During Part 1 of Siddhartha, Siddhartha’s path for enlightenment evolved steadily. In the first chapter, it is evident that he was not satisfied with his life. Hesse makes it known that Siddhartha “did not bring joy to himself, he did not delight himself” (4). Even though he is well-known and loved in his community, it is implied that his life was not complete. He has not been enlightened yet even though he has listened to the teachers and read all the books; his “vessel was not full…his soul was not tranquil” (5). I feel like the community had blocked his entrance onto his own path towards enlightenment because the cultural practices (meditation, sacrifices) restricts growth outside the fetters of the culture; Siddhartha had to leave and escape the chains of the community in order to find enlightenment. His quest for enlightenment begins in this chapter when he leaves his family to pursue becoming a Samana.
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I believe that Siddhartha is trying to articulate that one does not need to have the basic essentials of life to live the “good life”. He self-tortures himself by fasting and doing rigorous challenges. Because he kept losing his sense of self and then found himself again, he was still not enlightened. Hesse points out, however, that learning and knowing are different; Everyone has basic knowledge, but the idea of learning doe not exist because we can only know the world from our personal experiences, not the teachings of
I believe that Siddhartha is trying to articulate that one does not need to have the basic essentials of life to live the “good life”. He self-tortures himself by fasting and doing rigorous challenges. Because he kept losing his sense of self and then found himself again, he was still not enlightened. Hesse points out, however, that learning and knowing are different; Everyone has basic knowledge, but the idea of learning doe not exist because we can only know the world from our personal experiences, not the teachings of