Siddhartha (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)

"Siddhartha" means "one who achieved his goals" or "every wish has been satisfied". The name of Buddha, before his renunciation, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later after attaining enlightenment he came to be called as Gautama Buddha. The literal meaning of Buddha is one who has attained Bodhi; and bodhi is meant wisdom, so Buddha means “the enlighten one”— the knower. I had wanted to read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse for a long time. I am not very fond of spiritual literature, and even shun it many times, but still something in this book caught my attention. I had heard enough good things about this author to understand that giving Siddhartha a chance was worth it. So I started it, driven more by impulse than by something painstakingly deliberate and planned. So I bought this book in around 2018 and read the first two chapters in two weeks. This may not speak highly of the literary or spiritual content of Siddhartha, but I actually feel that I failed to advance at an adequate speed because at that time I had not "opened up" to what Hesse could tell me. However, in 2020 during the lockdown, I gave him a chance again and tried to embark on reading in a different way, perhaps more private or personal; and, as you will see, I have already finished it. And I must accept that it was an extraordinary journey, through which I traveled with the Sramana Siddhartha in his search for supreme wisdom and peace of the soul in a voyeuristic but no less authentic way. When it comes to Hesse, there is no need to talk about how well written his novel is, about the perfect approach he makes to nature, about the poetry that jumps off the pages when he talks about man and his tribulations. When it comes to Hesse all this is inherent, it is preferable, I think now, to speak of sensations. Siddhartha, speaks to us about many things, is very spiritual and deep in the sense of self, being and soul. It is a book that can be read quickly, in two days if you have time, but I think you have to take it gently, in order to understand it, at least try to understand it and I think that I had to read it often, to be able to give it meaning of words, although some are clearer than water. The many teachings that the book has is a mystery, because there are several, the philosophical sense, the venerable, cultured interior answer, depth of knowledge and knowledge. The plot is narrated from the perspective of Siddhartha, son of Brahmans (priestly caste of India), who cannot find through regulated religiosity a way to satisfy his thirst for knowledge, his desire to find the first cause of things. Therefore, he decides to leave and go his own way in search of the ultimate truth of life. In my view it is precisely the words of Hesse that make this novel such a delicacy. Its symbolism, its universality and the delicate simplicity when expressing Siddhartha's reflections, his fears and concerns, the questions inherent to the human condition. Making an interpretation of the work from its universal philosophical intentionality, I praise the quality of Hesse and I prefer what, for me, is the main message of the work; each one must trace his own path, we must be our own guide. In Siddhartha's words: “I will no longer allow Siddhartha to escape me! I will no longer occupy my thoughts and my life in the search for the Atman or with inquiries about the suffering of the world. I am not going to kill myself again and fragment myself to search for a mystery behind the ruins. I will no longer be instructed by the "Yoga-Veda", the "Atharva-Veda", the ascetics or any other doctrine. I want to learn about myself, be my own disciple, know myself and penetrate this enigma called Siddhartha " Words of Wisdom “Once you hear this phrase: you are wise when it is useless. He believed that only time and perseverance teach us.” “Premature knowledge is just a mere illusion of true knowledge that only arises in the middle of the years and the different experiences of life.” “I have needed time to learn, and I still have not managed to understand that nothing can be learned! How true!” “Words are harmful to the secret meaning of things; everything changes slightly when we express it, it seems a bit distorted, a bit silly ... " “The human does not know how to live and does not know what he lives for, he has erroneous dreams and vain goals, we despise what we should love and we love what we should hate. Little by little we move away from our humanity and meaning, but we do not get to see the ambiguous paths that we choose, we do not see the paths that society itself has implanted for us to follow.” Concluding thoughts As this story tells us, wisdom cannot be taught. Decomposing information into language may become feasible, but it is not so with experience. Wisdom is achieved through the inner being, from the outside to the inside, and it is highly personal. Similarly, Siddhartha, somewhat contradictorily, can make many ideas clear, some somewhat controversial and others revealing. It is a reading that I highly recommend, as long as it is read with an open mind. I cannot say more since this path must be traveled by oneself and discovered in private. So here you go, go ahead and let yourself go.

