4/5 Stars. Pretty quick read.
As usual with my experience of Hesse’s work, the plot lines and actual “action” seem relatively simple (as with Demian), but there is profound self-discovery, an internal “action,” which I think Hesse has a wonderful ability to describe. Very beautiful writing, but also complex.
“When someone seeks,” Siddhartha said, “it is all too easy for his eyes to see nothing but the thing he seeks, so that he is unable to find anything or absorb anything because he is always thinking exclusively about what he seeks, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed by that goal. Seeking means having a goal. But finding means beign free, remaining accessible, having no goal. You, venerable one, are perhaps really one who seeks, because, pressing after your goal, you fail to see many a thing that is right before your eyes.”
This quotes resonats with me because I believe only so much knowledge can be imparted, and learning from experience is much more powerful and potent a teacher.
Additionally, I have often wondered if you took away your own goals and desires (ego) what would be left? A higher self? A glimpse into eternity?
I have often also thought about learning all there is to learn and experiencing myself in all the ways that I need to .. when will it be enough and when will I have learned enough from the people I encounter? Does that threshold exist and who decides it? This internal struggle I have is related to the concept of nirvana, I think.
Nirvana: a death no longer subject to rebirths, extinction, the goal of the original Buddhists.
Eternal Ocean of Words 