Chapter 12: Govinda Feraco Search for Human Potential 19 October 2011

 “Govinda,” the last chapter of the book, opens with a focus on its titular character rather than on Siddhartha – a rarity, as the book almost never focuses on anyone else!  He’s resting in Kamala’s old grove, and he’s heard of a wise ferryman nearby (not realizing it’s Siddhartha) Siddhartha

Siddhartha  Of course, after all his long years of seeking, “although he had lived his life according to the rule and was also regarded with respect by the younger monks for his age and modesty, there was still restlessness in his heart and his seeking was unsatisfied.”  Govinda is drawn to the idea of learning from this new teacher, and goes to meet him  Their final encounter provides the book with its ending

 When asked if he is still a “seeker” despite his advanced age, Govinda replies, “I have never ceased seeking. I will never cease seeking. That seems to be my destiny.”  Siddhartha says “perhaps [he] seeks too much, that as a result of [his] seeking he cannot find” because “when someone is seeking, it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal…You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.”  The lost 9th-grade P.E. student example… Siddhartha

 They spend a night talking to each other about their lives’ paths, and as Govinda leaves, he asks Siddhartha whether he finally uncovered “belief, doctrine, or knowledge” that helped him find his answers  Once again, Govinda’s hoping someone can fill in the bubbles on his Scantron – as though having someone else’s answer is worth the same as one you earned yourself… Siddhartha

 Siddhartha replies that he has no doctrine – that, indeed, he still harbors the distrust for doctrine and teachers that he nursed as a younger man – but that he has had many teachers over the years, and that he did in fact learn from them (not wisdom, but knowledge and insight)  “Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish…Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.” Siddhartha

 Next, Siddhartha goes on to make explicit the “binary” motif that Hesse’s threaded through his narrative…and shatters it  “In every truth the opposite is equally true. For example, a truth can only be expressed and enveloped in words if it is one-sided. Everything that is thought and expressed in words is one-sided, only half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity. When the Illustrious Buddha taught about the world, he had to divide it into Samsara and Nirvana, into illusion and truth, into suffering and salvation. One cannot do otherwise, there is no other method for those who teach. But the world itself, being in and around us, is never one-sided. Never is a man or a deed wholly Samsara or wholly Nirvana; never is a man wholly a saint or a sinner.”  The FAE in action… Siddhartha

 He then goes on to explain to the overwhelmed Govinda that time is an illusion  “I am a sinner and you are a sinner, but someday the sinner will be Brahma again, will someday attain Nirvana, will someday become a Buddha. Now this ‘someday’ is illusion; it is only a comparison. The sinner is not on his way to a Buddha-like state; he is not evolving, although our thinking cannot conceive things otherwise. No, the potential Buddha already exists in the sinner; his future is already there. The potential hidden Buddha must be recognized in him, in you, in everybody.”  Picking up a stone (notice the pattern?), Siddhartha proceeds to seemingly ramble; Govinda doesn’t quite follow, which makes sense (for wisdom cannot be communicated), but his words make more sense to us because we’ve shared Siddhartha’s experience (our context is richer) Siddhartha

 Govinda, however, is troubled by Siddhartha’s seeming worship of “things,” and his corresponding newfound disregard for thoughts and words (remember, he’s mastered them at this point; he’s learned to pronounce the word that matters most)  Govinda’s worry has merit, for he’s concerned that Siddhartha has somehow lost himself in Maya, in illusion Siddhartha

 Siddhartha merely replies that if the things around him are illusory, he, too, is an illusion, and thus he doesn’t care if his stone, for example, is fake  “It seems to me, Govinda, that love is the most important thing in the world.” Siddhartha

 As we race towards the end of the book, Hesse’s finishing all of his themes off with a flourish  He takes the time here to allow Siddhartha to explain that Gotama’s words (disregard earthly love!) mattered far less than his actions (someone who saw such ugliness in the world still dedicated themselves to making it better for everyone else…what else is love?) Siddhartha

 At this, Govinda prepares to leave; he’s troubled by what Siddhartha says, and feels no closer to enlightenment than before  For all of the sound and fury of the past few pages, his Scantron remains unbubbled Siddhartha

 So he makes a final request of Siddhartha: “We are now old men. We may never see each other again in this life. I can see, my dear friend, that you have found peace. I realize that I have not found it. Tell me one more word, my esteemed friend, tell me something that I can conceive, something I can understand! Give me something to help me on my way, Siddhartha. My path is often hard and dark.” Siddhartha

 Siddhartha doesn’t give him any words; he lets Govinda kiss his forehead  In that moment, in that connection, Govinda becomes aware of every connection in his life – and in every other life – just as Siddhartha became aware of every connection while listening to the river, and through that awareness gains the understanding he’s sought his whole life  In other words, Siddhartha does give him “one more word”  The word is Om – the word of words – and he doesn’t have to say it Siddhartha

 With the kiss, Govinda no longer sees Siddhartha: he sees all of reality fused into a single moment, thousands of faces simultaneously appearing and disappearing  Only time stood between the faces  Hesse argues that only the passing of time, or at least our perception of it, stands between us and our understanding Siddhartha

 One can point out that desire, not time, blinds us to the truth, for desire is the source of suffering  However, one must point out that suffering results more specifically from longing (either for something not to change that will, to reach for something that can’t be won, or for something to return that won’t)…which is why Hesse’s translator, Hilda Rosner, keeps using that word in “Om” Siddhartha

Siddhartha  Really, what is longing except for the word to describe the space between a wish and its fulfillment?  The longing that cripples us results when that space becomes infinite – when fulfillment never arrives – and that’s where we lose ourselves: in waiting and wanting

Siddhartha  In this moment, time breaks down in front of him; everything is there!  Govinda sheds his old doubts, sheds his insistence that things are as they are, that reality can be explained through a static, unyielding set of rules and doctrines to be obeyed and followed automatically, and simply absorbs, simply experiences life  In this moment, Govinda is finally free…and when he weeps, he weeps because he finally sees the beauty of everything he’s ever experienced, the truth he’s always seen but never seen  He weeps because his journey is over…  …and so is ours!