The Buddha's Path to Awakening

Sarah Shaw

ISBN 10: 0674296524 / ISBN 13: 9780674296527

Edité par Harvard University Press, US, 2025

A propos de cet article

The Buddha as man, animal, and god on the path to enlightenment.According to ancient traditions, it takes countless lifetimes to become a Buddha. The Buddha's own path to complete awakening was chronicled in five hundred and forty-seven stories known as the jatakas, which underwent numerous adaptations in the centuries after the Buddha's lifetime. In the fifth or sixth century CE, in the region known as present-day Sri Lanka, an anonymous author wrote an introduction to these, recounting the history of a vow that prompted this great quest. This narrative, titled Jatakanidana in Pali, preserves the oral traditions about the Bodhisatta, the one destined to become a Buddha in his final life. The text also functioned for centuries as a gateway to other early Buddhist teachings, offering valuable insights into the Buddha's journey toward enlightenment.The story begins when, in one of his lives as an ascetic named Sumedha, the Buddha vows to delay his own awakening until he can guide others toward their release from the cycle of rebirth. This vow sets him on a long series of lives-as man, animal, and god. At the culmination of his spiritual journey, he recalls his past lives, his teachings, and the establishment of the monastic community that would preserve and spread these teachings.The Buddha's Path to Awakening has become one of the most significant biographical works in the Buddhist tradition. This volume presents a new, authoritative translation, accompanied by the original Pali text.

N° de réf. du vendeur LU-9780674296527

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Buddha's Path to Awakening
• Éditeur: Harvard University Press, US
• Date de parution: 2025
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0674296524
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780674296527
• Reliure: Hardback
• État de l'article: New
• Dimensions: 13,34 L x 1,59 H x 20,32 P (centimètres) 13,34 centimètres de largeur par 1,59 centimètres de hauteur par 20,32 centimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 500 grammes

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

The Buddha as man, animal, and god on the path to enlightenment.

According to ancient traditions, it takes countless lifetimes to become a Buddha. The Buddha’s own path to complete awakening was chronicled in five hundred and forty-seven stories known as the jātakas, which underwent numerous adaptations in the centuries after the Buddha’s lifetime. In the fifth or sixth century CE, in the region known as present-day Sri Lanka, an anonymous author wrote an introduction to these, recounting the history of a vow that prompted this great quest. This narrative, titled Jātakanidāna in Pali, preserves the oral traditions about the Bodhisatta, the one destined to become a Buddha in his final life. The text also functioned for centuries as a gateway to other early Buddhist teachings, offering valuable insights into the Buddha's journey toward enlightenment.

The story begins when, in one of his lives as an ascetic named Sumedha, the Buddha vows to delay his own awakening until he can guide others toward their release from the cycle of rebirth. This vow sets him on a long series of lives—as man, animal, and god. At the culmination of his spiritual journey, he recalls his past lives, his teachings, and the establishment of the monastic community that would preserve and spread these teachings.
The Buddha’s Path to Awakening has become one of the most significant biographical works in the Buddhist tradition. This volume presents a new, authoritative translation, accompanied by the original Pali text.

À propos de l?auteur

Sarah Shaw is a faculty member in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford.