Reviews for Buddha, Volume 7: Prince Ajatasattu

The average rating for Buddha, Volume 7: Prince Ajatasattu based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-08-21 00:00:00 Mark Macrae I get mocked. Often. Maybe I should be offended by it, but generally I'm not. I understand that well over half my religious beliefs and convictions defy logic. Sometimes, when I'm thinking rationally, I can't believe half the beliefs that I believe - which isn't to say I don't believe them. That's the problem with religion and supernatural: it's not rational. And that's the problem with people - they're always equating rational with good and irrational with bad, but that's not always the case. Point: Stalin said, "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." That's rational thought for you. Eugenics, let's face it, rationally it makes sense - but I bet most of the world would be against it - and rightly so. These Buddha books are fantastic. The art, the stories, the plots and sub-plots. Above all though, they make you think - which is a most difficult task given our tendency to zone out all the time. My relationship with Jesus Christ is a paradox. I have complete faith in my salvation, while I question my interpretation of the Bible. I don't doubt at all, and I doubt it all. Maybe it's possible to remain open-minded and convicted at the same time. What I noticed about Tezuka's Buddha series is how much Buddha's life parallels that of Jesus Christ's. I've wondered throughout whether or not that's the way it was, or if Tezuka added it to make a better story. Some examples: Buddha was born a prince - he would be a King. He had a select group of close disciples, but he also had thousands of others that came to hear him speak. He healed the sick. He raised a girl from the dead. He was persecuted for his beliefs. He had to go through trials and ordeals - like Christ in the wilderness. He talked about being born again. His people wanted a strong and political leader, whereas he brought a message of peace... on and on... I have always believed (and continue to do so even after reading this series) that John 10:16 ("I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice...") was talking about the Gentiles, non-Jewish Christians like myself. But I've also wondered if it could be more than that. I'm willing to wager that some people would believe that even having that thought (let alone writing it down) crosses the border into actual heresy from imagined heresy and probably calls for secondary separation. But I'd also remind them that it's the same chapter a few verses later that says, "I give them eternal life, they shall never perish and none shall ever pluck them from my hand." Who knows, maybe the Baha'i Faith is right and many people have legitimately spoken for God in different times. I guess Baha'i would be like a Universalist Dispensationalism... I also know that many of my Christian friends who will end up reading this - most via facebook - are probably appalled that I'm reading a book on Buddha in the first place. They (possibly correctly) believe that the book that is sufficient for all life is the Bible, and one needn't read anything else - especially if it causes trouble. But, of course, I don't see this as trouble. (And neither did C.S. Lewis I may add: "The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. I regret that the brutes connot write books. Very gladly would I learn what face things present to a mouse or a bee; more gladly still would I perceive the olfactory world charged with all the information and emotion it carries for a dog. Literary experience heals the wound, without undermining the privilege, of individuality... in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad of eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.") Ultimately, I hope reading these books helps me grow in my faith as a Christian (even though the opposite may at present seem true) and keep me on the path of seeking truth. If there's one thing I believe all theists (mono, poly, pan, whatever) currently hold to it's that God is just. Whether you're a Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever - you probably believe God to be just. So, that said, I still whole-heartedly believe in those irrational tenets. And if I'm wrong, and if I end up in Hell, God will get the glory which is ultimately all that matters in the end. Sorry atheists for not addressing you. You're (collective - atheist/theist) all more than welcome to watch these two pillars have at it and then maintain the same presuppositions as when we came into it in the first place... Also, my apologies for not addressing that much of what went on in this: the fantastic seventh volume of the Buddha series. I just figure if you've read the first six, you're going to finish it out even if the last two are complete crap - which they aren't.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-06-17 00:00:00 Michael Harpel This volume is once again treading on familiar ground - how religious practices and precepts are twisted by those interested in amassing power. It started out simple enough. Individual men -- monks, commoners, princes, being moved by Buddha's teachings and devoting themselves to follow him. Then, as more powerful, teaching monks joined him, their followers joined him as well. Until there are thousands. Now that it's no longer a handful of followers, sitting at Buddha's side on a hill somewhere, there is a hunger for rules, for organization, for lines of power, demarcations of rank and status, and for right of succession. All too familiar. This volume is filled with tragedies that you can see coming a mile away. And a few, I suspect, that you can't. One book to go.