Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse

From C.S. Lewis to Frankenstein to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, truth in religion and

spirituality has been a deep philosophical question in works as old as Dante’s Divine Comedy. Hermann Hesse’s cornerstone novel, Siddhartha, features a young Indian prince classically trained as a Brahman (a high Hindu priest). It follows his journey from asceticism to Enlightenment, his physical travels reflecting a spiritual exploration many young people undertake in their lives.

Siddhartha’s story is loosely based on the story of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of the Buddhist religion. An Indian prince, raised as a Hindu, Siddhartha renounces his riches and becomes an ascetic. After finding no peace in the Samanas’ teachings, he goes under the tutelage of a wise man named Gotama, who was believed to be a Buddha (one who has achieved enlightenment). Yet unsatisfied, Siddhartha goes off on his own, searching for his own answers instead of following a predetermined path. However, the absence of companionship leaves him prey to worldly temptations. Siddhartha takes up with a beautiful escort, Kamala, and acquires many possessions, including a house, fine clothes, toys and servants. Living a life of luxury, he abandons his quest for Enlightenment. Siddhartha has a revelation about his lifestyle and deserts his materialistic life to live with a ferryman by the river. He finds out that Kamala birthed a son with him, and after her death, takes the boy under his arm. However, the young man is much like Siddhartha in his youth – stubborn and unwilling to learn from those much older and wiser than he is. As his life comes full circle, Siddhartha realizes that only knowledge can be passed on – wisdom comes with age. Achieving Enlightenment, Siddhartha can live out the rest of his life in peace.

Hermann Hesse and many other novelists throughout history have undertaken coming-of-age novels, in which the protagonist, through trials and tribulations, finds himself and the meaning of his life. Examine Catcher in the Rye. Feeling emotionally disconnected from other youths his age, young Holden Caulfield runs away to find out the path his life is meant to take. This story is considered a seminal novel in the development of the coming-of-age genre.

However, Siddhartha explores another side of the teenage angst novel. Siddhartha is not just lonely in the sense of physical loneliness. No, our protagonist suffers from spiritual solitude – he has questions and is isolated from the vast community of divine disciples. Spiritual loneliness is the deepest and most intense sequestration from common society possible. The most complex and permeating questions plague one constantly – and like Siddhartha, the religious outsiders in our society have no friend to find solace in.

While this is, in a way, similar to Mr. Caulfield’s dilemma, many people, as adolescents, experience the sensation of seclusion from others for differences in behavior, opinions or appearance. Many novel protagonists find comfort in others that walk off the beaten track, others who think as they do and can provide a guiding hand. Spiritual exile to the extent that Siddhartha experienced it is a bigger issue, and many people who experience such detachment can only find comfort when they have wrestled the doubts that beleaguer them.

Spiritual separation from society can be a feature of many coming-of-age novels. But finding oneself and overcoming one’s religious demons are two very different accomplishments. Mother Teresa once said the most terrible poverty is loneliness, and surely she would agree that spiritual loneliness the most unsettling loneliness of all.