Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (1922)

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

For your online reading pleasure...

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (1922)
http://www.online-literature.com/hesse/siddhartha/

Metta,
Retro.

[Ben]

What synchronicity!
I packed my copy in abox a little while ago!
To be honest, I preferred Narciss and Goldmund, and The Glass Bead Game.
Thanks for the link Retro!

Ben

[Annapurna]

Finally somebody who read Narciss and Goldmund!

Siddharta was great, too.

[christopher:::]

I read all three, in the 1980s, on a Herman Hesse binge, lol. Indeed N&G is great! Found the Glass Bead Game a bit boring if I recall correctly. Loved also Steppenwolf, Damein and Journey to the East. Most definitely Siddhartha had a big impact though.

Was taking a 20th Century literature course in my last year of college (1983), we had to read Kafka, Sartre, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and others. The Hesse book the professor chose was Siddhartha, and the wisdom just jumped out at me. The way reality was presented by Hesse made so much more sense (in my mind) then how the other authors presented the world.

[Dhammanando]

For your online reading pleasure...

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (1922)

Pleasurable, perhaps. But a dhammic story?

[retrofuturist]

Greetings venerable,

Well... I agree it's a loose connection.

The time I went to read it, I got about two chapters through and I decided my time would be better spent reading suttas.

Nonetheless, people find the Dhamma in different ways.

Metta,
Retro.

[christopher:::]

Hello Venerable,

Not sure how much of the Dhamma is taught in the story, but it does provide a good model of aspects of the journey we all need to take. The growing sense of dissatisfaction with how things are in our world, a sense that one can find answers by leaving the past behind and searching for a better way. I think for people born into Buddhist culture the story might not resonate, but for those of us who were born into Western culture and then set out to find something very different there are parallels, perhaps?

I think something like the American TV series "Kung Fu" provided a similar catalyst for many people. Looking at the series now we might observe that there is more Taoist and pop wisdom presented in that show then dhamma. But still it provided a model for many people of a very different way of thinking and behaving in the world. If these kinds of cultural creations get people searching, that can be helpful.

In my opinion.