Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse~ A Discovery of Self!
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There is no set path that is uniformly applicable to all.
The
characters Siddhartha, Govinda, Kamla, Vasudeva clearly depict this in the
book. And, I think, that’s the beauty- our own discovery to inner self.
Truth is just too intimate, one like Siddhartha has to
experiment, keep on learning, keep on moving.
The story depicts how Siddhartha lived his choices as a
brahmin’s son, then a samana, a rich merchant, Kamala’s lover, ferryman’s
student , a grieving father and ultimately a wise ferryman.
However, in all the roles that Siddhartha played- he deep
inside has only one intention- just to know the Truth :-
As Saint Kabir Saheb Ji says-
मैं बौरी मेरे राम भरतार
ता कारण रचि करियों श्रृंगार ||
(The couplet means that
anything done with an intent to seek the Highest/Krishna/Ram (call Him by any
name) – is just okay. The journey doesn’t bar you in living a life full of
desires as long as Ram stays at the centre.)
And here, all the
struggles, all the comforts, riches attained by Siddhartha is being done with an intent
towards liberation.
And, no matter what
actions being performed- whether accumulating wealth, making love with
courtesan , gambling, leaving home and becoming a wanderer, and many
others, if at the centre resides
Ram/Krishna/Atman – all of them are just okay.
This lesson, I recently
learnt from my Vedanta philosophy classes from Acharya Prashant, so mentioning
it here.
In the entire story, one thing, I have clearly found- how Siddhartha – the protagonist been so skilled in taking out a new turn at any stage in his life that conveys that he has never sought security.
You will see how
determined he became to leave his father’s house to search his own path, how
mockingly he left his life of samanas, how gracefully he met Buddha and denied
to accept his teachings, how daringly he approached Kamala and asked for her
love, how he learnt the art of business, and gambled away with all the wealth
he accumulated, and turned to the river and become a ferryman peacefully.
I loved the independent choices he made in his life without
any regrets, because most of the time, we feel guilty of the choices we make in
terms of career, job, relationships and what not and Siddhartha’s role clearly
depicts that choices can be reversed. In fact, I could link it with one of the
videos I watched recently. Here is the link.
His transition at every stage has hit me; hit me because
my greatest fear has been security all the while and Siddhartha was living his
life, experimenting as if everything here is a game. No matter, how much I imagined
of a free life, I could clearly see, how deep inside, my mind loves security
because since birth- I have been raised in a complete secure environment with
all the basic needs being met.
And now, whenever, I want to challenge this security and
break the walls- I fail only to find being a slave of body, society and this
illusion of time; and its heart breaking.
Its only our Actions that define us-
Among many other quotes- my favorite one is-
“Not in his speech, not in his thoughts, I see his
greatness, only in his actions, in his life.”
“Love, O Govinda, seems to me to be the most important
thing of all.”
This is my favorite because I know I am so lazy when it
comes to action and realize my full potential, and only reason for my laziness
and overthinking is - I am empty of love.
My struggle lies just here- Right action driven by love’ .
And, this love is the love for liberation, which anyways we all are
destined to, but at present, just being in the clutches of Maya.
On Nirvana/Enlightenment-
I would also like to share about the thoughts which I came
across while reading this book on Nirvana/Enlightenment.
It says- “There is no thing which would be Nirvana;
there is just the word Nirvana.”
During my initial days, teenager days- when I accidently
started reading spiritual books, I came across this word- enlightenment and how
this word is fascinated by those who didn’t know a thing about self-knowledge
and I being no exception to that.
There are so many stories by so called spiritual gurus in
the market fooling common man around this future stage of achieving something.
Well! Its only, when, recently, I was introduced to Vedanta/
Bhagavad Gita by teacher Acharya Prashant, I understood that there is no such
stage, where one has to reach. Life is just a moment by moment process, right
now, a right action brings you joy, and a wrong one brings you suffering. That’s
it- its all about choices which is available every moment.
And, to me- this was a kind of relief as well as an eye
opener, because this word has been so degraded and degenerated today, and I really
wish people stay away for the fancy stories revolving around this.
A Goodbye Note-
When I read this book around 7 years back for the first time
in the year 2017, I actually became afraid of the Siddhartha of how he denied-
Buddha’s teachings as well, because at
that time, I felt Buddha’s teachings is universal and there is no other way, though, I was enchanted by his search and
learning from the river and finding his own way out.
Today, when I read this again, I didn’t get afraid of
Siddhartha, rather, am finding his actions bold and courageous. At least
inspiring in a way that life is all about learning, and making continuous
choices and living them fully and when the time comes- move on.
I like how he completely drench himself in fear, in disdain,
in mockery, in gambling, in love, in grief yet remained untouched by it.
Well, at best, I would try not to overburden my shoulders
and mind with the past choices I made with respect to life and of course, would
move on.
To me, this book is a kind of mirror to my life- because,
let’s be honest, for me, a lot of my tendencies needs to be worked upon.
What lessons and characters inspire you?
Let us know in the comment below.
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