Siddhartha's Timeless Cycle of Life

Sometimes, the best teacher is one’s own self in Herman Hesse’s story, Siddhartha. Siddhartha, the main character, undergoes many trials searching for enlightenment, peace, and happiness, sometimes even within himself. Hesse’s motif—the river—teaches Siddhartha to embrace the timelessness and cyclic nature of life in order to accept the idea that reaching joy and success is not a destination, but rather a lifelong journey. Like the river flows without end, so do Siddhartha’s opportunities to redeem himself, even though he has faced failure before.

Having taken the path of a Samana, Siddhartha has nothing to pay the ferryman the humble Samana is dismayed, however, the wise raft master does not doubt for a minute that Siddhartha will not return with payment sometime in the future: ” ‘and I did not expect any payment or gift from you.

You will give it to me some other time.’ ‘Do you think so?’ asked Siddhartha merrily. ‘Certainly. I have learned that from the river too; everything comes back, you, too.

Samana, will come back” (40D). Though water comes in many forms—liquid, steam and ice—and travels may miles in the course of the day, the worldly cycle of this vital substance is unending, encompassing the entire world and everyone in it. Our sun evaporates water on the ground and clouds store this liquid, but what goes up must come down, and hence, the water returns from whence it came. Though the ferryman receives nothing from Siddhartha, he worries not, for the river has taught him of the interconnectedness of all human beings Siddhartha senses that maybe he has another chance, another chance at redeeming himself.

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For the first time, the Samana receives a taste of the unending cycles of human life. Who knows?

The two men may very well not even meet each other in this life, perhaps among other lessons, the river has taught Siddhartha to open his eyes to its omnipresence, realizing that the water can be everywhere but still only live in the present. ” ‘ls this what you mean? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere, and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future?’ ” With this, Siddhartha learns to forget the past and worry not about the future because time has come to be less of a concern for Siddhartha, he begins to take more time listening, more time waiting, and more time thinking. With more of a capacity for patience, he looks within himself increasingly for answers, relying less and less on outside sources. Sitting on the ground, just waiting, Siddhartha searches for an answer as to why his son has forsaken him: “He sat there depressed and waited. He had learned this from the river: to wait, to have patience, to listen.

He sat and listened in the dusty road. listened to his heart which beat wearily and sadly and waited for a voice”. Forgetting time, Siddhartha feels then as if he has as much time as he needs. Consequently, he allows himself to sink into a deep state of thought, waiting for his time to come. Siddhartha’s search for reason, for enlightenment, and for, most importantly, happiness has given him a new life. Realizing the significance of the river, and though inhuman, what it came to teach him to lead him to a more calm and understanding mindset of the world around him. Being able to comprehend the intricacies of nature, not only gives him peace, but also makes him happy in that he knows that the world, in its endless cycles, will continue to thrive long after he is gone. In our world, we often fail to acknowledge the majesty of the plants and animals surrounding us maybe, just maybe the world would be a better place with more understanding.