Siddhartha (first published in 1922) is a novel based on the early life of Buddha, inspired by the author's visit to India before the First World War. The novel is about the young Brahmin Siddhartha's search for self-realization. Disturbed by the contradictions between his comfortable life and the harsh reality around him, he takes to the life of a wanderer. But the shunning of all temptation in an ascetic life does not give him a sense of fulfillment...

Ming Neng, entering a retreat to test her karma as a Buddhist nun, becomes trapped between her long-held spiritual quest and forbidden passion when she succumbs to temptation with the young American doctor who saved her life.

Upon moving to a new town yet again, thirteen-year-old San Lee looks for a way to stand out and finds it in his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, but he will have some work to do if he is to be a convincing Zen master.