Siddhartha
question
Search and Significance of Enlightenment
Mahrosh
Jul 18, 2017 11:08PM
Throughout the novel, we see Siddhartha thirsty for knowledge and struggling to find his inner Self and enlightenment. He is a role model for everyone around him, but "his intellect was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still. The ablutions were good, but they were water; they did not wash sins away, they did not relieve the distressed heart" (3). Struggling to end his thirst for knowledge and finding the path of enlightenment, he constantly changes paths to find peace. He goes from being a honorable Brahman to a Samana to a greedy merchant in the love of woman, all of which don’t provide him with the enlightenment he seeks.
In the end of the novel, Siddhartha discovers that knowledge doesn’t come in rituals, teachings, and written down memories, because once words are used, enlightenment from that knowledge “lacks totality” and becomes “one - sided” (115). He learns that is not just teachings but the experiences such as love, sufferings, and loneliness that will lead to the ultimate inner peace.
Is it necessary for someone to follow many different paths in their life to find enlightenment?
In the end of the novel, Siddhartha discovers that knowledge doesn’t come in rituals, teachings, and written down memories, because once words are used, enlightenment from that knowledge “lacks totality” and becomes “one - sided” (115). He learns that is not just teachings but the experiences such as love, sufferings, and loneliness that will lead to the ultimate inner peace.
Is it necessary for someone to follow many different paths in their life to find enlightenment?
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It depends of what you consider by enlightenment. If it is knowing the true nature of Nature. To truly understand the world, I think experience is conditio sine qua non. Amount and variety of it needed varies from person to person and their ability to connect its dots and be truthful. That's my way of seeing it.
But Tao that can be told is not Tao. :)
But Tao that can be told is not Tao. :)
I think what was the true turning point in the book was when Siddhartha realized that even Gotama's, The Exalted One's teaching, would not help him fulfill his quest.I think that at the river he truly reaches enlightenment because he is firstly awakened by OM. Also, he realizes that life is eternal because the feelings he feels when his son leaves him are the same feelings that his dad felt when Siddhartha left him.
I believe that we don't necessarily have to follow many different paths, but the path that we believe can help us discover our true potential.
I believe that we don't necessarily have to follow many different paths, but the path that we believe can help us discover our true potential.
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