Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Author: Vishvapani Blomfield

Publisher: Quercus

Published: 2013-10-01

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 1623652405

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The words and example of Gautama (often known by the title, "Buddha") have affected billions of people. But what do we really know about him? While there is much we cannot say for certain about the historical Gautama, this persuasive new biography provides the fullest and most plausible account yet. Weaving ancient sources and modern understanding into a compelling narrative, Gautama Buddha places his birth around 484 BCE, his Enlightenment in 449 BCE and his death in 404 BCE, a century later than the traditional dates. Vishvapani Blomfield examines Gautama's words and impact to shed fresh light on his culture, his spiritual search and the experiences and teachings that led his followers, to call him "The Awakened One." Placing Gautama in a credible historical setting without assuming that he was really just an ordinary person, this book draws on the myths and legends that surround him to illuminate the significance of his life. It traces Gautama's investigations of consciousness, his strikingly original view of life and his development of new forms of religious community and practice. This insightful and thought-provoking biography will appeal to anyone interested in history and religion, and in the Buddha as a thinker, spiritual teacher and a seminal cultural figure. Gautama Buddha is a gripping account of one of history's most powerful personalities.


The Life or Legend of Gaudama the Buddha of the Burmese: Volume II

The Life or Legend of Gaudama the Buddha of the Burmese: Volume II

Author: P. Bigandet

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-05

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1136377131

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This is Volume V in a series of sixteen on Buddhism. Originally published in 1912, this study is the second part of a look at the life or legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese, with annotations and the ways of the Neibban and notice on the Phogyies or Burmese Monks.


The Life Or Legend of Gaudama

The Life Or Legend of Gaudama

Author: Paul Ambroise Bigandet

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9780415244732

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First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


The Buddha's Wizards

The Buddha's Wizards

Author: Thomas Nathan Patton

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2018-10-16

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 0231547374

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Wizards with magical powers to heal the sick, possess the bodies of their followers, and defend their tradition against outside threats are far from the typical picture of Buddhism. Yet belief in wizard-saints who protect their devotees and intervene in the world is widespread among Burmese Buddhists. The Buddha’s Wizards is a historically informed ethnographic study that explores the supernatural landscape of Buddhism in Myanmar to explain the persistence of wizardry as a form of lived religion in the modern era. Thomas Nathan Patton explains the world of wizards, spells, and supernatural powers in terms of both the broader social, political, and religious context and the intimate roles that wizards play in people’s everyday lives. He draws on affect theory, material and visual culture, long-term participant observation, and the testimonies of the devout to show how devotees perceive the protective power of wizard-saints. Patton considers beliefs and practices associated with wizards to be forms of defending Buddhist traditions from colonial and state power and culturally sanctioned responses to restrictive gender roles. The book also offers a new lens on the political struggles and social transformations that have taken place in Myanmar in recent years. Featuring close attention to the voices of individual wizard devotees and the wizards themselves, The Buddha’s Wizards provides a striking new look at a little-known aspect of Buddhist belief that helps expand our ways of thinking about the daily experience of lived religious practices.


Illuminating the Life of the Buddha

Illuminating the Life of the Buddha

Author: Naomi Appleton

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781851242832

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"This lavishly illustrated book investigates an outstanding eighteenth-century example of a samut khoi, a type of beautiful folding book found in Southeast Asia, which became particularly popular as a repository for the Buddha's teachings. Written in Pali and produced in the Kingdom of Siam, its finely executed pictures, painted on khoi paper, show key incidents from stories of the past lives of the Buddha as he prepares for Buddhahood. These tales, historically one of the principal means whereby Buddhist teachings were communicated, known as Jatakas, are a favourite theme for manuscript art. Uniquely for such manuscripts, however, this samut khoi also offers an extensive series of scenes from the last life of the Buddha, including his final awakening and teaching, which is distinctive to the region. These related narratives all contribute to a superb example of eighteenth-century manuscript and calligraphic art. As well as affording great artistic opportunities for expressing the beauty of the Buddha's words and achievements, samut khois are repositories for popular chants and short distillations of doctrine. This book describes the context to this unusually rich expression of Thai Buddhist creativity and, in retelling the stories depicted, reveals the continued appeal of its closely related art and narrative traditions." -- Publisher's description.