Indian Culture and Background

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Indian Culture and Background

• A few essentials for studying Siddhartha

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A Bit About the Author
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Author - Hermann Hesse

• Herman Hesse was born in 1877 in Germany. He
  was brought up in a Lutheran household where it
  was assumed he would study for the ministry. His
  parents both served as missionaries in India.
• He learned about Indian culture through their
  experiences, and pursued an interest in Eastern
  religion and philosophies later in life.

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Author Hermann Hesse

• As a teenager, Hermann Hesse was expelled
  from the seminary to which his father had sent
  him. He struggled to complete school and educated
  himself while working in bookstore. He cultivated
  a special interest in Hinduism and Buddhism.
• In 1922, at age 35, he began writing Siddhartha,
  the story of an Indian youths search for the
  meaning of life. During this time, Hesse became a
  patient of psycho-analsyt Carl Jung. His writing
  reflects many of Jungs ideas on the conscious
  and unconscious mind including his theories on
  archetypes.

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Author Hermann Hesse

• Hesse also wrote the novels Demian and
  Steppenwolf. These works combined his interest
  in spiritual quests with the political and social
  develop-ments in Germany in the early 20th
  century.
• In 1946, Hesse was awarded in the Nobel Prize
  in literature. He lived out his life in
  Switzerland during World War II and died there in
  1962.

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Introduction to Siddhartha
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Translation and Publication

• Siddhartha was published in 1922 in Germany
  and translated for publication in the US in 1951.
• The English translation gained true popularity
  in the 1960s with young counter-culture move-
• ments that embraced
• Eastern philosophies.

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Title Translation - Siddhartha

• Siddhartha is made up of two words in the
  Sanskrit language
• siddha achieved
• artha meaning or wealth
• Together, the words mean he who has found
  meaning or existence.

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Character Connections

• The spiritual founder of Buddhism was known as
  Prince Siddhartha Gautama before his renunciation
  of social hierarchies.
• The young protagonist in Hermann Hesses novel is
  known as Siddhartha. He is also the son of a
  wealthy Brahmin family.
• The main character should NOT
• be confused with the spiritual leader!
• They are two different people who
• appear separately in the novel.

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Setting in Siddhartha

• The story is set in ancient India around 500
  BC during the rise of Buddhism.
• This was a time of great change in ancient
  India. Many age-old philosophies were being
  challenged. Additionally, a new spiritual leader
  was offering a hopeful alternative to those
  living within the bounds of the traditional caste
  system.

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Ancient Indian Society

• Some research suggests that Indo-Aryan invaders
  established a long-standing social stratification
  in India. Records of the caste system date back
  to the Vedic Period (300 BCE).
• Certain Hindu scriptures describe a caste system
  for organizing society but never endorse
  discrimination based on caste.
• Traditionally, an individuals
• caste defined occupation,
• diet, social interaction, and
• style of dress.

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Indian Caste System

• Brahmins / Priests - intellectual and spiritual
  leaders (Siddhartha)
• Kshatriya / Warriors and aristocrats - protectors
  of society
• Vaishyas / Merchants, farmers,
• artisans - skilled producers
• Shundras / unskilled labor
• Untouchables - outside of caste
• system

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Caste in Siddhartha

• The storys protagonist, Siddhartha is the oldest
  son in a wealthy Brahmin family.
• As a member of this priestly class, young
  Siddhartha was supposed to follow in his fathers
  footsteps as a spiritual leader. He was expected
  to practice the rites and rituals of Hinduism
  closely.
• His social status was closely linked to his
  fathers religion, and he questioned both.

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Religion in Siddhartha

• Siddhartha combines the beliefs of both
  traditional Hinduism and early Buddhism.
• Siddhartha, the protagonist, studies both
  religions.
• Thus, it is important to know a few concepts
  related to both Hinduism and Buddhism.

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Concepts in Hinduism
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Early Hinduism

• Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions in the
  Indian sub-continent and has no single founder.
• Today, the religion has over one billion
  adherents who study a wide range of sacred texts,
  including

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Sacred Texts in Hinduism

• The Vedas The oldest scriptures in Hinduism
  recorded in Sanskrit, includes The Rig Veda, Sama
  Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda
• The Upanishads philosophical texts passed down
  by oral tradition associate with Vedas
• Mahabharata and Ramayana Sanskrit epics that
  relate Hindu history. The Mahabharata includes
  the Bhagavad Gita (lessons of Lord Krishna)

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Hindusim and Castes

• Many sacred texts in Hinduism recognize the
  traditional caste system as a divine order in
  which upward social mobility is only achieved
  through reincarnation, or rebirth.
• Collected karma (actions)
  influences your atmans
  (souls) position in next life.

