So, I just finished reading a book about an Indian guy and Buddhism, but the book was written by a German guy who never went to India and was a Lutheran.I am confused, because it just feels like the protagonist pissed his life away seeking enlightenment. Am I missing something? I am too stupid to not get the moral of the book? Should I have saved the time I spent reading this book and instead just sing the fronzen theme song?
>>25479573What year is it from? Who is it dedicated to?
>>254796001922I think the book is dedicated to another french writer? IDK something very gay
So, I just finished reading a book about poverty and murder, but the book was written by a guy who never murdered anybody and lived in luxury as an affluent writer. I am confused, because it just feels like the protagonist spent the whole time worrying over nothing and then turned himself in like an idiot. Am I missing something? I am not smart enough not to not get the moral of this book? Should I have just saved the time I spent reading thisb ook and instead just go play Dishonored?
>>25479761Your example is trash. The book was heavily influenced by is time spent in exile and he always had severe money problems.
Hermann Hesse's Siddharta !?Your own fault for reading "Hesse"
>>25479573>I am too stupid to not get the moral of the book?Many such cases!
>>25479573You know this is actually one of Hesse's lesser works?
>>25479761If the author lived in affluence, and had the protagonist turn himself in, is that not an unrealistic portrayal both of human nature, and crime?
>>25479573What should the protagonist have been doing instead?
>>25479573>I am confused, because it just feels like the protagonist pissed his life away seeking enlightenmentwasn't the whole point of the book the exact opposite? That instead of rigurously seeking enlightenment through meditation or aesketic practice like his friend does, Hesse's Siddharta strays from the path and did everything he wanted to do and experienced everything he wanted to experience before finally realizing the futility of it all. He went through everything that people usually want to experience. Love, passion, wealth, respect in society etc. What made you think that he wasted his life?
>>25479573nobody cares poopjeet GTFO 4chan thx
OP is trolling if anyone actually doesn't get it. Hesse did go to India, and the protagonist repeatedly refuses to piss his life away seeking enlightenment, in fact that's basically the central theme of this high school tier book.
>>25479573Too many people go into this book expecting it to be Buddhist book, which is understandable, but it's not and it makes that blatantly clear early on. The message is more existentialist and about the journey of the protagonist through life and how he finds his own path. Buddhism is just the background, not the focus or the message.
>>25479761>lived in luxury as an affluent writer.Dostoyevsky definitely had times in life when he was dirt poor. Maybe you're aware of that and are just baiting, but I can never be sure with the pseuds on this board.
>>25479573It's a terrible book and it has nothing to do with buddhism. It's just a retarded family drama from an idiot german perspective.
>>25483399>What made you think that he wasted his life?Because enlightement in buddhism is an actual "real" thing, simply put it's a supernatural event closely related to other supernatural concepts like nirvana/samsara and others. It isn't merely a philosophical thought.The guy lived the latter part of his life in complete destitution. Living on the banks of corpse and feces infested ganges river, that is not reaching an enlightement but idiocy.
>>25483596>OP is trolling No I am not.>Hesse did go to IndiaHe went as far as Singapore and almost died of dysentery after eating Indian street food.My book explains this is a common misconception due to the German use of "Indian" for the whole subcontinent (South East Asia) and not only for India, the country.>>25483759Someone else read the book!>>25483896Don't forget that he spent most of his life as a simp of a literal prostitute. And one day she shows up and tells him, "yoo, this kid is yours" and dies because she decided to take a nap in a serpent-infested forest.
>western literature midwit doesn't understand the complexity of sramana philosophy and misinterprets it as being bleak and nihilisticMany such cases.
>>25483896It sounds to me that you understand Buddhism even less than Hesse did. Elightenment in Buddhism is an act of realization of the true nature of the universe, to where the delusions of Mara fade away and one's ego gets dissolved. The very idea of judging the place on earth where an englightened person would choose to remain with their physical self after attaining enlightenment shows how little you actually understand this concept. Living on the banks of shit covered Ganges or in the fields of Elysium would be the exact same to someone that has reached enlightenment.
>>25484796Sewage is sewage.
>>25483896>The guy lived the latter part of his life in complete destitution>Subhuman midwit doesn't understand when a man reaches a stage that is above all of it.>Living on the banks of corpse and feces infested ganges riverThe banks of Ganges are one of the most kino places to live in. Just stay away from the industrial cities.
>>25484796>The very idea of judging the place on earth where an englightened person would choose to remain with their physical self after attaining enlightenment shows how little you actually understand this concept. Living on the banks of shit covered Ganges or in the fields of Elysium would be the exact same to someone that has reached enlightenment.>>25485000>Subhuman midwit doesn't understand when a man reaches a stage that is above all of it.>Living on the banks of corpse and feces infested ganges riverenlightenment must be pretty pointless if you delude yourself into thinking living in literal shit and filth is ok. "but I am LE ABOVE IT." sure bro, you're living in shit.
>>25479761Correct, actually. Dosteovsky is a navel-gazer and yes I know his life was hard. He was not depicting murder and its consequences, he was daydreaming about why he himself chooses not to murder. (so no shit his character just starts have a three month long panic meltdown, he's the writer in a timeline where he did something he would never do)
>>25485156You think that it would only have a point if it improved your material condition?
>>25479573
