From Eternity to Momentary: Siddhartha's Journey in Hesse's Siddhartha
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of English
Abstract
The understanding of Self has been the all time challenge forall spiritual
thinkers, teachers, and seekers. Siddhartha, the hero of Hesse's novel Siddhartha, also
endeavors to understand the Self. He leaves family back along with the entire
possibility of material prosperity for the spiritual quest. The hero struggles for years to
reach his goal. Hisinitial quest for understanding Self clashes with his experience and
destroys his earlier idea of eternity of the Self. In his quest for the Self, Siddhartha
negates its eternity to establish the idea of its momentariness that is constructed by his
desires, actions, and experiences. Siddhartha rejects the notion of Self as the divine,
immortal Soul. After years-long struggle and experience, he realizes that there is no
permanent Self to represent the cycle of rebirth.Siddhartha realizes that everything
culminates in nothingness and the Self is just an impression constructed by different
aspects of experiences and desires.