Siddhartha

1. What do the Brahmins tell Siddhartha is the great spiritual purpose?

A) to find inner peace

B) to find enlightenment

C) to find emptiness

D) to find the inner Self

2. Why does the young Siddhartha doubt the teachings of the Brahmins?

A) The Brahmins are all phonies.

B) The Brahmins aren’t at peace.

C) The Brahmins are greedy and worldly.

D) The Brahmins are too intellectual.

3. When Siddhartha announces that he is leaving to search for greater spiritual understanding, his father relents for what reason?

A) Siddhartha is impossible to discipline.

B) Siddhartha has already left him in spirit.

C) Siddhartha will be financially successful.

D) Siddhartha may find a wife out in the world.

4. What is Siddhartha’s goal in living with the Samana ascetics? (short answer)

5. Despite admiring the Buddha, why does Siddhartha not study with him?

A) He believes the teachings are too complicated and confusing.

B) He believes the teachings are too shallow and only work sometimes.

C) He believes the teachings are too intellectual and not experiential.

D) He believes the teachings fail to defeat the Self’s constant urges.

6. Siddhartha finds himself in a state of awakening as a result of doing what?

A) focusing his mind on a candle flame

B) observing ordinary sights and sounds

C) indulging his every whim and desire

D) reading all of the Buddha’s sermons

Discussion Suggestion: What is the Self or Atman that Siddhartha seeks to conquer? Why would it be necessary to conquer the Self? Is it even possible to do so? 

7. When Siddhartha crosses a river, why does the ferryman not charge him?

A) All religious seekers may cross for free.

B) It’s a religious holiday, and no one has to pay.

C) The ferryman is performing a Buddhist good deed.

D) The ferryman knows he’ll see Siddhartha again.

8. How does Siddhartha, who appears as a simple religious beggar, manage to impress Kamala, a cultivated courtesan?

A) He plays the sitar beautifully for her.

B) He performs feats of strength and agility.

C) He gives a lecture on self-denial.

D) He makes up a poem on the spot.

9. To what does Siddhartha credit his sudden good fortune in the world?

A) to his having developed a Samana’s magical powers

B) to his having learned how to think, to fast, and to wait

C) to his having learned to sit and contemplate the Atman

D) to his having a quality of a natural friendliness

10. Once Siddhartha learns Kamuswami’s business operations, how does he regard them? (short answer)

11. Kamala tells Siddhartha that he loves no one. How does he respond?

A) He says he loves everyone, which is the same thing.

B) He says he does love others, but she’s much better at it.

C) He says he loves her but doesn’t treat her differently.

D) He says he and she are the same in that respect.

12. Why does Siddhartha come to regret his life as a businessman?

A) He wastes it on pleasure and entertainment.

B) He becomes greedy, ambitious, and jealous.

C) It takes him away from his contemplation of nature.

D) It takes time away from his religious practice.

Discussion Suggestion: Can someone be a sensualist and hedonist and, at the same time, search for spiritual awakening? Are they mutually exclusive? How might the spiritual attempt to get rid of the selfish ego, on the one hand, and entertainments that distract a person from anxiety, on the other hand, be similar?

13. On leaving his life with Kamala and Kamuswami, Siddhartha comes to a river and looks down into it. What does he see?

A) Its fullness reflects his future of great potential.

B) It rushes along, warning him not to waste time.

C) It symbolizes that his purpose is to float through life.

D) Its emptiness reflects the emptiness of his soul.

14. Siddhartha decides his years of sensual pleasure were necessary for what reason?

A) These years allowed him to earn money that will help him found a new religious retreat.

B) These years helped him become a fool again so he could find his Atman.

C) These years taught him the difference between sensual and spiritual love.

D) These years helped him explore the enlightenment of everyday activities.

15. The ferryman urges Siddhartha to stay with him by the river. Why?

A) The river is the Great Spirit of Atman.

B) The river can teach a person everything.

C) The river will say when it’s time to go.

D) The river loves Siddhartha above all others.

16. How does Kamala, dying from a snakebite, find peace at last? (short answer)

17. How does Siddhartha react when his son by Kamala treats him coldly?

A) He sends his son to live and learn with the Samanas.

B) He treats the boy with tenderness and patience.

C) He returns the boy’s cold treatment.

D) He ignores his son until the boy begs forgiveness.

18. Siddhartha decides that other people aren’t inferior but that they’re missing one thing. What is that thing?

A) awareness of the presence of Brahma

B) the ability to deny the urge for pleasure

C) consciousness of the inner Self, or Atman

D) consciousness of the unity of all things

Discussion Suggestion: Siddhartha spends a great deal of time contemplating the river as it flows past. What does the river represent? Are its lessons spiritual, or does it somehow teach something even bigger than spirit?