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Siddhartha WebQuest
The answers to these questions will help a great deal in understanding and immersing yourself in ancient India
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/religion/buddhism.htm
Part I
1. Who is Siddhartha Gautama better known as? (Note: in the novel, they are not the same person)
2. What are the four noble truths of Buddhism?
Part II
3. How would you define what Atman is?
4. What is “Brahman”?
5. What is om?
6. What is the meaning of the name Siddhartha?
7. Both Hindus and Buddhists share a belief in “Samsara.” What is it?
8. How does Hinduism differ from Buddhism?
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Siddhartha Study Guide
The Brahmin’s Son
1. Describe Siddhartha.
2. Describe Govinda.
3. Discuss Siddhartha and Govinda’s relationship.
4. For what is Siddhartha searching?
5. Discuss Siddhartha’s decision and its impact on his father.
6. What is the impact on Govinda?
7. What is the symbolism of his father’s realization that Siddhartha “had already left him”?
With the Samanas
8. What is Siddhartha’s one goal when he is with the Samanas?
9. How does Siddhartha work to achieve that goal?
10. Analyze Siddhartha’s disillusionment with the Samanas in the search for his self.
11. Contrast Siddhartha and Govinda’s views of their spiritual journey.
12. Describe Buddha. What is his effect on the world?
13. Discuss Govinda’s hope and Siddhartha’s skepticism.
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14. What convinces Govinda that Siddhartha has absorbed the Samanas’ teachings?
Gotama
15. List the various titles of the Buddha and explain the significance of each.
16. What is Siddhartha and Govinda’s impression of Buddha?
17. What is Buddha’s message? What are the responses of Siddhartha and Govinda to this message?
Awakening
18. Discuss Siddhartha’s self-reflection after he leaves Buddha.
19. Analyze Siddhartha’s mental reflection, “That was the last shudder of his awakening, the last pains of birth.”
Kamala
20. How does Siddhartha view the world after his decision to leave Buddha?
21. Analyze Siddhartha’s dream.
22. What is the symbolism of the river to Siddhartha? To the ferryman?
23. Discuss Siddhartha’s first encounter with women.
24. What is Siddhartha’s request of Kamala?
25. What is the result of Siddhartha and Kamala’s encounter?
26. How is Siddhartha like a stone thrown into water?
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Amongst the People
27. Contrast Kamaswami and Siddhartha’s views of business.
28. Contrast Kamaswami and Siddhartha’s views of life.
29. Analyze the “soft, gentle inner voice” Siddhartha hears.
Samsara
30. Discuss the changes in Siddhartha’s life.
31. Analyze the “soul sickness of the rich.”
32. Examine the vicious cycle of Siddhartha’s compulsion and its effects on him.
33. Examine Siddhartha’s dream and its result.
34. What is the symbolism of the songbird?
By the River
35. What is Siddhartha’s “death wish”?
36. Contrast Siddhartha and Govinda when they meet by the river.
37. Discuss the “wheel” of Siddhartha’s life.
38. Analyze Siddhartha’s transformation and his analysis of his SELF.
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The Ferryman
39. What is the symbolism of the river to Siddhartha?
40. Examine the effect living with Vasudeva has on Siddhartha.
41. Discuss the pilgrimage to the dying Buddha and the effect it has on Siddhartha’s life.
The Son
42. Analyze the relationship between Siddhartha and his son.
43. What is Vasudeva’s advice to Siddhartha about his son?
44. Why is Siddhartha unable to follow Vasudeva’s advice?
45. Discuss the boy’s running away.
OM
46. Why is the word “blind” repeated?
47. Discuss Siddhartha’s conclusion about women.
48. What is the effect of Siddhartha seeing his reflection in the river?
49. What is Siddhartha’s “confession” to Vasudeva?
Govinda
50. What is Govinda’s state of mind when he returns to the river?
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51. What are Siddhartha’s conclusions about life?
52. What is Govinda’s perception of Siddhartha’s philosophy?
The Four Noble Truths in Siddhartha
Many believe Herman Hesse delberately wrote Siddhartha with a total of 12 chapters, particularly when it is noted
that Part 1 has four chapters and Part 2 has eight. This would logically divide into the Four Noble Truths and the
Eightfold Path, some of the main tenets of Buddhism. On the chart below, explain how the truth associated with
each chapter is shown.
Chapter
Four Noble
Truths
The
Brahmin’s
Son
Life means
suffering.
With the
Samanas
The origin of
suffering is
attachment.
Gotama
The cessation
of suffering is
attainable.
Awakening
The path to
cessation is
suffering
Explanation
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Name:
Characters
Date:
Period:
.
Siddhartha
Siddhartha - protagonist; handsome, intelligent Brahmin’s son; searching for himself
Govinda - Siddhartha’s best friend; joins him on his quest but then becomes a Buddhist monk
Siddhartha Gautama Sakyamuni (the Buddha) - “The Illustrious One”; presented as a man with an emphasis
on reality, humanity, and peacefulness
Kamala - courtesan (prostitute) with whom Siddhartha falls in love; mother of his son
Vasudeva - ferryman; becomes Siddhartha’s spiritual guide
Siddhartha’s son - eleven years old; spoiled “mama’s boy”; rebels against his father’s lifestyle and values
Hindu and Buddhist Terms
1. Brahmin: a cultured, intelligent person of the upper class; a member of the priestly Brahman caste, the highest
caste in India; Hindu belief-more nearly perfect souls are born into the Brahman caste
2. Om: a sacred Hindu word that symbolizes Brahma, spoken before reciting mantras or mystically contemplated in
its written or spoken form
3. Atman: the soul of the individual in Hindu philosophy; soul of universe and source of all individual souls
4. All-Radiant: Hinduism; ultimate place of perfection where a human becomes a god
5. Rig-Veda: the oldest and most important of the sacred books of the Hindus
6. Upanishads of Sama-Veda, Chandogya-Upanishads: any one of a group of ancient Sanskrit (ancient
sacred and literary language of India) philosophical commentaries
7. Brahman/Brahma: in Hindu theology, the pervading soul of the universe, the essence of being and intelligence;
Atman; god of creation: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, Siva the destroyer
8. Samanas: wandering Hindu ascetics who practice self-denial
9. Nirvana: Buddhist idea of heavenly peace; perfect happiness reached by the complete absorption of oneself into
the supreme universal spirit
10. Mara: according to early Buddhists, the devil who tempted Buddha
11. Maya: Hinduism; illusion or deceptive appearance
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12. Samasara: Hinduism; the endless repetition of births, deaths, and rebirths to which man is subject
13. Krishna: one of the most important Hindu gods; an incarnation of Vishnu
14. Agni: in Hinduism, a principal Vedic god; god of fire, the sun, and lightning, and mediator between mandkind
and the gods
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Essay and Roundtable Topic
"What is life? What is truth? What does one mean by illusion? These and many other questions have been haunting many of
us when we are in isolation. It is simply impossible to curb the echoes of our mind. The more you suppress the more they
will echo. Renunciation is not everyone's cup of tea; enlightenment does not bless all. But remember that it can be achieved
by anybody, provided we are strong: mentally, not physically. Siddhartha is anybody who questions the ways of the
world..."
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