The pursuit of happiness has developed into many different paths. Hesse's Siddhartha presents the story of the pursuit of happiness and offers many examples of different paths one may take. These paths all have an evident influence from Eastern religions; Buddhism is even included and revered in Siddhartha. There are many similarities and correlations between some of the paths presented in Siddhartha and the paths presented in Eastern religions. In contrast, there is no distinct Western religious influence; there is a strong contrast between the pursuit of happiness embraced by the Eastern religions and Siddhartha and the ideals of Western religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim.
In order to understand the comparisons and contrasts between the many religions and Siddhartha, it is important to first understand the paths presented in Siddhartha. Siddhartha begins as a Brahmin, like his proud father. Siddhartha is a young but wise man starved for salvation and “Atman.” Atman is an entity that stands as something like a universal soul. To understand one's Self, your soul, means to understand Atman. Atman is one of the many translations of Siddhartha's ambition for salvation, happiness, and Atman. A Brahmin is one who belongs to Brahma, and is considered the highest class in the Indian caste system of Hindu society. (Wikipedia 1) Brahmins were typically teachers of the Vedas - the oldest scriptures of Hinduism; Brahmins believed and taught acceptance of the diversity in the means or ways to salvation and the names and manners of worship for God, stating that this diversity is caused by varying perspectives, cultures, and languages. Brahmin's performed specific tasks throughout the day, most of which involve prayer and meditation. To a Brahmin, the world was one family and one should let that family be happy and prosperous. In is in that respect that Siddhartha's father reluctantly and sorrowfully releases his stubborn son off into the outside world to follow his own path to happiness.
Siddhartha felt unfulfilled as a Brahmin and next explores the path of the Samana. A Samana is a traveling monk who practices mortification as a means to salvation under the premise that because we are all responsible for our own deeds, salvation can be achieved by anybody irrespective of caste, creed, color or culture; this directly contrasts with the Brahmin belief that we are all one, whole. As a Samana, Siddhartha's goal is to become empty, to bear pain and thirst until he no longer felt pain and thirst, until he no longer felt fatigue or weakness, until he felt nothing at all. As a Samana, Siddhartha travels around starved and fatigued, earning miniscule scraps from villagers as he passes. In these villages, Siddhartha catches wind of rumors involving Gotama, the Buddha, The Illustrious One.
Buddhism's portrayal in this story is obviously underdone and underdone for an intentional purpose. It is the most poorly represented religion presented in the story despite nothing but praise it's given throughout the story by everybody but Siddhartha. There is great focus on Gotama, the Buddha, and his achievements; he is a wise, well learned man who has attained Nirvana; there were followers, “numerous people flock here to hear the teachings from his [Buddha] lips,” (Hesse 21) but they were referred to only as monks rather than fellow Buddhists. This could suggest that this was around the time Buddhism began, which is told to be founded around fifth century BC by Siddhartha Gautama.
The lifestyle of the Buddhist, particularly Buddha, was a sacrificial one where through poverty and perseverance one can obtain enlightenment. “On many a day I have seen him walk through the streets, silently, in a yellow cloak, and silently hold out his alms bowl at the house doors and return with his filled bowl.” (Hesse 21) Buddha and his followers ate only what others would bless their alms bowls with; they only ate once a day. “Most of the monks departed with their alms bowls, in order to obtain food for their midday meal, the only one of the day.” (Hesse 22) What they ate “would not have satisfied a bird,” but with no complaint or grievance the Buddha and following monks ate in peaceful silence.
Buddha and his monks practiced meditation often; traditionally, meditation is practiced while sitting so that focus and concentration can be obtained easier. Meditation refers to practices of the mind to develop a calm through sustained attention and insight through reflection. Awareness of one's body is a necessity in the practice of meditation, and while it isn't entirely necessary to detach yourself from your body, it is commonly practiced by sustaining attention on your breathing; so your attention is focused on your nostrils or diaphragm throughout your breathing. Though no detailed description of Buddha's meditation is had, very similar meditation methods are performed and described by Siddhartha. “Siddhartha sat upright and learned to save his breath… He learned, while breathing in, to quiet his heartbeat, learned to lessen his heartbeats…” (Hesse 11)
