I read this book 3 to 4 or 5 times. I cannot even remember the exact number of times. Every time I had different consciousness shift and every time I am reminded why it is my favorite. I first read The Glass Bead Game almost 40 years ago and have since followed the Hesse's thought - I would one day be able to play the Game, be able to meditate, be able to connect to the higher states of consciousness. It set a path, or changed my life. I remember my first meditation attempts, as a teen being only 18 years old, spending evenings visualizing a white glass pearl in my mind's eye. The book saved me from another favorite author, Dostoyevsky, who almost led me to a suicide invading my mind, in quite a different way. I still love Dostoyevsky, yet would not recommend him to faint hearted... Hesse has opened the door for Tolstoy and his most wonderful wisdom. That in turn led me to an exploration of Greek, Hindu, Chinese philosophers. This in turn got me writing about metaphysics, cosmos, life.