The highly influential and infamously popular book Siddharth by Hermann Hesse is a remarkable text that every spiritual seeker needs to read. It depicts the story of a young man named Siddhartha who is on a quest for knowledge and a deeper understanding of himself. Here’s a Brief Plot Synopsis of Siddhartha The context of Hesse’s novel begins with the life of Siddhartha. He is born into a prominent Indian-Brahman (priest caste in India) family where his childhood was surrounded by religious texts, spiritual teachings, and devotion. From the beginning, the young Siddhartha is wise beyond his years. He adheres to a lifestyle of meditation and simplicity. Siddhartha has everything he needs but chooses to leave it all in search for his life’s purpose. An excerpt from the book highlights this: “Within Siddhartha there slowly grew and ripened the knowledge of what wisdom really was and the goal of his long seeking. It was nothing but a preparation of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life.” Siddhartha is an avid truth-seeker, and his ascetic nature at a young age propels him to leave home and live with monks known as Samanas. His childhood friend Govinda accompanies him on this journey. Here they both learn to live with no attachments, minimal food, and live the life as nomads. We Can Learn Something From Every Moment Along the journey, Siddhartha becomes part of a sacred tribe and learns the value of stillness, breath, and fasting. The Samana way teaches Siddhartha a deeper connection with all living beings and creatures – feeling at peace with the process of birth and death, just like the cycle of life. A pivotal moment in Hermann Hesse’s novel is encountering a character by the name of the Ferryman (Vasudeva). Siddhartha, as a young man, learns the language of the river and nature from the Ferryman: “Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.” Every interaction Siddhartha has within the novel shapes his soul in a profound way. Siddhartha does not realize until later, however, that the spiritual path is within his soul – always present within his entire existence and in alignment with his purpose. At the end of the text, Siddhartha is reunited with his friend Govinda. While they’re speaking, Siddhartha asks his dear friend to gently press against his forehead. At that moment, you see that Siddhartha illuminates a magnetic force within himself and he is connected to everything. Every sage, ancestor, lineages were felt by Govinda. Siddhartha finally realized that the source was always within him in his older age. The seeking finally came to an end. Here Are 7 Life-Changing Lessons You’ll Learn from Siddhartha: There are many valuable life lessons presented in this narrative – lessons that are worth reviewing if you’ve already read Siddhartha and lessons that are worth cracking the book open if you haven’t: 1. You are your own guru Respect and learn from others, but don’t hold anyone’s power or wisdom above your own. 2. Your journey is not like anyone else’s Embrace your unique path and avoid playing the comparison game. 3. In life, there will always be challenges Embrace life’s challenges as necessary for your evolution – they’re here to teach you! 4. Release the impulse to constantly seek the next big thing Replace this impulse with an ability to remain open, aware, and humble. Ultimately this is how we grow. 5. Presence is key to evolution Like the river’s journey in the story, we learn that our actions of today are what define us. 6. You must live by – and trust – your life purpose We each have a unique gift and purpose to share with the world. Find yours and live by that compass. 7. Change is the only constant By trusting yourself and the Universe, you can begin to flow with the waves of change, rather than resist them. Indeed, Siddhartha teaches us many valuable lessons about living an awakened, conscious, and spiritual existence. when you finish the last page and let the wisdom and inspiration wash over you like a transcendent wave.

Its worth reading even if you are not a spiritual person

Read this book 3 years ago and today also as new and as deep it could be .A masterpiece that's written in such a simple language, the book deals in great depth with some of the most complex philosophical, spiritual, and psychological themes. Siddhartha is the story of one man's quest for meaning and it's a good one. Since it's a classic AND translated from German, I wasn't expecting an easy read but you can't keep it without reading in one go. This is a story of the complexity in the simplicity of life, and a story of the simplicity in the complexity of life. A story of growing younger in terms of knowing nothing, and a story of growing older in terms of knowing more. A story of how important friendship and companionship are; and a story of how worthless the attachments in the large scheme of overall life are. The story of a meeting place of Atman & Parmatman, and the story of the place of their separation. The story of quest for knowledge, and the story of living in ignorance. Pure, melodic, poetic, this book should be one of the first ones on the list for every serious reader:Hesse writes with simplicity, yet manages to impart such depth of thought. While it's a novel, it's also pretty inspirational. There are nuggets of wisdom to be mined from it. My favorite is that wisdom can't be taught but it can be learned. eg Also this book has nothing to do with Siddhartha or Buddhist teachings © but a story of a man named Siddhartha set up in ancient India at the time of Gautam Budh teachings were getting popular. and written in 1922 still so true and fascinates me with the depth and profoundness.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Read and one must read this one in lifetime .

As the river, the book will remain the same. We will change. And that will create a new experience and more depth every time. Can’t wait to re-read it in some years.

