| Before Buddha Was Buddha: Learning from the Jataka Tales Contributor(s): Martin, Rafe (Author) |
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ISBN: 1614293546 ISBN-13: 9781614293545 Publisher: Wisdom Publications OUR PRICE: $15.26 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2018 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Buddhism - Sacred Writings - Religion | Buddhism - History - Social Science | Folklore & Mythology |
| Dewey: 294.382 |
| LCCN: 2017018211 |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.9" W x 8.9" (0.55 lbs) 184 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Buddhist |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Discover how ordinary beings--a deer, a robber, a monkey, a parrot, and more--make up the past lives of the Buddha before he was Buddha. The jataka tales are ancient Buddhist stories found in both the Pali Canon and Sanskrit tradition, recounting the many past lives and ongoing spiritual work of Shakyamuni Buddha on his way to his final birth as Siddhartha Gautama. In them we find the Buddha facing difficulties, making tough choices, doing hard work, falling down and getting back up--the kind of continuing effort of spiritual practice that all beings face. Before Buddha was Buddha focuses on a selection of particular jataka tales in which the Buddha in past lives faces temptations and struggles with self-doubt as well as his own shortcomings. In these tales he's not beyond life's messes--its challenges and disasters--but is down in the mix, trudging through the mud with the rest of us. Each story, presented in brief, is followed by a commentary pointing to its relevance to our lives and practice-realization today. |