Week 4 Reading Diary: The Life of Buddha, Part 2

("The Victory of Buddha", via Wikipedia)

Source: Andre Ferdinant Herold (1922). The Life of Buddha.

This section didn't have quite as many ideas that sparked my imagination as the last--but it was still pretty awesome! I really liked the descriptions and metaphors and similes used in the writing for this unit, so I was thinking it might be interesting to try something similar. I find writing in the 3rd person to be challenging anyway, so that would be something really interesting to try, I think, writing-wise...

But anyway, here were some of the parts that jumped out at me:

Gopa and Suddhodana Grieve: Chantaka was a wonderful character, as was Siddhartha's horse, and their return to the palace to tell Siddhartha's family that he has left is really moving. The characters here are all really well-drawn, and it would be really interesting to do a close-up on one of them--especially Mahaprajapati, when she tosses the gems into the pool.

Arata Kalama/King Vambasara/The Disciples Leaving: This is another nice example of threes; it comes full-circle and the arc shows that Siddhartha gets lost on his way to englightenment, as he starts to go the path of abstinence, and then when he realizes this isn't working he reasons his way onto the right path again. His disciples think this is hypocrisy, and they leave, which has cool implications for a dramatic story full of debate and meditation.

The Tree of Knowledge: I really like this whole section; it has sort of the same tension as waking up one morning and knowing it's going to be a good day, and you're going to accomplish your goals--you just have to wait until you come to the right point. Siddhartha's determination to not move from this spot would be a really interesting character study, too.

Buddha's Awakening: I really want to do something with this section, but I don't know what. One idea I was tossing back and forth in my head was doing a continuation of the story--what happens after Buddha awakens? Maybe I'll look for some texts that continue the story--or even make something up...