Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse

Enlightenment is within , at least that's what people say..but then Hermann has a different opinion...Enlightenment is with"out" you !!! Its as if the body and soul are just made to experience both good and bad...Bad is not bad to be experienced...It just happens and when it does it just means that you are bound to go through it and there is no escapism....looks very very naive but life has its own set of hidden agenda for each of us and hence bad is just not bad either to you or to the people around you

Young Siddharata learn to fast , to think and to wait and this is what he has adopted from Samanas but yet he is not quite sure he is "self" and hence lands up in "Samsara" experience which he devours later..but soon he recalls its not the fate but a necessity to go through all these experience to be self and to be grounded.

For him setting goals is limiting your thoughts and manipulating the nature of your mind...A soul with no goal and no objective and deathly attached is better than a soul with a purpose....

Some of these does not really fit into our world but this is one off the track book which really make your thoughts flow to an era of enlightenment and nirvana

I enjoyed the book but will I adopt it ? ...perhaps not but then I really relished reading through Hermann Hesse's thoughtful writing .....

A different book of its genre(1960's) which is worth a try.