ABOUT THE BOOK
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:Description
In the 6th century B.C.E., a young prince
named, Siddhartha Gotama set out on an ascetic quest to alleviate human
suffering. In the middle ground between opulence and self-denial, he discovered
a path to enlightenment and self awareness - and he dedicated his life to
sharing that discovery. He became known as the Buddha, the Awakened One, and
travelled as an itinerant monk, imparting principles of enlightenment
throughout India and what is now southern Nepal. He was not worshipped as a
god, but became teacher and model to ascetics, royalty, and townsfolk alike. In
the 2,500 years that followed, through the spread of the Buddha`s teachings and
the monastic communities that upheld them, the world`s oldest missionary
religion has grown so that it now boasts over 350 million followers worldwide.
The story of Buddhism unfolds through a series of narrative chapters, dealing
with the Brahmanical cosmology from which Buddhism emerged, the stories and
myths surrounding the Buddha`s birth, his path to enlightenment, and the
eventual spread of his teachings throughout India and the world. concepts as
the natural law of cause and effect (karma), the birth/life/death/rebirth cycle
(samsara), the ever-changing state of suffering (dukkha), and salvation, the
absence of all states (nirvana). Primary documents, illustrations, glossary and
biographical sketches illuminate the extraordinary life and legacy of the man
called the Buddha.
ABOUT Author
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:aboutAuthor
JACOB N. KINNARD is Associate Professor of Comparative
Religious Thought at Iliff School of Theology. He is the author of Imaging Wisdom: Seeing and Knowing in the
Art of Indian Buddhism and co-editor of constituting Communities: Theravada
Traditions in South and Southeast Asia.