The Legendary Life of Buddha Through Past Lives and the Present

The Legendary Story of the Buddha's Past Lives and Present Life

In the vast, boundless river of Buddhist culture, the Buddha's story has always shone with a mysterious, radiant light, drawing countless people to seek it out. This book, The Legendary Story of the Buddha's Past Lives and Present Life, lifts the veil on this legend.

The first volume, "The Buddha's Legendary Past Lives," takes you back to the distant past. Across those long ages, the Buddha passed through countless cycles of rebirth, practicing the Six Perfections as a bodhisattva and leaving behind many deeply moving stories. Out of compassion, he once saved a tiger by offering himself as food. He also cut flesh from his own body to trade for a dove, all to protect a life. And in the legend of the Nine-Colored Deer, he used wisdom to overcome a crisis and transform a faithless man. These stories all reveal the compassion and wisdom cultivated through the Buddha's past lives, showing the hardships he endured in pursuit of enlightenment and the salvation of all beings.

The second volume, "The Buddha's Legendary Present Life," focuses on the Buddha's experiences after he came into the world as Gautama Siddhartha. From his birth in Lumbini Garden to his travels through the four gates, where he witnessed birth, old age, sickness, and death, he resolutely left home to seek liberation. After six years of ascetic practice, he meditated beneath the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, subdued the armies of Mara, realized the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and attained supreme enlightenment. He then spent 45 years preaching the Dharma throughout the land, establishing the Sangha and spreading the wisdom of Buddhism. The book also recounts in detail how the Buddha's relics were brought to China and the history of Buddhism taking root and flourishing there, revealing the unique charm of Buddhism and Chinese culture blending and thriving together.