Andre Ferdinand Herold: The Life of Buddha - eBook

According to the Legends of Ancient India

This is a biography of Buddha retold in a simple and engaging style. It strings together a coherent narrative arc from the several classic Buddhist texts, particularly the Buddhacharita of Asvaghosa, the Lalita-Vistara, and the Jataka. It is thankfully free of technical Buddhist terminology. This book dimensionalizes the story of Siddhartha, born into luxury, who seeks and find enlightenment, the sometimes painful growth of the Buddhist community, and his eventual departure for Nirvana. It is short and very readable, and can be recommended for young adults.

The Author said about thid eBook: "This Life of Buddha is not a work of fiction, and I think it would be well to mention the books, both ancient and modern, which I have most frequently consulted. I have, for the most part, relied upon the Lalita-Vistara. This book is a jumbled collection of legends and scholastic dissertations, and yet in these pages are preserved many precious traditions regarding the Buddha's origin, his childhood and his youth, and here, likewise, we are told of his early education and of his first deeds. I have also made great use of an excellent poem, the Buddhacarita of Asvaghosa. In a few of the chapters I have repeated the lines almost word for word. The text of the Buddhacarita was edited by E. B. Cowell. In the Life, I have interpolated several Jatakas. These are stories in which the Buddha recalls his former lives. Some of them will be found in a vast collection, the Avadanasataka."

Look inside

(Instructions: Click on the right edge - next page, click on the left edge  - previous page, click on the title top left  - table of contents, click on the aA top right  - change text size, click on the title of the chapter down left - slider that moves you throught the titles of the chapters, make the browser window smaller - see the full Cover.)