The Legendary Tale of Shakyamuni Buddha’s Past and Present Lives

About the Work:

In a past life, he was Prince Sattva, who sacrificed himself on a snowy mountaintop to feed a hungry tiger, putting compassion into practice with his own flesh and blood. He was also a Brahmin who pondered deeply in the forest, questioning the true nature of life and death beneath the stars. And he was a Wheel-Turning Sage King, who used wisdom to end warfare and protect countless living beings. Through the turns of reincarnation, he is born in this life in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, becoming Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the beloved son of King Suddhodana.

Fine clothes and sumptuous food in the palace, a loving wife and child: in the end, none can outweigh his compassion for the suffering of the world. At nineteen, he sees the elderly hobbling along, the sick groaning in their beds, and friends and family wailing in a funeral procession. The three forms of suffering strike his heart like thunder. That night, he quietly leaves the palace, cuts himself off from worldly splendor, and sets out on the path in search of enlightenment.

After six years of ascetic practice, he has endured hunger and cold but has not found the truth. After bathing in the Nairanjana River, he sits beneath the Bodhi tree for seven days. At last, he breaks through ignorance, understands the cycle of cause and effect and reincarnation, and becomes the Buddha who illuminates all living beings. For the next forty-five years, he travels both banks of the Ganges, relieving the suffering of all beings with the “Four Noble Truths” and the “Noble Eightfold Path.” From prince to the awakened one, from ascetic to savior of the world, every step of his life is legendary. This work will take you through the mist of reincarnation to see how he planted seeds of goodness without fear in his past lives and attained the great path through wisdom in this one, and to feel the power that continues to move hearts even after a thousand years.