Much like a fairy tale in its presentation, this story of Buddha as a young man explores the young prince Sidaharta's indulgent and self-possessed youth, his romance with a courtesan named Ambapali, and his marriage to Yasodara. Based on ancient Pali literary sources, this retelling of the Buddha legend depicts the events in Sidaharta's life that brought about the transformation of consciousness by which he was to formulate his later teachings as the Buddha.

Buddha in the Forest begins when Sidaharta leaves his palace determined to rid himself of the existential entanglements of life. He travels into the Himalayan forests in search of ascetics. Unused to living in the wild, Sidaharta falls ill. He is rescued by thee forest maidens who take him to their father, a hunter. The forest maidens represent the three Buddhist delusions-lust, greed, and desire-that chain one to the cycle of birth and death. Mara, the hunter, represents death. Lying under a tree in the forest, Sidaharta re-examines the life he left behind. A powerful allegory of spiritual transformation, a journey from the conscious to the unconscious, an odyssey in search of the transcendent self, Buddha in the Forest is a work of literature rare in this day, a timeless and magnificent literary achievement.

View Interior Illustrations by Cait Willis