Tryst with Vedanta Philosophy.. and Siddhartha
Have just read SIDDHARTHA by Hermann Hesse.. and completely lost in it..
I took me by surprise, not once but thrice, on different days while I was reading the book in the train, when some Brit fellow travellers came upto me after seeing the book cover, to tell me how much they were touched and amazed by the story, its utter simplicity and profoundly insightful nature. It is quite remarkable that seeing that book evoked such a response for people to come and talk to me- normally it doesn't happen that way in trains, where people are left to mind their own business especially if sitting with a book!.
Had watched the movie adaptation of the novel from Bangalore 8-9years ago, it was a special screening at Max Mueller Bhavan, the cultural institute of Germany.
It is just a coincidence that I have been breathing in some Vedanta in the last couple of months from Chinmaya Mission here, with o'course exactly the same philosophy of Siddhartha...
Been attending some classes/informal discourses and discussions for the youth by Brahmacharini Sumati Chaitanya, who is resident at the mission centre here in London.. (she was a practising doctor from Gujarat who renounced that life and searching for truth/Self, became a disciple of Swami Chinmayananda..
Interestingly, while she was away for 2weeks, on a trip to India, as a stand-in to take up all her responsibilities[- ie., taking vedanta-philosophy and sessions based on BhagavadGeeta for youths, Upanishads and Ramayana etc- mostly for middle-aged&senior people who attend those], another Brahmacharini, known as Bhakti-ji, a French lady (profile) who was a professor of Yoga, who now takes care of the the Mission sessions in France, came from Paris. Listening to her teaching the Indian Philosophy with in-depth understanding of the cultural contexts, was a very unique experience for me.
Reading Siddhartha, I had the same sort of reverence for the German author Hesse's grasp of the intricacies of cultural context and ancient Indian scriptures and philosophical texts.
{Pic-- Bhaktiji during her leaving dinner, answering questions after her last evening Vedanta/BhagavadGeeta session with youngsters. }
BTW, though I have a copy of Siddhartha back home, bought a new edition which has 70-page introduction! including Hesse's short bio.
Also came to know from the intro that Dr Hermann Gundert, the German missionary and scholar was Hesse's Grandpa (who lived near my hometown, where his Gundert Bungalow still exists, which I visited during schooldays. It was there he published the first ever Malayalam dictionary!!, Grammar book and Bible translation..). Hermann Gundert's daughter married Johannes Hesse and the outcome was Hermann Hesse ! :)
Auf Wiedersehen.
I took me by surprise, not once but thrice, on different days while I was reading the book in the train, when some Brit fellow travellers came upto me after seeing the book cover, to tell me how much they were touched and amazed by the story, its utter simplicity and profoundly insightful nature. It is quite remarkable that seeing that book evoked such a response for people to come and talk to me- normally it doesn't happen that way in trains, where people are left to mind their own business especially if sitting with a book!.
Had watched the movie adaptation of the novel from Bangalore 8-9years ago, it was a special screening at Max Mueller Bhavan, the cultural institute of Germany.
It is just a coincidence that I have been breathing in some Vedanta in the last couple of months from Chinmaya Mission here, with o'course exactly the same philosophy of Siddhartha...
Been attending some classes/informal discourses and discussions for the youth by Brahmacharini Sumati Chaitanya, who is resident at the mission centre here in London.. (she was a practising doctor from Gujarat who renounced that life and searching for truth/Self, became a disciple of Swami Chinmayananda..
Interestingly, while she was away for 2weeks, on a trip to India, as a stand-in to take up all her responsibilities[- ie., taking vedanta-philosophy and sessions based on BhagavadGeeta for youths, Upanishads and Ramayana etc- mostly for middle-aged&senior people who attend those], another Brahmacharini, known as Bhakti-ji, a French lady (profile) who was a professor of Yoga, who now takes care of the the Mission sessions in France, came from Paris. Listening to her teaching the Indian Philosophy with in-depth understanding of the cultural contexts, was a very unique experience for me.
Reading Siddhartha, I had the same sort of reverence for the German author Hesse's grasp of the intricacies of cultural context and ancient Indian scriptures and philosophical texts.
{Pic-- Bhaktiji during her leaving dinner, answering questions after her last evening Vedanta/BhagavadGeeta session with youngsters. }
BTW, though I have a copy of Siddhartha back home, bought a new edition which has 70-page introduction! including Hesse's short bio.
Also came to know from the intro that Dr Hermann Gundert, the German missionary and scholar was Hesse's Grandpa (who lived near my hometown, where his Gundert Bungalow still exists, which I visited during schooldays. It was there he published the first ever Malayalam dictionary!!, Grammar book and Bible translation..). Hermann Gundert's daughter married Johannes Hesse and the outcome was Hermann Hesse ! :)
Auf Wiedersehen.
posted by Sujith at 11:49 PM
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