The River

[TSTS]

Siddhartha listened. He was now nothing but a listener, completely concentrated on listening, completely empty, he felt, that he had now finished learning to listen. Often before, he had heard all this, these many voices in the river, today it sounded new. Already, he could no longer tell the many voices apart, not the happy ones from the weeping ones, not the ones of children from those of men, they all belonged together, the lamentation of yearning and the laughter of the knowledgeable one, the scream of rage and the moaning of the dying ones, everything was one, everything was intertwined and connected, entangled a thousand times. And everything together, all voices, all goals, all yearning, all suffering, all pleasure, all that was good and evil, all of this together was the world. All of it together was the flow of events, was the music of life. And when Siddhartha was listening attentively to this river, this song of a thousand voices, when he neither listened to the suffering nor the laughter, when he did not tie his soul to any particular voice and submerged his self into it, but when he heard them all, perceived the whole, the oneness, then the great song of the thousand voices consisted of a single word

Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

 

[Brickjectivity]

Siddhartha listened. He was now nothing but a listener, completely concentrated on listening, completely empty, he felt, that he had now finished learning to listen. Often before, he had heard all this, these many voices in the river, today it sounded new. Already, he could no longer tell the many voices apart, not the happy ones from the weeping ones, not the ones of children from those of men, they all belonged together, the lamentation of yearning and the laughter of the knowledgeable one, the scream of rage and the moaning of the dying ones, everything was one, everything was intertwined and connected, entangled a thousand times. And everything together, all voices, all goals, all yearning, all suffering, all pleasure, all that was good and evil, all of this together was the world. All of it together was the flow of events, was the music of life. And when Siddhartha was listening attentively to this river, this song of a thousand voices, when he neither listened to the suffering nor the laughter, when he did not tie his soul to any particular voice and submerged his self into it, but when he heard them all, perceived the whole, the oneness, then the great song of the thousand voices consisted of a single word

Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

I was expecting a reference to the Billy Joel song The River of Dreams, but the thread was about Siddhartha. Are they about the same river?

“The River of Dreams” by Billy Joel - Song Meanings and Facts

In the above article they attempt to exegete the meaning of the song lyrics. They begin by saying "The titular “river” is actually symbolic. And what it apparently represents is an idea akin to spiritual fulfillment. That is in order to achieve this state, the narrator must first cross said river. So in a way it can be classified as an obstacle which is preventing him from reaching this goal..." After some more words they conclude that it just means Billy Joel had a dream that got him interested in analyzing the spiritual side, but I'm not convinced. The words of the refrain are "In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep through the desert of truth to the river so deep..."

So are they talking about the same river?

 

[TSTS]

Are they about the same river?

As far as i know, technically no. The river in Siddhartha is analogous to the Buddhist doctrine of Samsara. But it could involve multiple layers of meanings (such as the "river of consciousness") which will depend on the expertise of the interpreter, and may include deeper meanings than what the original author had in mind.

This is the first time i seen the article and this song you have given. I can see why you would like to draw a parallel between the two. Good observation.

it can be classified as an obstacle

In the context of the extract, among other things the river symbolizes 'facts', facts are never an obstacle. The denial of facts is always the obstacle. However, it may be somewhat painful to acknowledge and stay with facts.......in order to "cross the river". Which is why people don't want to face them.

Edit: I agree, the article is poorly written and doesn't do justice to the lyrics. And it has introduced "GOD" into the picture. Your skepticism is justified.