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Philosophy 312: Oriental Philosophy Siddhartha Exam By Ngonidzaishe David Mufuka Self A person has a dual nature
of two selves, one small self (small ‘s’) is the everyday persona that
takes no effort to be installed and this self perform the more
‘humanized’ tasks like eating, and sleeping.
The other Self (big ‘S’) requires invoking since it resides
deep within a person thus having a subconscious nature.
According to Morris Berman, this big Self is our, “true center,
our awareness of ourselves without outside interference and it is
developed by bringing the conscious and the subconscious parts of our
minds into harmony,” (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
10). Methods of invocation
include meditation or deep thought as Siddhartha did with the Semanas
(Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
14). Once this is achieved,
one is able step outside one’s self and notices both selves. Only then can the conscious and the subconscious be in
harmony since both are in active play.
Noticing one’s big Self is usually temporary since the small self
becomes dominant quickly again but others like the Semanas
make it a goal to permanently stifle the small self in an effort to have
the big Self prevalent permanently. Once that is achieved it becomes
somewhat noticeable as Siddhartha saw of Gotama’s perfected habits
(Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
26). The big Self needs the
small self to provide a contrast in order for it to be noticeable.
As Siddhartha found out, one cannot understand the big Self without
acknowledging the small self, and he realized that it was inane to try to
deaden the small self, as the Semanas
did because the small self needed to be understood and experienced (taught
by the Sansara) in order to
attain the big self more permanently and also understand it (Hermann
Hesse’s Siddhartha, 36). Accordingly,
B.F. Skinner notes, “Self-knowledge is of social origin,” (Hermann
Hesse’s Siddhartha, 40). ‘Ways to lose self’ Small self is the conscious
part of the humans that is linked to the chief human natures of necessity,
sentimentality, and preoccupation which in a sense is the ‘small
picture’ of the world. The
small self overshadows the big Self which dwells in the subconscious.
The big Self is thought to be divine, universal, all of which are
the more superior traits. All
of these also consist of the big picture of the world.
Resultantly, only those who were aware of the link between the
small self and the human element and also the existence of the big self
like Siddhartha and the Semanas,
sought the ‘ways to lose self’. Therefore
they wanted to suppress this small self in order to reveal the big Self
and obtain the divinity and wisdom of the big picture of the world.
In order to lose the self, all the elements associated with the
small self of humanism such as hunger, thirst, and impatience are stifled.
This is done by not giving in to the demands of the flesh but by
self denial as was practiced by the Semanas
(Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
14). Examples are fasting to
fight hunger and thirst, meditation invoking the big Self in order to
neglect the smaller self, holding one’s breath thereby limiting one’s
dependency on breathing, and discarding the element of time by developing
superior patience (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
13, 17). That is why
Siddhartha boasted to Kamaswami that he could fast, wait and think.
Therefore, ways to lose self were employed in order to become more
superior since one would be ‘above it all’, not trapped in the Sansara
and the ways of the world. Atman Atman is the feeling/realization one gets whereby he/she identifies themselves as a being in a greater universe and having a part/role to play in that universal setup(which shows a relation among all things) as was shown by Siddhartha’s final feelings among the Brahmans (Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, 2). This aspect may also be seen as recognition of one’s big Self. Atman is in a sense ‘the big picture’ that the small self neglects and the but the big self readily identifies itself with and is linked to it as was shown by Siddhartha’s ponderings, “(Man) would meet his innermost part and would reside in the Atman,” (Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, 4). This is shown by a verse from the Upanishad which Govinda relates speaking of the meditation of Atman,
“He who ponderingly, of purified spirit, loses himself in the
meditation of Atman, unexpressable by words in his blissfulness of his
heart.”(Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha,
17) Meditation is also a key to invoking the big Self so they (Atman/Self) share this same element of meditation showing their direct link. Atman is also identified at Siddhartha’s awakening as life, the divine part, ultimate part, (Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, 36), which in a way are the characteristics also used to describe the Big Self too “He already knew how to feel Atman in the depths of his being,” (Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, 2) as ‘depths’ is close to the center that Berman described of the big Self, “This big Self is our, “true center, our awareness of ourselves without outside interference and it is developed by bringing the conscious and the subconscious parts of our minds into harmony,” (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, 10). Sansara It is a captivating
lifestyle particularly attractive to ‘children’ (easily
captivated/enticed people). It is a system where the principles of the
senses, obeying their needs constantly and seeking to satisfy them are a
dominant order (Humanism). Siddhartha noticed this with his son, “Was a
passion (for his son), something very human, that it was Sansara,”
(Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
110) Thus Sansara engages the
small self since this order of operation is the small picture of the world
where pleasures of the flesh (humanism) are a high priority as it was in
the big city with the childlike people. It
is addictive as Siddhartha found out in the city.
