Kyle Park
Siddhartha
March 11th, 2025
A friend recently recommended Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. An incredible read on finding truths through your own life experiences and the importance of finding inner peace. Hesse also emphasizes this idea of moving with purpose rather than focusing on getting from point A to point B, only to realize that point B isn't entirely fulfiling and you end up working blindly toward the next checkpoint in your life. Siddhartha and Buddhist philosophy often refer to this endless cycle of craving and dissatisfaction as samsara, and liberation from this relentless pursuit as nirvana. I hope to revisit some of these themes soon but wanted to share a few excerpts that particularly stood out so I have reference points for the future.
Chapter 4, "Awakening"
"What is it that you wanted to learn from teachings and teachers, and although they taught you much, what was it they could not teach you? And he thought: It was the Self, the character and nature of which I wished to learn. I wanted to rid myself of the Self, to conquer it, but I could not conquer it, I could only deceive it, could only fly from it, could only hide from it." (p.31)
Chapter 6, "Amongst the People"
"Most people [...] are like a falling leaf that drifts and turns in the air, flutters, and falls to the ground. But a few others are like stars which travel one defined path: no wind reaches them, they have within themselves their guide and path." (p.58)
Chapter 12, "Govinda"
"'When someone is seeking,' said Siddhartha, 'it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal." (p.113)
"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." (p.115)
"The world, Govinda, is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a long path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment; every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people––eternal life. It is not possible for one person to see how far another is on the way. [...] During deep meditation it is possible to dispel time, to see simultaneously all the past, present and future, and then everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman. Therefore, it seems to me that everything that exists is good––death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly. Everything is necessary, everything needs only my agreement, my assent, my loving understanding; then all is well with me and nothing can harm me." (p.116)
"It seems to me, Govinda, that love is the most important thing in the world. It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect." (p.119)