The Influence of Indian and Chinese Philosophies in Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game

In a 1932 essay titled “A Bit of Theology,” German author Hermann Hesse describes a truth that underpins the journey his protagonists undergo: “The path of human development begins with innocence (paradise, childhood, the irresponsible first stage). From there it leads to guilt, to the knowledge of good and evil, to the demand for culture, for morality, for religions, for human ideals. For everyone who passes through this stage seriously and as a differentiated individual it ends unfailingly in disillusionment, that is, with the insight that no perfect virtue, no complete obedience, no adequate service exists, that righteousness is unreachable, that consistent goodness is unattainable. Now this despair leads either to defeat or to a third realm of the spirit, to the experience of a condition beyond morality and law, an advance into grace and release into a new, higher kind of irresponsibility…” which Hesse later compares to the Buddhist Nirvana (Enlightenment), and Laozi’s Dao (the Way) (189). This sketch, which critic Theodore Ziolkowski later termed the “triadic rhythm of humanization,” is essential to grasp in order to understand Hesse’s work (52–60).

Despite being one of the most widely-translated German authors and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, Hesse remains overlooked as one of the great writers of the 20th century. As American critic Adam Kirsch recently wrote in an article for the New Yorker, “Hesse is usually regarded by highbrows as a writer for adolescents. Liking him is a good sign at age fifteen, a bad one by age twenty” (“Hermann Hesse’s Arrested Development”). In truth, this detracts from Hesse’s primary literary achievement, which is to shine a light on a reader’s inner sanctum, to illuminate the truths in the remotest parts of their soul, and to transport them to the magical “third realm of the spirit” by speaking to their deepest contemplations. In works such as Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game, he achieves a unique philosophical synthesis strongly influenced by Eastern systems of thought, which warrants further exploration.

Vedanta and Buddhist Philosophy in Siddhartha

Siddhartha, first published in 1922, tells the story of an Indian youth living at the time of the Buddha who thirsts for enlightenment, or the self. Siddhartha leaves the community of sages and Brahmins (members of the Hindu priestly class) in which he is raised, to wander the countryside with ascetics known as the shramanas. Realizing that he will not attain the ultimate truth leading the life of an ascetic, he leaves the shramanas in order to meet the Buddha himself. Despite being deeply affected by the Buddha’s grace and equanimity, and seeing no error in his teachings, Siddhartha chooses to forgo becoming the Buddha’s disciple in order to continue his persistent pursuit. He goes on to experience the worldly life of samsara, dabbling in business, making love, and even having a son. Eventually, this journey leaves him empty and dissatisfied. At the end of the novel, he attains peace only by surrendering to the oneness of all.

Various Vedantic and Buddhist concepts are creatively mixed throughout the novel. Vedanta is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, and it derives its wisdom from the Upanishads. The primary message of the Upanishads is to convey a reverence for the Atman (Self), which is said to underlie all being and be identical to Brahman (Ultimate Reality), the undifferentiated, absolute consciousness that transcends all definition. In the earliest passages of the novel, Siddhartha contemplates the nature of the Atman:

“Already he understood, within the interior of his being he recognized Atman, indestructible, at one with the universe… And where was Atman to be found, where did He abide, where did His eternal heart beat but within one’s own I, deep inside, in what is indestructible, borne within every individual?” (Hesse 5–7).

Throughout the novel, Siddhartha is restless and single-minded. When we meet him, we get a sense that he is already in the second stage of Hesse’s “triadic rhythm,” burdened by the intellectual understanding of concepts without having had the life experience to confirm his deepest intuitions (“Within himself Siddhartha had begun to nourish discontent…”) (Hesse 6). And his journey in many ways parallels the Buddha’s (it is no coincidence that Hesse names his character Siddhartha). According to Buddhist teachings, Siddhartha Gautama was a prince who lived a life of wealth and privilege, largely shielded from the suffering of the world. Once Siddhartha witnessed the Four Sights (an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a holy man) which brought human suffering to his consciousness, he renounced his nobility in favor of a life of great self-denial and asceticism. Dissatisfied with the results of this life, he attained enlightenment only after meditating under the Bodhi tree for 49 days, becoming the Buddha. The Buddha went on to preach a Middle Way between self-indulgence and asceticism, which could be attained by following the Eightfold Path.

