What Siddhartha gained from his encounter with the ascetics was, ironically, a lesson about how asceticism is insufficient on its own to aid the quest for enlightenment. Asceticism was for Siddhartha like a drug: a means to escape the world or a promise of inner peace. The author describes Siddhartha's asceticism like an addiction in Chapter Two, describing the intense lifestyle as a predictable, perpetual cycle that leads the

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, the central character takes a journey that is like the journey one takes through life. This journey shows him as he develops from an impetuous youth to a man with the wisdom that comes with age. His goal is to attain Nirvana, and on the journey he encounters the Buddha. He believes he must always work toward his goal, but the Buddha argues with him

He then understood that the human mind is eternally alone, and thus must force through the journey of life alone. His first move as a solitary being is to embrace what he had previously denied -- the physical world. Through his meeting of Kamala, he begins to open himself up to allow the external world to influence him in ways he had never experienced before. He began to feel desirous

Taoism is another ancient religion practiced within Eastern Asia. It shares beliefs and practices with Confucianism and is mainly practiced in various parts of China. It is a polytheistic religion that has a wide variety of gods within its spiritual arsenal. Like Hinduism, Taoism is a name that covers a wide variety of smaller religious sects that can be found in various parts of China and its neighboring countries, although

I was too proud to heed my wife's warning. But I dared not go against the opinion of my mother and my eldest brother. Nevertheless I pleaded with them saying, 'I know he has the weaknesses you attribute to him, but you do not know his virtues. He cannot lead me astray, as my association with him is meant to reform him. For I am sure that if he

One primary example of the common ground on both sides of Siddhartha's revelation is in his persistence at meditation, which Hesse is able to use accordingly to reflect a time and place where this was considered standard theological training. The already existent nature of this foundation in Hinduism, which Mossman describes as elucidating a status of 'religious prodigy' in Siddhartha, offers a natural passage into the search of inner-truth. In his