Reading Notes: Life of Buddha Part A

Notes: Life of Buddha 

(Birth of Buddha: from Wikipedia)

Beautiful Sentences:

This story is chuck full of beautiful sentences and I wanted to focus on them: 

"Promise me that my life will not end in death, that sickness will not impair my health, that age will not follow my youth, that misfortune will not destroy my prosperity"...Solemn as Meru mountain, the prince said to his father: "If you can not promise me these four things, do not hold me back, O father. When some one is trying to escape from a burning house, we should not hinder him.

• This is an extremely powerful sentence. He is asking his father to do the impossible in order to make him stay. It really emphasizes if you want something done you must go do it. There is a great analogy at the end about escaping from a burning house. 

ONE day, someone spoke in the presence of the prince and told how the grass in the woods had become a tender green and the birds in the trees were singing of the spring, and how, in the ponds, the great lotuses were unfolding. Nature had broken the chains that winter had forged, and, around the city, those gardens so dear to young maidens were now gaily carpeted with flowers. 

• This sentence sounds very poetic. I do not think I will use this same structure, but I do love the way it sounds and the drama it adds. This sentence also describes the setting very well. I love the part about nature breaking the chains of winter. This was a great use of personification. 

 And like fire fanned by an auspicious wind, like the moon, queen of the stars in the luminous skies, like the morning sun rising over the mountains in the East, Siddhartha grew in strength and stature.

• Great comparison of the Sun rising to the growth of a child! Great idea for another story!

She found a rare tree, the branches drooping under their burden of blossoms. She went up to it; gracefully extending her hand, she drew down a branch. Suddenly, she stood very still. She smiled, and the maidens who were near her received a lovely child into their arms.

• So while this sentence is beautiful, I just find it humorous that birth is so easy and painless. 

Ceaseless melody was borne on the wind, exquisite flowers rained from the sky

• Again with ideas for descriptions: flowers rained from the sky.

Unknown words: 

• omnipotence: quality of having great power
• repair: frequently visiting a place or going to a place
• veneration: great respect 

Likes:

• Simple to follow language and story
• Plethora of lessons 
• The use of personification and detail in setting 

Things I would change/ story ideas: 

• Less dialogue
• Use of animals telling the story
• Twist the ending, perhaps the father becomes cynical and corrupt? 

Bibliography: 

The Life of Buddha: Part A by Andre Ferdinand Herold. Website: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook