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Motif
Explanation and Analysis—Spiritual Immaturity:
Spiritual immaturity—the opposite of enlightenment—emerges as a motif in the first half of Siddhartha. It takes two forms: numbness and passivity. At the very beginning of the story, Siddhartha often feels the need to become wise; however, he is never quite satisfied with his spiritual progress. In Chapter 2, he joins the ascetic Samanas in an effort to develop his body and mind, but he feels only "numbness":
But in my exercises and meditations [as an ascetic], I have found only brief numbing and I am still as far from wisdom, from redemption as when I was a baby in my mother’s womb—
As Siddhartha observes, bodily deprivation results only in "brief numbing" of the senses. He compares his experience to that of an ox-driver who gets drunk on rice wine. Like the ox driver, Siddhartha has learned to escape from life and "linger in the nonself." But this state, he decides, is as far from wisdom as that of a "baby in [his] mother's womb." This simile, which compares Siddhartha to an infant, reminds the reader that he remains in his own spiritual infancy. He feels frustrated that despite becoming a man, he cannot seem to find satisfaction in his pursuits. The sensual "numbing" of asceticism provides no solution or satisfaction. On the contrary, it drives him to experiment at the opposite extremity of existence: indulgent materialism.
Passivity is the second form of spiritual immaturity. For example, Siddhartha wonders about the wisdom of knowing versus the wisdom of living in Chapter 1:
Wonderful wisdom was in these verses, all the wisdom of the wisest was gathered here in magical words[...]
But where were the Brahmins, where the priests, where the sages or penitents who had succeeded in not only knowing this deepest knowledge but also living it?
Young Siddhartha knows that holy texts like the Rigveda and Upanishads contain great wisdom. But where, he muses, are the wise men who not only know the words but rather live by them? The distinction between words and life prevails throughout the novel, and Siddhartha finally discovers that the true wisdom of life can only be found through active experience. One cannot become enlightened merely by reading, by depriving oneself, or by indulging in senseless pleasures. One cannot live passively in the shadow of another person, as Govinda does, or merely accept the teachings of a book. Passivity complements numbness, as both are states of non-being; passivity is non-action and numbness is non-feeling. By contrast, Siddhartha's own enlightenment requires action and inspires a great depth of feeling. The motif of spiritual immaturity in the first part of the novel creates a contrast with Siddhartha's eventual maturity in enlightenment and enhances the text's emotional arc.
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