Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part A

I very much enjoyed reading the first part of The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold. The story that really stood out to me was “The First Encounter.” I like how the character, prince Siddhartha, has such innocence about him. He reminds me of a child at this part in the story. This gives me the idea to perhaps have a child about nine or ten be the main character in my story. Further, the description of the prince’s chariot really caught my attention. The chariot was described with such detail and sounded so beautiful and elegant. For my story I want the format to be very expressive so that the reader can easily visualize the scene and become immersed into the story. Additionally, I think it was really cool how the prince was in this perfect world completely unaware of what was to come. Then his reality is shattered when he realizes as time passes it takes a tool on everything and everyone, which results in old age. In my story I want to use the theme of ignorance is bliss and expand on the idea of how the one thing that is constant in our lives is time. It never stops. And we can never get it back.

Prince Siddhartha and the four heavenly messengers he encounters. wikimedia.

Bibliography: The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold. link to the reading online.