Books · Biography - Charitra

Noble Warrior – A Life of the Buddha Compiled from the Pali Canon

Pali Canon

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ShrutSangam GyanBhandars JainTatvaGyanshala

Noble Warrior – A Life of the Buddha Compiled from the Pali Canon. The Buddha, as a teacher, was adamant about the power of action and focused special attention on what skillful actions could accomplish in bringing about true and unchanging happiness. So it’s only natural to want to know what he himself did, and what he was able to accomplish through his actions. An account of his life allows people who are not yet convinced of his awakening to assess him as a teacher and the value of his teachings, to see if he practiced what he taught and if it was a good thing that he did so. It also allows those of us who are convinced of his awakening to learn by example what the Buddha regarded as skillful action and to gain inspiration from the way he lived his life. Many biographies have been written about the Buddha, most of them derived from the Pali Canon, even though there are quite many missing areas to form a complete description of his life. I am reading the incredibly long and detailed 8 volume manga work by Osamu Tezuka (1928-89), the godfather of Japanese manga comics, for my son. After more than a year we are now in the middle of volume 6, and I can assure you that it is far from historical correct, nothing wrong with that. Here on the site, I have posted several bibliographical works about the Buddha, for instance: The Buddha, his life and teaching, The Buddha-Carita, The Life of the Buddha according to the Pali Canon, The Great Chronicle Of Buddhas. In literature, The Buddha’s life has also given inspiration to works such as Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and The Pilgrim Kamanita. This book, however, might be the most historical precise account of the Buddha’s life. It consists of collected passages exclusively from the Canon, interspersing them with a minimum amount of explanatory material. Read more