The fictional Siddhartha’s experiences are similar in many respects to the Buddha’s, with some notable twists. Hesse’s Siddhartha also experiences the worldly pleasures of business, love, and so on. In doing so, Hesse arguably imagines what the Buddha went through when he was tempted by the demon Mara, in the moment prior to his enlightenment. Additionally, in another interesting twist, Siddhartha’s enlightenment involves a kind of acceptance of all things, a resolution of all dichotomies, including the one between the spiritual and the worldly life (Hesse 111–118).

Here, Hesse seems unconcerned with the distinction some scholars have made between the Upanishadic “Self” and the fact that Nirvana is in some sense the realization of “no-self” (Bodhi, Nanamoli 123). There is some debate as to what extent the two religious viewpoints should be regarded as contradictory (see Christian Coseru’s “Mind in Indian Buddhist Philosophy” for further discussion), but it is clear from his work that Hesse sees the two traditions as aiming at the same truth. This accords with another of Hesse’s sentiments from his essay “A Bit of Theology:” “for me the most important spiritual experiences are connected with the fact that gradually and with pauses of years and decades I found the same interpretation of human life among the Hindus, the Chinese, and the Christians, I was confirmed in my intuition of a central problem, which I found expressed everywhere in analogous symbols. These experiences supported more strongly than anything my belief that mankind has a meaning, that human need and human searching at all times and throughout the whole world are a unity” (190–191). This reaffirms the notion that the distinction between Vedanta and Buddhist philosophy is unimportant for Hesse as he synthesizes the two through Siddhartha’s journey. But arguably, while Hesse employs more of a Buddhist framework throughout his novel, the departures from the life of the Buddha show Hesse to be more of a Vedantist. For the resolution of the novel echoes one of the core ideas of Vedanta philosophy: namely, the notion that there are many paths that lead to the same summit, and that this summit is the realization of the unity of all things, including that of the Atman and Brahman (for further discussion of the nuances within Vedanta philosophy, see William Wainwright’s “Concepts of God”).

Daoist Philosophy in The Glass Bead Game

In 1943, twenty-one years after the publication of Siddhartha, Hesse completed his last novel, his magnum opus, The Glass Bead Game. His most subtle and refined work, it is less poignant than Siddhartha, but arguably deeper and more mystical. A complex bildungsroman, it primarily tells the story of Joseph Knecht, a member of the intellectual elite of a fictional Order called Castalia, which emphasizes scholarship, devotion to the hierarchy, and spiritual values (as expressed in Castalia’s reverence for the Glass Bead Game, the mastery of which requires a synthesis of aesthetics and philosophy). It chronicles Joseph’s gradual ascent within the Castalian hierarchy, while simultaneously detailing his increasing mastery of the Game. Finally, the main portion of the novel concludes with Joseph opting to leave Castalia in favor of becoming a tutor in the outside world, despite having risen to the office of Magister Ludi (Master of the Game) and having become the embodiment of the perfect Castalian.

