Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, depicts the journey and experiences of a fictitious man, Siddhartha, on his quest to reach enlightenment. Throughout the story, Siddhartha undergoes many epiphanies, experiences many different sides of life, and changes his idea of how to reach enlightenment several times. Although all of his experiences and changes contribute to his attainment of Nirvana and his reaching enlightenment, one major concept that helps Siddhartha reach his goal is the idea that love is the most important thing in the world. Siddhartha's attitude about love changes dramatically over the course of the book, going from detachment and aloofness from ordinary people to understanding and love for all people. Throughout the book, Siddhartha looks for enlightenment but misses one very important detail. Siddhartha loses sight of love during his quest for enlightment. At one point, he admits to his lover, Kamala, that he thinks he cannot love, and he says, "You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannot love. Ordinary people can- that is their secret" (p. 73) However, over the course of the book, Siddhartha learns to love and finds this secret of ordinary people. By loving his Self, loving and losing his son, and loving humanity and eventually coming to understand people Siddhartha finally understands the importance of love and reaches enlightenment.
One of the first ideas Siddhartha has about enlightenment is that only through total separation can he find the inner Atman, and thus reach enlightenment. To separate from the Self, Siddhartha joins the Samanas, a group of ascetics, and attempts to .
"become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow- to let the self die. No longer to be Self, to experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought- that was his goal. When all the Self was conquered and dead, when all the passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost of Being that is no longer Self- the great secret!" (p.
