In this part of the book, Siddhartha abandons his rich,
luxurious life. After a long sleep by the river he notices it has many things
to teach him. I related what he learned from the river to the teaching of Taoism. Siddhartha and
Lao Tzu have very similar ways of observing the river.
"'Love this river, stay by it, learn from it.'
Yes, he wanted to learn from it, he wanted to listen to it. It seemed to him
that whoever understood this river and its secrets, would understand much more,
many secrets, all secrets." (Page83).
In this part of the book, Siddhartha observes,
analyses, and concludes that the river has millions of things to teach him. The
river becomes one of his most profound instructors. Similarly, Taoism uses the
flow of the river to demonstrate the movement of life. Lao Tzu believed
in wu wei or non-action, and he used the river as the best
example to describe it. The ferryman´s way of navigating the river is similar
to what Taoism says; you can´t fight a river; you have to let it take you.
Taoism believes that the power of rivers is derived from non-action. The river
just flows, but it has many properties and characteristics that only the river
can have. Taoists say "Be still like a mountain and flow like a great
river". On page 83 of Siddhartha Herman Hesse describes what
Siddhartha was thinking: "He saw that the water continually flowed and
flowed and yet it was always there; it was always the same and yet every moment
it was new." Siddhartha notices the properties of the river and starts
helping the ferryman with his job, so he can listen and learn from the river.
Vasudeva, the ferryman, tells Siddhartha that he won´t be the one to teach him,
“the river knows everything” and it will teach him. (Page 86)
