Siddhartha Herman Hesse

CRITICAL THINKING ACTIVITY

INTRODUCTION: Siddhartha is a story of a young Brahmin’s son in search of truth, knowledge, and peace. As a young man he sets out on a journey to find knowledge. He joins a wandering group of Samanas (ascetics) and for several years lives a life of self denial. He discovers that this type of existence will not provide him with the answers that he is seeking. He leaves the ascetics and begins to live a life of pleasure and desire. However, this existence is filled with temptation and erodes all the spiritual gains he had made until he his like all of the “child people.” He is taken over by his desires. Siddhartha eventually leaves this extravagant lifestyle and begins to live by the river. Once Siddhartha discovers how to truly listen, the river teaches him everything he had been searching for. Finally, his struggle between losing and finding the Self ends with peace, enlightenment. Due Date: You need to buy Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and answer the following questions. Answers are due the first day of school, August 20th. You will be able to answer each question while reading. Numbers one and ten may require outside research. THE ANSWERS MUST BE HAND WRITTEN NOT TYPED. Please restate the question in your answer. This will be a project grade worth 90 points. NOTE: The character Siddhartha that we follow is not the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama.

1. JUDAISM IS TO CHRISTIANITY AS HINDUISM IS TO BUDDHISM. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

2. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF “OM”? “Om is the bow, the arrow is the soul, Brahman is the arrow’s goal At which one aims unflinchingly.” 3. WHY DOESN’T SIDDHARTHA BECOME ONE OF GOTOMA’S FOLLOWERS?

REFERENCE THE FOLLOWING QUOTES. “. . . and so I think, O Illustrious One, that nobody finds salvation through teachings. To nobody, O Illustrious One, can you communicate in words and teaching what happened to you in the hour of your enlightenment. That is why I am going on my way—not to seek another and better doctrine, for I know there is none, but to leave all doctrines and all teachers and to reach my goal alone—or die” “Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish. . . . 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.” "I will learn from myself, be my own pupil; I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha"

4. WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SIDDHARTHA LOSING HIS FRIEND GOVINDA TO GOTAMA AND SIDDHARTHA’S “AWAKENING”? (HIS “AWAKENING” OCCURRED WHEN HE DECIDED TO LEAVE A LIFE OF ASCETISM AND GO LIVE IN THE WORLD)

5. AFTER WAKING UP BY THE RIVER, WHY DOES SIDDHARTHA SAY “I HAVE NOTHING, I CAN DO NOTHING, I HAVE LEARNED NOTHING. HOW WONDEROUS IT IS!”?

6. WHAT TRUTH DOES SIDDHARTHA FIND BECAUSE OF HIS LIFE EXPERIENCES? WHY COULDN’T GOVINDA FIND THIS TRUTH EVEN THOUGH HE DIRECTLY FOLLOWED THE BUDDHA?

7. HOW WAS SIDDHARTHA DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHERS WHO WERE SEEKING ENLIGHTMENT?

8. HOW IS VASUDEVA’S ABILITY TO LISTEN SO DEEPLY RELATED TO HIS BEING “NO FRIEND OF WORDS”?

9. HOW AND WHEN DOES SIDDHARTHA ULTIMATELY EXEMPLIFY THE EIGHTFOLD PATH IN THE STORY?

10. WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN NIRVANA (BUDDHISM) AND MOKSHA (HINDUISM)?

11. IF TRUE WISDOM AND ENLIGHTENMENT CANNOT BE TAUGHT, WHY DOES THE BUDDHA (THE REAL SIDDHARTHA) ATTEMPT TO TEACH IT?

12. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? (COMPARE YOUR INTERPRETATION TO SIDDHARTHA’S INTERPRETATION)

13. DO YOU THINK THAT SOMEONE HAS TO EXPERIENCE BOTH EXTREMES (GOOD TIMES AND BAD TIMES) IN ORDER TO FIND ENLIGHTENMENT?

14. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFIANCE OF THE RIVER IN THE STORY? (THINK ABOUT HOW A RIVER CONTINUOUSLY FLOWS. WHAT CAN THIS RELATE TO IN INDIAN THEOLOGY?)

15. WHEN SIDDHARTHA LOOKS INTO THE RIVER, HE SEES A REFLECTION OF HIMSELF. WHAT KIND OF MEANING CAN YOU CONCLUDE FROM THIS METAPHOR?

16. WHAT DOES SIDDHARTHA LEARN THROUGHOUT THE STORY? 17. DO ALL PEOPLE HAVE BUDDHA-LIKE QUALITIES? 18. HOW CAN YOU RELATE SIDDHARTHA’S JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY TO

YOUR OWN LIFE AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT?