Enlightened is an affable graphic novel on the first half of Buddha’s life

When I was a teenager I saw The Last Temptation of Christ. I was no budding theologian; it was the fact that the movie was being picketed that piqued my attention. Enlightened is not the graphic novel, Buddhist version of that experience. This is the lightly fictionalized story about the early years of Siddhartha, the human who would later be known as Gautama Buddha.

This is the part where I point out that I know very little about Buddhism. I can’t comment on the degree to which Enlightened, the graphic novel, strays from the path of the religion. It’s also where I need to point out that the graphic novel doesn’t proselytize or bemoan people who don’t practice it. In reading Enlightened, you just need to treat it as a graphic novel and view it through the lens that you would other books in that medium.

The first thing that audiences will notice about Enlightened is its color scheme. The graphic novel is entirely in shades of blue and white, accented with tan hues that pave the way to gold around the middle of the book. A result of this are pages of mainly aqua illustrations that take a moment to get used to, but ultimately assist with the power and flow of the book. The illustrations are sparse in certain spots in the panel but have incredible details in other areas or the next panel.

When a young prince Siddhartha tries to sneak out of the palace he’s caught by Channa, one of the king’s advisors. One panel shows the immensity of the palace as they go out into the much larger city. The scale of each respective area is implied, especially to the young prince who wants to see how people really live. This is the first time that he’s seen people who are sick, hungry, or not wearing clothes that are made of the finest silk. He’s led a very sheltered life up until that point and the curious nature of not knowing has frustrated him.

Having seen how the citizens under his family’s rule live, he decides to abandon all of that and go find himself. The news of a wayward prince goes quickly through the surrounding lands and a fellow royal from a different family finds him to offer help. He knows of a wise teacher who might be able to help Siddhartha find his way. Once he starts following this master he learns a lot and studies for many years, but has a falling out with him. Left to his own devices he realizes that desire leads to suffering and vice versa.

Chapter 8 explores this time in his life and it’s drawn from a very trippy, metaphorically heavy almost dream sequence manner. Once he emerges from this state he’s known as the Awakened One. He’s quick to say that he is not the first person to have reached enlightenment, so he proceeds to share his wisdom with the people from his life. As he goes to the previous places he’s lived, they see the person that they knew, but immediately realize that something is different. The Awakened One gives sermons on the virtues of not having material goods and the impermanence of life.

His sermons became famous in the region as his teachings spread goodwill and led many down the path of wanting to become a better person. I know, you see the word “sermon” in a graphic novel and you think that it’s preachy, but it’s not, I promise. This is an approachable take on the first half of Buddha’s life. Going back to the first sentence in my second paragraph, I always associated Buddha as reclining or in the form of a wooden statue. I used to live near one of the world’s largest reclining Buddha statues. It’s in Fukuoka, Japan, and was a short bike ride from where I was living. The point is that all non-Buddhists will have their own interpretation of how they perceive the word and the religion.

Enlightened is a lushly illustrated graphic novel that has life lessons any youth in the seventh grade and up will be able to understand and learn from. Those younger ages might still be engulfed in a world where it’s all about them and questioning why they don’t have more instead of being thankful for what they have. The fact that Enlightened is able to teach a lesson, without making it feel overly religious is amazing. It’s a calming graphic novel that ambles its way through the first half of his life with sayings and lessons that older readers have experienced. Those younger readers might have heard aspects of these thoughts, but seeing them via a character that’s living them helps to drive them home. It probably won’t be enough to grant them inner peace, but it’ll make them think about the greater world, and give them a great starting point for a school project or additional reading.

Enlightened is by Sachi Ediriweera and is available on Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint from Simon & Schuster.

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