Buddha, Vol. 4: The Forest of Uruvela

I am Buddhist, so I may have a biased opinion about this series. I honestly am not a big comic book/manga fan, but this series caught my interest. I ended up buying the whole 8 book series and very much enjoyed reading them. These books are not for young children, as there is definitely adult themes, language and drawings of violence and sex in them. These books are not for people looking for serious Buddhist dialogue either, but they are fun and a new and interesting way to view the life of the Buddha. I originally got them for myself and will keep them to share with my children when they get in the mid to late teens. They are worth a read and I recommend them to all interested in the Buddha's life, but from a fresh and not so serious point of view.

I picked up one of these books at our local library and fell in love with the story. After purchasing the complete set, I am glad I went into the library that day.

All 8 volumes great reading of fictional account of Buddha's life and philosophy. Recommended purchase for manga lovers.

I have read the Japanese version of this and bought English sets for my boyfriend. We are super happy, everybody should have a set in their house.

This being Volume 4 of Osamu Tezuka’s graphic novel of the life of Buddha the flow of the narrative is comfortable. The level of the art work remains high even if he has begun to simplify some of the images expecting us to understand the conventions of this series. The narrative style is familiar but we are being taken deeper into the mysteries of Buddhism and how this belief system would have appeared to those watching it mature. I had thought Vol 3 was the best of the series, four is better. An unfortunate aspect of the narrative style is Tezuka’s continued reliance on anachronisms. They can be short cuts that help the reader get the point quickly or just lazy writing. In this book they are too intrusive and distracting. The not yet Buddha, Siddhartha continues to follow Dhepa deeper into the world of the aesthetics. With them is the much younger Assaji. In Assaji Siddhartha has the example of a person certain of the day of his death, and at peace with his fate. Siddhartha has yet to understand why there must be death and what is it about humans that they alone carry awareness of the fate all living things share. In volume 3 we were shown the realization ordeals that intended to purify the soul and only bring death are futile. Yet the purpose of our heroes arrival in the Forrest of Uruvelta is to practice just just such ordeals of purification. Instead of finding ever more purified souls we find emaciated and sometimes dead would be priests who are as petty and given to pride and violence as people less determined to be purified. Siddhartha will attain his status as the sacred Buddha, but there remain lessons to be learned. I remain less than satisfied. The most beautiful acts of Siddhartha happen when he is most engaged with the living. Acting for life seems to me to be the best actions of the future Buddha. Yet he is most protective of his need to separate himself from love and any human loyalty. Siddhartha, now Buddha seems to understand this completely. Perhaps I will need the rest of the books to catch the glimmer of the deeper lesson.

Just as incredible as the rest of the series. I recommend it to everyone! I've re-read it many times, and you always pick up new things with each read.

Great series. A very quick read, but well worth it.

Great condition thx

buy the lot...well worth owning

Ich liebe diese Reihe! Ganz zauberhaft erzählt, mit Witz und Herz. Stimmt bestimmt nicht 100%ig mit Buddhas Lebensgeschichte überein, aber man erhält einen schönen Einblick und es ist unterhaltsam.

n'est pas compatible avec kindle ,lire sur iPad ou ordinateur

My vote goes to Buddha who says that trials that ascetic monks go through are too arduous and strenuous and horrible to the point that they are meaningless. Dumbfounded. Again, I learned a lot, reading Buddha. Five stars.

Arte fantástica e história cativante. Li e não percebi que tinha lido.