It is like a potter’s wheel in the sense that it is mesmerizing,
difficult to turn away from, and it is a never-ending cycle of repetitions
since one is hungry today, one eats, and hungry tomorrow one eats again
and so on. Siddhartha
pondered, “Sansara a game which was perhaps enjoyable to play once,
twice, ten times, but for ever and ever over again?” (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
76). It is also a fast
conveyor belt to death since it keeps one enthralled till old age and
death may come while one is still engaged in these worldly pleasures of
satisfying the sense, “Never before had it been so strongly clear to
Siddhartha how closely lust was akin to death,” (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
76). Sansara is the very essence of humanism since all aspects like
dreams, joy, sorrow, and thirst (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, 12) are interwoven in it as Siddhartha noted, selfish
parental love Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,110),
and lust with Kamala. Sansara
had a negated view as Siddhartha describes it as ‘a murky source, dark
waters,” (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
110), though he did acknowledge its use (to attain the big self) at his
awakening (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
36), as is also supported by Skinner’s standpoint, “Self knowledge is
of social origin.” Maya Maya is a point of view
whereby the world is seen as an illusion.
Siddhartha saw it as a metaphoric veil of deception, “….no
longer the veil of the Maya,”
(Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
40). This means that all the
worldly elements of pleasure seeking, misfortune, suffering etc are just a
distraction of some bigger aspects of the divinity which Atman senses and
the big Self acknowledges. Maya
is in a sense the ‘small picture’ of the world.
The illusion comes in to keep one from the ‘bigger picture’ and
the big Self. The Maya comes
in to deceive one into thinking that the worldly elements are the complete
in themselves and there is nothing outside of them.
The Maya is discoverable
through meditation as Siddhartha and Govinda found out through meditation
that the world was Maya,”
(Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
21). Meditation is when one
manages to step outside of their selves and notice all elements at play,
worldly and non worldly ones. Siddhartha
identified the illusion, “(life) all of this was not worthy of one look
from his eye, it all lied it all stank, it pretended to be meaningful,
joyful and beautiful,” (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
12). But he later saw its
worth at his Awakening, “was
no longer the veil of the Maya, was no longer pointless and coincidental
diversity of mere appearances,” (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
36). Maya and the Sansara
complement each other since the Sansara
performs the illusion aspect by keeping one in its hold away from the more
universal elements. Both Maya
and Sansara also suppress the big Self in order to keep one entangled in
their worldly ways. Maya
also dwells on the concept of time by making one think that time is
running out and thus one must utilize life with worldly goods before
death. Those who realized
this like the Siddhartha, the Semanas,
the ferryman Vasudeva all believed in a cycle where time was irrelevant
and that is why they practiced superior patience as he was shown by
Vasudeva’s superb listening skills (Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha,
94). The cycle is suggested
by the Govinda who upon leaving Siddhartha for the last time mention that
they will see each other in another incarnation.
That is an adequate example of being free of the hold of the Maya. © Ngonidzaishe David Mufuka |
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Introduction | Siddhartha | Hinduism | Confucianism | Buddhism | Zen | Taoism |
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