The Living Buddha
An Interpretive Biography
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
An intimate portrayal of one of history's most important and obscure figures, the Buddha, this chronicle reveals him not as a mystic, but a warm and engaged human being that was very much the product of his turbulent times. This biographical account traces the path of Siddhartha Gautama as he walked away from the pleasure palace that had been his home and joined a growing force of wandering monks, ultimately making his way towards enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, and spending the next 45 years sharing his insights along the banks of the Ganges. The Buddhist canon is expertly harvested to provide insight into the Buddha's inner life and to grant a better understanding of how he came to play his pivotal role as founder of one of the world's largest religions.
Customer Reviews
Enjoyable adventure
The author has risen to the occasion of piecing together a biography of a great spiritual leader. This book is difficult to put down. The authors style is inviting and easy to read. He puts forth that much of what he presents is open to interpretation rather than be taken as fact.
My only criticism is the lack of reference to sources. The Buddhist religion is rich in written material it would have been great to trace back the authors interpretations to the sources he used. This criticism is small as this is not an academic text.
As someone who studies the Buddhist canon closely where there is no evident chronology to be found the author has done a masterful job of putting a more than plausable timeline together for his readers.
I'd recommend this to anyone who is curious about the Buddha and how the religion grew to be one of the largest in the world.