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Hindu Rituals

• Traditionally, in order to achieve good karma
  every household must perform many ablutions
  (sacrifices).
• Critics of Hinduism said sacrifices were too
  great and rituals too tedious only those in
  higher castes could improve their position
• The poor were offered
• alternative to this tradition
• with Buddhism.

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Concepts in Hinduism

• Hindu concepts of god, spirituality, etc. vary
  widely with each particular tradition or
  philosophy. Siddharthas family practiced a form
  of Vedic Hinduism. Here are a few useful terms
  from that tradition (see your glossary for more)
• Atman the true soul, or self, of a person
• Brahman, the supreme spirit or truth. Most want
  to find a connection between this universal
  spirit and self. (Do not confuse this term with
  Brahmin caste.)

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Concepts in Hinduism

• Samsara The cycle of life, death, and rebirth
  connected to reincarnation. The wheel of life is
  a symbols for this process.
• Moksha state of true understanding and freedom
  from samsara (known in some traditions as
  Nirvana).

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Concepts in Hinduism

• Meditation - a mental discipline by which one
  attempts to get beyond the conditioned,
  "thinking" mind into a deeper state of awareness.
  This is one method for achieving enlightenment.
• Om a highly symbolic
• sound made to focus and
• guide religious meditation.
• Each syllable (a-u-m) takes
• on a specific meaning in
• Sanskrit and represents
• a universal element.

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From Hinduism to Buddhism
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From Hinduism to Buddhism

• Around 500 BC, Buddhism was a new philosophy
  founded by a Buddha, a man who had reached
  enlightenment by his own means.
• This Buddha had new ideas
• about reaching enlightenment
• and was seen as a savior by
• many for his views on the
• caste system.

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Buddhism Basics

• Buddha means awakened one or enlightened
  one.
• Buddhism is a set of beliefs based on the
  teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known
  as Buddha. He is referred to as Gotama in
  Hesses novel.
• The teachings of Buddha focused on ethical
  conduct, rejection of worldly matters, and
  meditation as a means to true wisdom and
  enlightenment.

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Siddhartha Gotamas Life

• According to recorded stories, priests told
  Gotamas father that he would either be a
  powerful ruler or an enlightened teacher.
  Because his father wanted him to be a leader, he
  confined young Gotama to the palace and prevented
  him from experiencing the outside world.
  However, as Gotama grew older, he venture outside
  the palace walls and viewed The Four Sights that
  made him aware of human suffering (old age,
  disease, death, renunciation).

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Siddhartha Gotamas Life

• These four sights made Gotama long to find an
  end to suffering. At the age of 29, he leaves
  his family and spends the next six years
  searching for a solution to suffering. He sought
  out spiritual masters and even joined a group of
  ascetics who practice self-denial.

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More Terms

• Asceticism the practice of denying the
  physical self through fasting and starvation to
  discover spiritual truths
• Samana a wandering ascetic monk of any
  tradition (Hindu or Buddhist)

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Siddhartha Gotamas Life

• Reflecting on the experiences of his life,
  still, Siddhartha found no answer. He knew that
  luxury and indulgence could not keep suffering
  away, nor could the extreme denial of asceticism.
  He needed a middle path. He left the company of
  the ascetics, and traveling some distance, found
  a Bodhi tree and sat down beneath its branches.
  He closed his eyes.

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Siddhartha Gotamas Life

• He turned all of his attention within. As he
  moved deeper and deeper into himself, he began to
  see the truth of existence. He saw that all life
  was connected. Nirvana was revealed. At this
  moment, in the here and now, Siddhartha became
  the Buddha, enlightened one. He was
  transformed. He went on to teach others of the
  Four Noble Truths and to encourage them to seek
  Nirvana for themselves.

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Images of Buddha
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Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama)
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• As we begin to read Siddhartha, pay attention to
  the similarities and differences between
  Siddharthas journey and Buddhas journey.
• Let the meditation begin!
• Ommmm. . .