from one’s being, it’s a brief escape out of the agony of self-existence, it’s a momentary anesthetic against the pain and meaninglessness of life.

The thing that we call ‘learning’ is, in truth, nonexistent! It is inherent, oh my friend, in a knowledge that is everywhere, that is Atman; it is in me and in you and in every essence. I am starting to believe that this knowledge has no more aggressive enemy than learning and the desire for knowledge.”

“Whosoever immerses themselves in Atman through contemplation and a purified spirit will receive ineffable blessing in their heart.”

He did so because identifying causes, so it seemed to him, was the very essence of thinking, and by this act alone sensations turn into realizations and are not lost, but become entities and start to emit like rays of light what is inside of them.

“It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self from which I sought freedom and that I wanted to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it. I could only deceive it, flee from it, hide from it. Truly, nothing in this world has so occupied my thoughts as has my own self, the riddle of the fact I am alive, that I am distinct and separate from all others, that I am Siddhartha! And there is nothing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”

Knowing self

I want to learn from myself, want to be my student, want to get to know myself, the secret of Siddhartha.”

Being at peace with self.

love can be obtained by begging, buying, receiving it as a gift, or finding it in the street, but it cannot be stolen.

Everyone can perform magic; everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, to wait, and to fast.”

“Writing is good, thinking is better. Intelligence is good, but patience is better.”

encomium;

Most people, Kamala, are like a falling leaf that is blown and is turning around through the air, wavering and tumbling to the ground. But others, a few, are like stars: they go on a fixed course, no wind reaches them, and in themselves they have their law and their direction.

He learned to pay attention closely with a quiet heart, with patience, and with an open soul devoid of passion, wishes, judgment, and opinions.

Nothing was and nothing will be: everything is, and everything is present and has existence.”

Present

wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to pass on to someone always sounds like foolishness.”

Knowledge can be transferred, but not wisdom. It can be found and lived, and it is possible to be carried by it. Miracles can be performed with it, but it can’t be expressed and taught with words.

True wisdom