Where Teachers Can’t Take You: On Reading Siddartha

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.
Kahlil Gibran


It should surprise no one that Herman Hesse’s most widely read work, Siddhartha, reached the peak of its popularity among American readers in the 1960s. During these turbulent times, the youth of the United States embarked on an earnest quest for answers to political and spiritual questions that have mystified humankind throughout its existence. And the novel’s central theme of living a life of reflection—as well as a simple life that foregoes possessions—resonated with a large segment of the baby boom generation which, at the time, had declared the pursuit of power and wealth as meaningless.

I first read Siddhartha fifteen years ago. The book moved me back then, and it made me think about how desirable it would be to distance myself from mindless consumerism.

And this year, while glancing through my shelves to decide which books to include in my literature classes, I thought that Siddhartha, in addition to enchanting the students with its wondrous story, might also get them to think about the direction of their lives. Blessedly, many took the novel’s message to heart, and classroom discussions often centered on the vital importance of taking proper care of our spiritual selves.

But, with regard to me, there was another message that grabbed my attention, one I had failed to notice during my initial reading: teachers are able to impart knowledge, but not wisdom. This theme, which Hesse explores admirably in Siddhartha, gave me much to think about; and by the end of the novel I had arrived at the same conclusion as the lead character—a person must travel the road to wisdom alone.

Throughout Hesse's work, the character of Siddhartha rebels against teachers. But in the end he acknowledges that their guidance was essential in directing him toward the portals of understanding.

And this is precisely where the best teachers excel: in leading their students to the thresholds of their minds.