Buddha, Vol. 4: The Forest of Uruvela

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.

Great book, but the kindle edition does not work. Literally all that opens is the title page, book cover, and table of contents. It's a real shame, because I was looking forward to re-reading. Not only does it NOT WORK, returning/refunding it is a huge pain. Don't buy for Kindle, definitely buy on paper.

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.

Tezuka continues his epic story of the Buddha in Manga form, I cannot find any fault with it. The art is fantastic, the story stays close to scholarship. Tezuka's interpretation is vital, human and multifaceted, I read it in one long sitting. A monumental achievement in sequential art, Buddha belongs on your shelf with the classics of dharma, art, and graphic novels. A must-read.

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.

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

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.

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.

I have read the entire Buddha series this year, and rather than review each individually, I will post this review on each one. Sorry if this seem crass; I had originally planned to only post on Book 8, but I wanted to tell as many people as possible, just how good these books are.It is impossible to heap too many superlatives upon the Buddha Series, it is simply awesome. The artwork ranges from elegant and attractive to ridiculously primitive but the abrupt changes in style never seem to jar. The story is both ancient and sacred and is told with a beguiling mixture of reverence and irreverence. On one page, there will be laid out an important tenet of the Buddhist faith and on the next, a reference to television and E.T.The stories in no way attempt to be an accurate retelling of the Buddha's life, although all the key moments are there. There are many allegorical digressions and although many of the main characters are entirely fictional they are used well to illustrate Buddha's teachings.Over the eight book sequence, there is a fair amount of repetition of themes and even storylines, which may irritate some, but since Buddhists (among many others) have been preaching peace and forgiveness for the last two and half thousand years, with seemingly little effect on most of humanity, a few more iterations won't do any harm.If you have any interest in either Manga or Buddhism, then I urge you give these books a try; life-changing is probably too strong a term, but these books have had a profound effect on my world view. They are peerless and magnificent.

buy the lot...well worth owning

AMAZING! One of my fav comics of my life.

SEHR GUT....

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.