The Buddha – A Graphic Novel
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As a practising Buddhist or someone who has taken refuge in the Three Jewels, it is good to have a basic knowledge of Buddha’s teachings. Aside from learning about karma, reincarnation, impermanence and so forth, we should be familiar with the life of the Buddha. Even if we can’t remember the intimate details, it is good to have an overview of his life, as it holds valuable insights into what led the Buddha to accomplish his great goal of enlightenment. More than any ordinary biography, Buddha’s life story is a powerful inspiration for our very own spiritual journey.
In Buddhism, accounts of the lives of great masters including the Buddha himself are told as a means to convey the Dharma as embodied in their experiences and deeds. This is why they are known as ‘namthar’ or ‘liberating stories’. The stories encourage and inspire the reader to practise the Dharma, persevere, and rise above the challenges and difficulties that normally hinder our practice and perhaps even lead us to give up the Dharma completely.
H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has said that how well and how deeply we practise the Dharma is determined by how much Dharma we have learned and absorbed. It goes without saying that Dharma practice involves much more than merely studying and retaining knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings. Successful Dharma practice also relies on contemplating upon and applying the teachings, which leads to gaining the results in our mind streams. Without studying the teachings, applying them and experiencing their benefits, we will not know how to appreciate the true value of the Dharma.
In fact, how much we value the Dharma relates to how much patience we have to overcome challenges and obstacles on our spiritual journey. In the case of great masters who possessed an ocean of realisations, they gave up their princely lifestyles of luxury, traveled to the ends of the world, and even sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Dharma. For such great beings, these deeds are not considered a sacrifice but an offering and a way of life. In return, for all they ‘offered’ to the Dharma, they gained the highest of realisations — enlightenment itself.
Buddha’s life story has been told over and over again, and with each account, a particular emphasis is made in order to convey a particular meaning depending on the time, place and context. Tsem Rinpoche felt that in this day and age, younger generations of practitioners are more ‘visually-oriented’ due to an overabundance of information on social media and other digital platforms. This is why Rinpoche wanted the important aspects of Buddha’s life conveyed in the form of a graphic novel so that it would be more accessible to the masses. In the past, Rinpoche did the same for the life stories of Lama Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden.
‘The Buddha’ is the latest publication from Kechara Comics, inspired by the old Amar Chitra Katha comic books that Rinpoche enjoyed during his time in India. These comics were (and still are) widely available in India to educate younger generations of important spiritual thinkers.
Rinpoche had their particular style in mind for The Buddha comic — illustrations that tend towards realism and therefore bring to life a story that would normally be shrouded in strange names and places. And as Rinpoche wished, so it was done. The full-colour illustrations within these 40 pages transport the reader 2,500 years back in time to the historical period when Buddha was alive. Combined with modern dialogue adapted from classical Buddhist texts, the result is an immersive story that brings to life the characters, historical backdrops and locations.
Although Rinpoche is no longer around to witness the ‘fruitioning’ of his idea, the work and its purpose will live on and bring great benefit. This graphic novel of the Buddha’s life is dedicated to the swift discovery of H.E. Tsem Rinpoche’s incarnation, and the removal of obstacles and success of Kechara and all of Rinpoche’s projects. May it open imprints of Dharma from previous lives, and plant the blessings of wisdom and compassion in the minds of all who read it.
Read the full comic book below or download the PDF to read at your leisure. Share it with your friends too, it’s all free!
Read ‘The Buddha’ in Flipbook Format
- Use the arrow keys, arrow buttons or click and drag to flip between pages.
- Use the zoom buttons to zoom in and out on a single page
- For the best viewing experience, use full screen mode.
- Share with your friends!
Read ‘The Buddha’ in Image Gallery Format
Front cover
Credits
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Back cover
Support Kechara Comics!
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading The Buddha.
Click to enlarge
Just like the printing of Sutras & traditional Dharma texts, modern publications such as these comics also generate vast merits and create the causes for Dorje Shugden’s lineage to grow.
To continue creating more of these comics, we need all the help we can get. We’re fully dependent on generous donations from kind sponsors to cover production costs.
If you can and would like to help by becoming a sponsor, you can contribute any amount to our Kechara Comics fund. To help or know more, visit vajrasecrets.com/dharma-publishing-fund or get in touch at care@kechara.com.
Thank you for your support.
For more interesting information:
- Dorje Shugden illustrated story and graphic novel
- Karuna Finds A Way
- Buddha’s Life Story Beautifully Painted
- The Great Escape
- Into the Light
- Possessed
- Tsem Rinpoche draws cartoons
- Miracles of Tsem Rinpoche: The true story of Su Ming’s nephew | 詹仁波切的奇迹：诗明侄儿的真实故事
- Miracles of Tsem Rinpoche: The true story of Jie | 詹仁波切的奇迹：欧勇杰的真实故事
- The Promise – Tsem Rinpoche’s inspiring biography now in ebook format!!
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
As a practising Buddhist, we should know the life story of Buddha. Glad that a novel of it been published for readers and many more to come to have a better understanding of Buddha basic knowledge of his teachings and so forth. Buddha’s life story is a powerful inspiration for everyone to learn, practise the Dharma, and persevere it. Buddha’s life story in the form of a graphic novel comes handy for everyone even children could understand. All thanks to Tsem Rinpoche’s idea, to benefit and plant the blessings of wisdom, compassion in the minds of all those who read it.
Thank you Rinpoche with follded hands and to Kechara Comics, team.