Spiritual Guidance

There are many different kinds of Motifs represented in the book Siddhartha, but the most prominent one I see is the motif of spiritual guidance. This idea of guidance is mentioned many times during the novel because the protagonist Siddhartha is struggling with finding spiritual guidance throughout the story, especially at the beginning.  At the beginning Siddhartha is a simple Brahmin who worshiped his gods and obeyed his father, but he was not happy or content with the life he was living. In the first chapter Siddhartha starts questioning his happiness and his religion, “The sacrifices and the supplication of the gods were excellent- but were they everything? Did the sacrifices give happiness?” (Hesse, 6) He starts to wonder if worshiping the gods is important.. This is significant to the story because it pushes Siddhartha to begin his journey of spiritual enlightenment with his friend Govinda. The second place I see the idea of spiritual guidance is when Govinda and Siddhartha visit the Jetavana grove to hear the Illustrious One, Gotama, talk about his ways of worship and guidance. Siddhartha is not impressed with his teachings. He explains to Gotama that a person cannot reach enlightenment through verbal teachings, that a person must find it by themselves without external guidance. He tells Gotama, “You have learned nothing through teachings, and so I think, O Illustrious One, that nobody finds salvation through teachings.” (Hesse, 34) Finally, another example of this motif of spiritual guidance is towards the middle of the story. At the beginning of his solo adventure he finds out why he has been struggling with guidance, because of his loneliness he is finally able to listen inside of him. The spiritual guidance within him is able to come out and he doesn’t have to listen to anyone else but himself. “I will no longer study Yoga-Veda, Atharva-Veda, or asceticism, or any other teachings. I will learn from myself, be my own pupil; I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha.” (Hesse, 39) As you can see there are many different places the motif of spiritual guidance comes up in the story of Siddhartha, and the struggle is brings the protagonist.