The Journey to Enlightenment
In “Siddhartha” By Hermann Hesse Siddhartha renounces Gotama as a teacher, as well as every other teacher that comes in his path. Siddhartha believes that enlightenment cannot be taught, one must discover the ways to achieve self enlightenment.He believes that attaining knowledge will not help a person achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha believed that Wisdom leads to Nirvana. . As siddhartha travels from one group of people to the next, he gains knowledge, but as he gains knowledge he questions if or if not this knowledge is actually helping him. As he departs from the Brahmans to the Samanas and so on, he leaves learning about a new piece of knowledge that he believes will help him achieve nirvana. These new …show more content…
From the Samanas he learned “how to take many paths away from self”(8). “He took the path of liberation from self through meditation, by consciously emptying his mind of all ideas”(8). Yet, Siddhartha felt as if something was missing, he felt as if what he was learning was useless. As he observed the Samanas he saw that they have been constantly acquiring knowledge but not one of them had achieved enlightenment. Siddhartha talked about his elder Samanas with Govinda “Our elder is about sixty years old, He has become sixty years old and has never attained nirvana. He will become seventy and eighty, and you and i shall become just as old, and shall do exercises, and shall fast, and shall meditate. But we shall never attain nirvana, not he, not we. O Govinda I believe that, of all the Samanas who exist, perhaps not one , will believe that, of all the samanas who exist, perhaps …show more content…
Siddhartha then decided to leave the Samanas and acquire knowledge from someone new, he hears about a man "who had overcome the sorrow of the world within himself bringing the world of rebirths to a halt"(11). This man was Gotama the Buddha. Siddhartha had heard about the Buddha through the Samanas. He had learned that this man "whose mere words or insufflation are able to cure every victim of the epidemic;" (12). Siddhartha learned that this man had reached a state of pure enlightenment. “The believers said that he possessed the loftiest knowledge, that he remembered his previous lives, that he had attained nirvana and would never return to the cycle of existences, would never again sink into the troubled current of created forms"(12).Siddhartha and his friend Govinda set out to see this man in person and listen to his teachings. After attending Buddha’s Seminars Siddhartha set out to talk to the Buddha. He wanted to tell the buddha that there was a flaw in his teachings. “ And yet according to your own doctrine this unity and consequentiality of all things is interpreted in one place: through a small gap there flows into the unified world something strange to it, something new, something that did not previously exist, and that cannot be shown or prove:it is your doctrine of overcoming the world of salvation. But this small gap, by this small breach, the whole eternal and unified world
In “Siddhartha” By Hermann Hesse Siddhartha renounces Gotama as a teacher, as well as every other teacher that comes in his path. Siddhartha believes that enlightenment cannot be taught, one must discover the ways to achieve self enlightenment.He believes that attaining knowledge will not help a person achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha believed that Wisdom leads to Nirvana. . As siddhartha travels from one group of people to the next, he gains knowledge, but as he gains knowledge he questions if or if not this knowledge is actually helping him. As he departs from the Brahmans to the Samanas and so on, he leaves learning about a new piece of knowledge that he believes will help him achieve nirvana. These new …show more content…
From the Samanas he learned “how to take many paths away from self”(8). “He took the path of liberation from self through meditation, by consciously emptying his mind of all ideas”(8). Yet, Siddhartha felt as if something was missing, he felt as if what he was learning was useless. As he observed the Samanas he saw that they have been constantly acquiring knowledge but not one of them had achieved enlightenment. Siddhartha talked about his elder Samanas with Govinda “Our elder is about sixty years old, He has become sixty years old and has never attained nirvana. He will become seventy and eighty, and you and i shall become just as old, and shall do exercises, and shall fast, and shall meditate. But we shall never attain nirvana, not he, not we. O Govinda I believe that, of all the Samanas who exist, perhaps not one , will believe that, of all the samanas who exist, perhaps …show more content…
Siddhartha then decided to leave the Samanas and acquire knowledge from someone new, he hears about a man "who had overcome the sorrow of the world within himself bringing the world of rebirths to a halt"(11). This man was Gotama the Buddha. Siddhartha had heard about the Buddha through the Samanas. He had learned that this man "whose mere words or insufflation are able to cure every victim of the epidemic;" (12). Siddhartha learned that this man had reached a state of pure enlightenment. “The believers said that he possessed the loftiest knowledge, that he remembered his previous lives, that he had attained nirvana and would never return to the cycle of existences, would never again sink into the troubled current of created forms"(12).Siddhartha and his friend Govinda set out to see this man in person and listen to his teachings. After attending Buddha’s Seminars Siddhartha set out to talk to the Buddha. He wanted to tell the buddha that there was a flaw in his teachings. “ And yet according to your own doctrine this unity and consequentiality of all things is interpreted in one place: through a small gap there flows into the unified world something strange to it, something new, something that did not previously exist, and that cannot be shown or prove:it is your doctrine of overcoming the world of salvation. But this small gap, by this small breach, the whole eternal and unified world