Throughout the novel, The Glass Bead Game is never defined in particularly specific terms, which only furthers its esotericism. However, a few passages are worth highlighting in order to give the reader a vague idea:

“[The rules of The Glass Bead Game], the sign language and grammar of the Game, constitute a kind of highly developed secret language drawing upon several sciences and arts, but especially mathematics and music (and/or musicology), and capable of expressing and establishing interrelationships between the content and conclusions of nearly all scholarly disciplines. The Glass Bead Game is thus a mode of playing with the total contents and values of our culture; it plays with them, as say, in the great age of the arts a painter might have played with the colors on his palette. All the insights, noble thoughts, and works of art that the human race has produced in its creative eras, all that subsequent periods of scholarly study have reduced to concepts and converted into intellectual property — on all this immense body of intellectual values the Glass Bead Game player plays like the organist on an organ. And this organ has attained an almost unimaginable perfection; its manuals and pedals range over the entire intellectual cosmos; its stops are almost beyond number… For even two out of a thousand stringently played games to resemble each other more than superficially is hardly possible” (Hesse 15). Later, Hesse goes on to note that the Game evolved from mere intellectual dilettantism to something deeper, more spiritual, and more contemplative as well (38).

“Throughout its history the Game was closely allied with music, and usually proceeded according to musical or mathematical rules. One theme, two themes, or three themes were stated, elaborated, varied, and underwent a development quite similar to that of the theme in a Bach fugue or a concerto movement. A Game, for example, might start from a given astronomical configuration, or from the actual theme of a Bach fugue, or from a sentence out of Leibniz or the Upanishads, and from this theme, depending on the intentions and talents of the player, it could either further explore and elaborate the initial motif or else enrich its expressiveness by allusions to kindred concepts” (39–40).

“Pious thinkers of earlier times had represented the life of creatures, say, as a mode of motion toward God, and had considered that the variety of the phenomenal world reached perfection and ultimate cognition only in the divine Unity. Similarly, the symbols and formulas of the Glass Bead Game combined structurally, musically, and philosophically within the framework of a universal language, were nourished by all the sciences and arts, and strove in play to achieve perfection, pure being, the fullness of reality” (40).

The influence of Daoist thought on The Glass Bead Game is evident from Hesse’s notion of striving for synthesis and perfection across academic disciplines. The famous first lines of the Daodejing (“A dao that may be spoken is not the enduring Dao. A name that may be named is not an enduring name.”) indicate the extraordinary difficulty of discussing the ineffable concept that is the Dao. But the sinologist Robert Eno puts it succinctly in his introduction to his translation of the Zhuangzi (a classic Daoist text): “The dynamic operation of the world-system as a whole is the Dao. The partition of the world into separate things is the outcome of non-natural, human language-based thinking. Zhuangzi believed that what we needed to do was learn how to bypass the illusory divided world that we have come to ‘see before our eyes,’ but which does not exist, and recapture the unitary view of the universe of the Dao” (3). This is in accord with Hesse’s focus throughout the novel on reconciling dichotomies and moving toward oneness.

One of the sharpest dichotomies throughout the novel which Joseph is forced to reconcile is between contemplation (represented by Castalia) and action (represented by the outside world). With regards to resolving this tension, Hesse seems to have been influenced by the Daoist notion of wu-wei (non-action), which the Daodejing emphasizes is an important trait of sagehood (Eno 10–11). According to Eno in his introduction to the Daodejing, “The person who embraces the spontaneity of wu-wei and leaves self-interest behind emerges into a new dimension of natural experience… the selfless power of the sage endows him or her with a social prestige… So magnificent is the prestige of the sage that those who come into contact with such a person cannot help but be deeply influenced… de (character, virtue, power) has power over other people, who will spontaneously place themselves under the protection of and seek to emulate the sage” (7). This mirrors the way Joseph’s schoolmates treat him at Waldzell, as well as his friendship with the brilliant yet moody Fritz Tegularius (Hesse 135, 152). To be a Daoist sage, one must have contemplated the unity of all things, yet one ought not to be paralyzed by excessive deliberation. Instead, one must harmonize oneself with this cosmic unity in order to act with ziran (naturalness and spontaneity). Hesse echoes this idea in the Music Master’s words to Joseph early on in the novel: “‘Remember this… the kind of person we want to develop, the kind of person we aim to become, would at any time be able to exchange his discipline or art for any other. He would infuse the Glass Bead Game with crystalline logic, and grammar with creative imagination. That is how we ought to be. We should be so constituted that we can at any time be placed in a different position without offering resistance or losing our heads’” (Hesse 82). This idea of self-cultivation toward resistance-less-ness is very much in tune with the Daoist sage who is one with the natural order of things.

