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| "Buddha", Osamu Tezuka; Vertical, New York: 2006 -2007 |
There really is no end to learning, even when it's unintentional. I
actually got something out of Manga or Japanese comics. It's a genre I never
consciously took note of, probably because all that came to mind were
platitudinous landscapes and infantile characters with big wide eyes and gaping,
toothless mouths. When I heard "Manga", I thought "Dora the
explorer"- or sick Japanese men reading porn comics in congested subways.
But the other day, I ended up ordering eight volumes of comics for none
other than myself. My brother-in-law warmly recommended getting
"Buddha" by Osamu Tezuka for my children. He said his eleven-year old
foster son devoured the comics and he thought my kids might like them too. Now
my brother-in-law is a sober-minded and sagely person. Whatever he recommends I
am inclined to read or watch. So I looked up the author duped “the God of
Manga" and also read a couple of reviews, which by and large were
positive. On the side, I found out that the TV cartoon series I loved to watch
when I was a kid, "Kimba The White Lion", was also an Osamu Tezuka
creation. - If he did Kimba, his "Buddha" had to be good!
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| Kimba |
And I wasn't disappointed. The life-story of the Buddha in eight volumes
as so-called “graphic novel” was an entertaining and humorous read. "You
can't leave the palace," the attendant tells Siddharta, "it will be
all over the papers!" And the drawings – of historic Indian towns for
example - are not platitudinous at all, I must admit, but often contain a love
for playful detail transporting the reader to ancient India. Furthermore, the
Manga Buddha is kept simple in black-and-white rather than making it an
opulent, glittery colour-Fest à la Bollywood. The understated appearance does
no harm to the fascination of the story though. I for one didn't consciously
notice the lack of colour until I had proceeded deep into the tale. It speaks
for the strength of Tezuka's story-telling and my inattentiveness.
The author also manages to capture the bellicose atmosphere of the time
well. Many of the petty little kingdoms were constantly at war with each other;
violence, death and destruction were the order of the day. By using typical comic-style
exclamations in huge and huger giant caps followed by multiple exclamation
marks such as "HERE'S YER KILLER!! CLANG! Or THUNK! And WHOOSH! as well
as HYAA!! Tezuka manages to paint a vivid picture of the
warring environment at the time.
Tezuka's Manga also has a special way of portraying animals. In the
beginning pages of the first volume, for example, he describes the story of a
rabbit that jumps into a fire and immolates to offer himself as food to a
starving saint. The saint is left humbled and speechless over the magnanimous
act of the rabbit. At another point, in a nod to the famous first sermon at
Deer Park, a deer even serves as the Buddha's translator. Animals are thus not passive sentient
beings in the traditional Buddhist sense. Tezuka goes a step further: They are
reflective beings fully capable of generating Bodhicitta. Perhaps the author’s
reason for assigning animals “human” traits comes from the traditional Jataka tales? They recount past lives of the Buddha, when he takes
birth as an animal to help fellow creatures. In one tale, he chooses birth as a monkey to save his
pack from evil humans. Subsequently, the human king learns a lesson on how to
be a responsible and benevolent ruler.
A subject I would not have expected to see in a comic is a critique of
the caste system. Tezuka's "Buddha" takes a clear stand and questions
the justification of caste by using invented characters such as the slaveboy Chapra
who conceals his background to become the foster son of a general - only to be
disowned when his foster father finds out. The author even lets Siddharta fall
in love with a Shudra woman, Migaila, who also happens to be an ex-criminal.
The straw to break the camel's back: Siddharta refuses to marry princess
Yasodhara, his bride in the traditional account, and insists on marrying
Migaila instead. Now, how historically accurate all this is, I do not know, but
the thought of a Buddha falling in love without consideration for social norms
is undoubtedly appealing and totally in the spirit of our time. To achieve the
required drama and push his message, the author exaggerates plot lines and
characters to extremes.