After reading a few pages, you will get used to the style of the author. It seemed to me that his words contain a structure a language that is very pleasant to read. It is as if I am watching a river flowing in front of me. With recurrence, with hierarchical patterns, the patterns emerge and dissolve in the never-ending flow. You will experience a good feeling after every time you finish reading a page, there will be so much peace in your heart. There will be no rushing to finish it, no expectations, and no big twists in the story. But you will just listen to the story, like a child listening to a bedtime story. Good luck!

The book is perfect for people interested in philosophy. Also anyone on a road of self-discovery and looking of answers to the questions of life and love and inner peace should read. The narrative is slowly paced and very colorful.

I read this book and saw the movie many years ago as a teenager. It had a profound impact on me then. Now, as I enter my golden years, I picked it up again to see whether it had the same pull as before. The pull was greater this time. Hesse, perhaps out of respect, and wanting to create fictional protagonists out of religious leaders, creates the fictional character of Siddhartha, one who has the same name as the Buddha. He lives during the time of the Buddha. Siddhartha’s life follows a similar path of the Buddha: born into privilege, rejecting comfort and taking up the ascetic life at a young age, discovering its limitations and taking the middle path to enlightenment, and ending his days as a great teacher and spiritual leader. In fact, the fictional Siddhartha meets the older Buddha and tells him that living by others’ teachings, something he had done as a Brahman and later as a Samana, is insubstantial; Siddhartha wants to experience enlightenment, just as the Buddha has done. The Buddha smiles, as if to say, “The road ahead is long and tortuous.” Siddhartha, therefore, leaves the life of an ascetic Samana where his only skills are of waiting, fasting and thinking, to lead the sensual life. He takes up with the courtesan Kamala, becomes a successful businessman, and accumulates wealth. He gives into lust, and gambling, but finds both to be masks that hide his continued dissatisfaction. “I was afraid of myself, I was fleeing from myself! I searched Atman (soul), I searched Brahman, I was willing to dissect my self and peel off all its layers, to find the core of all peels in its unknown interior, the Atman, life, the divine part, the ultimate part. But I have lost myself in the process.” He finally leaves the worldly life too, heading for the river, a place where enlightenment will finally come, but only after learning the pain of love. The river is a metaphor for the circular nature of life and the confluence of all desires and sufferings: flowing, evaporating, condensing and flowing once more. Everything and everyone that goes upstream, finally returns downstream, and the water flows everywhere simultaneously, making the past and the future irrelevant, making only the present matter. There are some beautiful words of wisdom in this book, although Siddhartha claims that wisdom is intrinsic to the individual and cannot be transferred, as he had once complained to the Buddha. 1) Everyone can perform magic; everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, to wait, and to fast. 2) Writing is good, thinking is better. Intelligence is good, but patience is better. 3) “There was nothing that the wise one or thinker possessed that put him above the rest of them except for one single, small, tiny thing: the awareness and conscious thought of the unity of all life.” 4) “I therefore see whatever exists as good. Death is like life to me, sin is like holiness, wisdom is like foolishness; everything has to be just as it is, and everything requires only my consent, willingness, and loving agreement to become good to me and work for my benefit, unable to ever harm me.” 5) “When someone is searching, then it can easily happen that the only thing his eyes see is that for which he is searching. He is then unable to find anything or let any thought enter his mind because he always thinks of nothing but the object of his search. He is obsessed by a goal; searching means having a goal. But finding means: being free, open, and having no goal.” The story is told in the form of a parable, full of wisdom and philosophy, low on the other elements of novelistic importance. Hesse was supposed to have had a less than fulfilling visit to India before he wrote this novel. But I suppose the insights in this book did not only come from that visit but from a continuous preoccupation on the purpose of life and the search for meaning. I highly recommend this read.

Spedizione: è stata perfetta. Nonostante l’edizione e’ in copertina flessibile da pochi soldi, il libro è arrivato nel giro di due giorni e in condizioni perfette. L’edizione è di formato piccolo, in modo da poterlo portare con se in viaggio. Il libro: chi sceglie questo libro è o un fan di Hesse o sta percorrendo una ricerca spirituale. E in entrambi i casi è un libro che vale la lettura. Anzi, più letture. Credo che la maggior parte dei lettori non riescano a cogliere le sfumature più profonde del pensiero orientale (ciò che Hesse è riuscito a fare in modo incredibile).