Finally, Zhuangzi’s extensive discussion of ineffability and the inadequacy of language informs Hesse’s depiction of the Music Master in his old age. In his classic text, Zhuangzi describes “the arbitrary way that words ‘slice up’ the unity of the cosmos” and “the way our faith in words gradually undermines our sensitivity to lived experience” (Eno 5). This sentiment describes Joseph’s experience when he visits his aging mentor, the Music Master. After patiently attempting to start a conversation, Joseph is frustrated and embarrassed by his teacher’s wordless looks of good will and cordiality (Hesse 256). It is only after Joseph stops trying to unnaturally force conversation that he is “conquered” by the Music Master’s looks:

“‘Something of his cheerful silence, something of his patience and calm, passed into me; and suddenly I understood the old man and the direction his nature had taken, away from people and toward silence, away from words and toward music, away from ideas and toward unity. I understood what I was privileged to see here, and now for the first time grasped the meaning of this smile, this radiance. A saint, one who had attained perfection, had permitted me to dwell in his radiance for an hour; and blunderer that I am, I had tried to entertain him, to question him, to seduce him into a conversation. Thank God the light had not dawned on me too late. He might have sent me away and thus rejected me forever. And I would have been deprived of the most remarkable and wonderful experience I have ever had’” (Hesse 257).

This brings me to the conclusion of my discussion of the influence of Eastern philosophies on Hesse’s work.

In the Context of Literary Scholarship on Hesse’s Work

There have been some scholars who have discussed the indelible influence of the East on Hesse’s work (see Baumann, Carnahan, Heilbrunn). However, the overwhelming majority of scholarship takes a biographical view (Freedman, Mileck, Ziolkowski), or describes his writings in relation to the politics of his time, describing him principally as idealistic, pacifistic, and along those lines. While these are certainly not inaccurate characterizations of Hesse the man, which inevitably influence the themes of his novels, they do not reflect the principal focus of his works, the central struggles of his characters. Those remain philosophical and deeply spiritual journeys which have undoubtedly been influenced by Hesse’s interactions with the ancient yet intimate systems of thought I have explored. A greater focus on this philosophical element of Hesse’s writings could allow the scholarship to evolve from merely understanding why and how Hesse wrote in his confessional style, toward interpretations of Hesse and Eastern philosophies for the modern world.

Bibliography

Literary Works Under Analysis

Bodhi and Nanamoli. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: a Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Pali Text Soc., 2001.

A translation of a canonical Buddhist scripture by two Theravada Buddhist monks.

Eknath, Easwaran, and Michael N. Nagler. The Upanishads. Nilgiri Press, 2019.

A translation of this classic of Indian spirituality, and basis for Vedanta philosophy, by a well-known Indian spiritual teacher and translator.

Eno, Robert. Dao De Jing — Indiana University Bloomington.

A simplified but useful translation of the canonical Daoist text by a well-known sinologist.

Eno, Robert. Zhuangzi: The Inner Chapters — Indiana University Bloomington.

A translation of the inner chapters of this classic Daoist text by a well-known sinologist.

Hesse, Hermann. My Belief: Essays on Life and Art ; Ed. and with an Introduction by Theodore Ziolkowski, Translated by Denver Lindley. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1974.

This is a collection of essays by Hesse, grouped into various categories. The first category involves various miscellaneous topics, the second group of essays discuss European and American literature, the third deal with intellectual history, and the fourth with oriental literature. The essay of most interest is the one titled “A Bit of Theology” (1932).

Hesse, Hermann, et al. The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi). Picador/Henry Holt and Co., 2002.

The Glass Bead Game (or Das Glasperlenspiel) is Hesse’s magnum opus, and arguably his most subtle and refined work. The novel marks a culmination of the themes he explores throughout his literary career.

