The Life of the Buddha 

Numerous lives of the Buddha have been written and translated, but this volume, with its comprehensive material and original method of presentation, may well claim a place of its own. Composed entirely from texts of the Pali Canon, the oldest authentic record, it portrays an image of the Buddha-the great Master of Wisdom and Compassion-which is vivid, warm, and moving. 
The ancient texts are rendered here in a language marked by lucidity and dignity as befits the beauty of the original. They are presented in a framework which serves to connect the canonical  texts through historical notes and other information. The inclusion of episodic and anecdotal material gives life to the narration, and there is also a chapter on the Buddha's doctrine that is highly illuminating and has a distinct flavour of its own. This is a book that can inform and inspire.  
Bhikkhu Nanamoli (Osbert Moore) was born in England in 1905 and graduated from Exeter College, Oxford. In 1948 he came to Sri Lanka, where he was ordained the following year at the Island Hermitage near Dodanduwa, He spent almost his entire monk's life of 11 years in the quietude of the Hermitage, In 1960 on one of his rare outings, he suddenly passed away due to heart failure. During his life in the Sangha, Ven. Nanamoli translated into lucid English some of the most difficult texts of Theravada Buddhism. His works The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) and Mindfulness of Breathing are also published by the BPS.

CONTENTS  

Editor's Preface ix 
Introduction XI 
Voices xvi  
The Birth and the Early Years 1 
The Struggle for Enlightenment 10 
After the Enlightenment 30 
The Spreading of the Dhamma 48 
The Two Chief Disciples 70  
The Formation of the Order of Nuns 102 
The Quarrel at Kosambi 109 
The End of the First Twenty Years 120 
The Middle Period 151 
The Person 182 
The Doctrine 206 
Devadatta 257 
Old Age 273 
The Last Year 286 
The First Council 333 
   
About the Author 
Bhikkhu Nanamoli: A Bibliography 
Map of Central and Eastern India