Surprising to me were many other aspects in the Buddha's life I had
never heard about or imagined. The biggest surprise was Siddharta's crush on
Migaila as just mentioned. Other curious points include Ananda: He was not just
the Buddha's cousin but an ex-social delinquent and murderer? And Angulimala,
the finger-collecting mass murderer, who became a disciple of the Buddha, had
actually been bewitched to commit his crimes? Among the Buddha’s followers we
further count Tatta, a "low-caste" bandit and notorious troublemaker,
who can enter the minds of people and animals; there is also a little boy with
a perpetually running nose by the name of Asaji, who can foretell the future;
and of course the giant, Yatala, 20 feet tall with a body
impenetrable by any arrow - how come I never heard of any of these characters?
I never guessed the Buddha was in such colorful, unconventional company !
The characters are lively and stick deeply to the reader’s memory. Reading the
Manga Buddha at times was like reading Harry Potter. Were our Tibetan narrators
perhaps censuring and embellishing the life-story of Buddha in order to make
him appear so serene and holy? But after a while, I began to suspect that it
must be the other way around: The one embellishing was Tezuka rather. His
fictional characters and the dramatic plots help transform a familiar story
into a colorful theatre. It may not be historically accurate but there can be
no pretense. After all we are dealing with a comic and we've heard the
traditional account so many times already. A little bit of change here and
there and some drama can only be refreshing. That's what I concluded for
myself.
When I think about it, it is absolutely ingenious how Tezuka created
characters and invented events to weave such an adventurous tale of one of the
greatest religious figures. Not many Asians would have dared to do it and do it
so well, without compromising the basic message. Perhaps one reason why
Buddhists have not accused him of blasphemy and religious satire is because he
used Manga as a medium. If it's Manga, it's kids talk and outside the line of
fire. Moreover his creativity focuses on characters around the Buddha. The Enlightened One himself is largely left intact
from fantastic inventions, which helps in avoiding controversy. In hindsight,
stopping short of getting creative with the person of the Buddha was probably a
wise decision. Not every art produced from political freedom is also good art
as the recent Muhammad caricatures have sufficiently shown.
One thing that occasionally bothered me in “Buddha” was the language. At
times it becomes vulgar and violent with expressions I neither want my children
to hear nor read. Maybe this was a concession deemed necessary to keep regular
Manga readers at it? Another criticism I have is that all females in
"Buddha" are drawn bare-breasted including the Buddha's mother. Why
is this necessary? Another concession because in Japan it’s adult males that
read Manga? Over here comics are aimed at children. So what is the point in
sexualizing the women in "Buddha"? Was the Indian weather at the time
this warm? Or was there perhaps a temporary shortage of cloth? Or maybe I'm
just too prudish. I sternly think Tezuka-san should have drawn the ladies
proper tops.
At times during my read I also had to think of my late father. He was
particularly fond of the comic “The adventures of Asterix and Obelix”. How he
identified with the two indomitable Gauls, who resist Roman occupation! With
the help of a magic potion brewed by their druid, a handful of these Gaulish villagers could wipe out
entire legions of Julius Caesar's army with no sweat. It was my dad's
retirement project to translate all of the thirty-five volumes of Asterix' and
Obelix' adventures into Tibetan. Alas, he passed away too early to realize his
translation project and without getting a chance to read Tezuka's Manga Buddha.
I would have liked to know what he, the comic pro, would have thought of it.
Who could forget the legendary fanfare at the opening of each volume: "The
year is 50 B.C. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely...
One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders."
Overall the Manga Buddha is well worth the read, all eight volumes. You
advance quickly as there is not much text and the action and drama keeps you
engaged. The traditional account of Siddharta Gautama is told in a fresh new
way using an unconventional medium. Set in ancient India, readers can also
learn something about the culture and the Zeitgeist of this historic period.
"Buddha" could even become a first point of contact to learn about
Dharma, especially for children.
Eventually however, when you become seriously interested, there is a
need to differ fiction from fact. Tezuka's "Buddha" would therefore
not be my first choice for an introduction to Buddhism. Having said that, it
could help kids and adults from an established Buddhist background to see the
person of the Buddha, often deified in Tibetan-style Vajrayana, in a new light
as more human and normal.
For now I will shovel the eight volumes of Tezuka's "Buddha"
onto the bookshelf. My children are welcome to read them if they like.
Mountain Phoenix Over Tibet