Hesse, Hermann, et al. Siddhartha: an Indic Poem. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2007.

One of Hesse’s most well-known works, Siddhartha (first published in 1922) deals with the journey of self-discovery undertaken by the son of a Brahmin in ancient India, living during the time of the Buddha. The introduction to this edition by Robert Thurman, an Indo-Tibetan Buddhist scholar, was extremely useful in understanding the various philosophical influences on the novel.

Secondary Sources

On Hesse’s Life and Works

Mileck, Joseph. Hermann Hesse: Life and Art. Univ. of Calif. Pr., 1980.

Mileck’s biography of Hesse is probably the most comprehensive one in all scholarship done on the author. Mileck connects Hesse’s life and his works, specifically discussing the confessional style of his novels.

Kirsch, Adam. “Hermann Hesse’s Arrested Development.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2019.

Kirsch discusses Hesse’s literary reputation and the political context of his works. He argues that his works appeal more to young, idealistic people because they “keep faith with the powerful emotions of adolescence, which most adults forget or outgrow.”

Freedman, Ralph. Hermann Hesse: Pilgrim of Crisis ; a Biography. Fromm Internat., 1997.

Freedman argues that crises and abuses in Hesse’s life led to his artistic and independent spirit. He attempts to “unmask” Hesse and understand his consciousness.

Ziolkowski, Theodore. The Novels of Hermann Hesse: a Study in Theme and Structure. Princeton Univ. Pr., 1974.

Ziolkowski’s book examines six of Hesse’s main works, from Demian onwards, and provides commentary on them. The chapter titled “The Triadic Rhythm of Humanization” was most useful.

On Indian and Chinese Philosophies

Coseru, Christian. “Mind in Indian Buddhist Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 12 Oct. 2012.

Coseru presents a comprehensive overview of the Buddhist view of the mind in Indian philosophy. He begins with the history of the issue, before delving into specific philosophical issues like dependent-origination, the five aggregates, various theories of the mind, the mind’s relationship to metaphysics, epistemology, and so on. The portion that is of most interest is when he outlines the scholarly debate as to whether the Atman and the “not-self” doctrine should really be regarded as contradictory.

Wainwright, William. “Concepts of God.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 19 Dec. 2012.

Wainwright provides an overview of concepts of God in various religious/philosophical traditions, though he focuses primarily on Vedanta and Christianity. His discussion of the distinctions between Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita Vedanta is quite helpful.

On Hesse’s Works and Eastern Philosophies

Baumann, Gunter. Hermann Hesse and India-Allerletzt.

Baumann discusses Hesse’s interactions with India and Indian culture throughout his life, and the impact this had on his novel Siddhartha.

Carnahan, James Edgar. “Hermann Hesse and Vedanta Philosophy: A Discussion of the Correlation Between the Basic Themes in the Later Novels of Hermann Hesse and the Traditional Philosophy of India.” The Keep.

Carnahan outlines Vedanta for a Western audience. He goes on to discuss how elements of this philosophy are present in Hesse’s works Narcissus and Goldmund, Demian, Steppenwolf, Klingsor’s Last Summer, Siddhartha, and Magister Ludi (now known as The Glass Bead Game). He cites Neo-Vedanta thinkers like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda and argues that Hesse qualifies as a Vedantist.

Heilbrunn, Dan. “Hermann Hesse and the Daodejing on the Wu 無 and You 有 of Sage Leaders.” Dao, vol. 8, no. 1, 2008, pp. 79–93., doi:10.1007/s11712–008–9100-y.

Heilbrunn uses the “hub and wheel” analogy from the Daodejing to describe the characteristics of ideal Daoist sages, whom he argues are “centered between interchanging extremes.” He applies the characteristics of Daoist sages to many of Hesse’s characters, including Leo in Journey to the East and Joseph Knecht in The Glass Bead Game.