Symbolically, a river means different things to different people depending on their religion and culture. In Siddhartha, the significance of the river is held more in the religious light. Religion plays a large part in everyone¡¯s life. In Hermann Hesse¡¯s epic story Siddhartha, the images of the river represent the river¡¯s knowledge and wisdom. In the Christian and Islamic doctrines, the image of river represent tranquility, peace, serenity and the presence of a holy spirit. The aspect of religion is taken apart and looked at from nearly every possible angle. There are many key concepts revolving around the significance of the river in Siddhartha. But two which seem to be the most important and powerful are the closely related idea that time is not real and The Oneness of All Experience; and that knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.
             The first key concept concerning the significance of the river in Siddhartha is really two very closely related ideas. These thoughts are that time is not real and the oneness of all experience. All experience is happening every moment. Everything exists all at once, and the only thing separating these existences is the illusion of time. When Siddhartha is sitting by the river Vasudeva comes up to him and asks what he has learned from the river, and Siddhartha tells him that he has learned that time is not real. The river is at its mouth and its source and the waterfall and they¡¯re with them at all times and yet it is always going, always flowing. Later, when Siddhartha again meets Govinda he tells Govinda of what he has learned. He first shows Govinda a rock, and explains how the rock is not just a rock now and maybe something else later, but that it is all things now. It is everything it will ever be at this moment, because these different forms are only separated by time, which is an illusion. When he finishes telling Govinda about what he has learned he asks Go...