Siddhartha Religion

A common theme in religion is the idea that mankind is innately connected to the divine, like two sides of the same coin. While some deeply respect and even fear the gods, others, however, seek to become involved in them. In the short story “The Last Question,” Asimov’s proposed future shows mankind struggling to outlast the eventual decay of the universe by forming a collective consciousness. Herman Hesse explores a similar idea in “Siddhartha,” in which our main character Siddhartha attempts to reach enlightenment. Analyzing the two of these works shows that humans seek to obtain unity, and that this desire is symbolic of the divine.

It is said that an individual’s ambition reflects insecurities in him or herself. When our young Siddhartha …show more content…
To Siddhartha, however, it means something even stronger. In his old age, far along his journey to enlightenment, he comes upon a river. In it, he sees “the image of his father, his own image, the image of his son merged, [the image of his partner] also appeared and was dispersed, and the image of [his friend], and other images, and they merged with each other, turned all into the river, headed all, being the river, for the goal, longing, desiring, suffering, and the river’s voice sounded full of yearning, full of burning woe, full of unsatisfiable desire” (Hesse 134). This river, to Siddhartha, is symbolic of literally everything, and thus, is the perfect embodiment of unity. The key in this idea is that Siddhartha believes this very idea leads one to enlightenment. As he watches his mentor Vasudeva leave him, Siddhartha sees “his steps full of peace, his face glowing, his form full of light” (Hesse 137). Whether this is precisely what Siddhartha physically saw or not, it is clear that Vasudeva has achieved something beyond regular humans- in fact, one could make the argument that he has obtained divinity. This divinity is drawn in parallel in the march of time in Asimov’s story. As science progresses, the question of