Siddhartha - Finding the Middle Path - Essay Example

Siddhartha Siddhartha-Finding the middle path Siddhartha found the middle path by living in the two extreme paths in life. Siddhartha is the son ofa Brahmin, and with his family, he enjoys a privileged life. He is much loved by his family and by his good friend Govinda. Siddhartha however had a thirst to know more about life, and to attain the state of Nirvana. And so with his father’s reluctant permission he set out to live among a group of ascetics who called themselves the Samana. His faithful friend Govinda goes with him on this journey. Among the Samanas they lived and learned to live without food, water, and other necessities in the hope of attaining Nirvana. During this process he becomes dissatisfied with his life and is contemptuous of the world and the things in it. He grew thin from too much fasting, which made him too weak for his meditations. He found out that this was not the way to attain Nirvana, and so he and Govinda leave the Samanas. They next hear of Buddha who teaches about peace, completeness, the unity of creation, and the causes and effects of life. Siddhartha chooses not to take Buddha’s path in attaining Nirvana. Govinda however chose to stay with and learn the teachings of Buddha. Siddhartha travels on and finds pleasure and companionship in a woman named Kamala. He also establishes his own trade and becomes wealthy in this venture. But soon, he again is not content with this life and leaves Kamala. He next finds himself by a river contemplating suicide. And in this river, he finds a semblance of peace. He finds out that the middle way does not lie in the extremes of life. Living in the extremes of life did not attain for Siddhartha the peace and Nirvana he desired. Instead, he found out that living life just right, in the middle way, is the right path to choose. Siddhartha and the River The function of the river in this novel is to bring peace and realization into Siddhartha’s life. Through the river, he almost met his end; instead he found a new beginning and a new purpose in life. Through the river he saw his past and the paths he took in order to reach this point in his life. In relating this to the Buddhist principles, the river signifies the continuous flow of life. The Buddhist principles very much reflect on the river as it shows us the flow and continuity of life, how the river is its own beginning, middle, and end. It is in finding ourselves; in contemplation and meditation can we truly understand and reach inner peace. The river appears many times throughout Siddhartha’s life, and mostly in vital stages of his life. At those points in his life, he often saw the river as an obstacle he had to cross to get to where he wanted to be. And in each of these stages, the river represented his journey, his struggles and his inner turmoil. This river is very significant to Buddhism because it speaks about the struggles that each pilgrim must take to get to the other side; or in the end, to find their peace in their struggle to get to the other side. Through the river, Buddhism teaches us how we are often preoccupied with getting to the end of the finish line, that we often miss the important lessons our journey can teach us. The important realization that this novel teaches us about Buddhism and about life in general, is that life is a journey, not a destination. Siddhartha and His Son Hesse’s purpose for having this theme is to allow the character to come full circle. It shows us how Siddhartha has now become so much like his father when it comes to dealing with his son. Hesse’s purpose in having this theme in this book is to allow the character a moment of self-realization, a startling look in the mirror into the boy he once was. He did not like what he saw, he did not like that his son was showing many of his qualities when he was a boy. But in this realization, he discovered his unconditional love for his son. Hesse shows us how we often seek to find our own ways and our own lives independent of our families. And yet, no matter what paths we take in our lives, no matter how different these paths are from our families, we still end up so much like them. We still end up with the same emotions and attitudes we reject or dislike about our families. And yet, one overall emotion will always remain at the very core of our family no matter how far away we are from them and no matter how different we set ourselves apart from them, and that emotion is love. This theme helps Siddhartha attain Nirvana by allowing him to look back on his life, on his struggles, his pain, and his joys, and see the boy he once was in his son. He now understood how his father must have felt when he insisted on leaving their home. And this realization was a startling look into his life and the decisions he made in his life. Govinda Govinda is Siddhartha’s best friend. He is a perfect companion for Siddhartha in his quest for Nirvana. Govinda is devoted to Siddhartha in so many ways, sometimes, to the point of not having a real identity beyond that of being Siddhartha’s best friend. And when he seeks to establish his own self and his own identity, we lose sight of him. And he reappears only in the capacity of again illustrating the changes that have happened to Siddhartha’s life. Govinda’s purpose as a character in this novel is to show us how Siddhartha’s life would have turned out if he followed the teachings of Buddha. His relationship is important to Siddhartha because he was a good friend and a good support system for Siddhartha. He watched over Siddhartha at many vital points in his life, when they were with the Samanas, when they were with Buddha, when Siddhartha lay by the riverbank, and when Siddhartha finally found his Nirvana. And in the end, it was not the one who stayed with Buddha who had the precious words of wisdom to share, it was Siddhartha. It was Siddhartha who could speak about the lessons he learned in his tempestuous life, and in an ironic twist of fate, Govinda was able to see how Siddhartha’s wisdom nearly mirrored that of Buddha’s. And Govinda could see that the struggles of both great men shaped their life and their inner peace. Govinda’s relationship with Siddhartha is important in the plot and themes of this novel because they illustrate that the significant changes and struggles in our lives are those that shape our character. Govinda’s relationship with Siddhartha shows us how each of our separate journeys can impact on the outcome of our lives. Our individual paths shape our lives. Govinda chose to find his nirvana in the teachings of a man who already found his; and Siddhartha chose to find his nirvana by looking for it himself. In the end, they turned out to be two vastly different people, Siddhartha now becoming the teacher and Govinda still the faithful follower. Read More