Noble Warrior: A Life of the Buddha Compiled from the Pāli Canon

by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Khematto Bhikkhu

A biography of the Buddha using passages collected exclusively from the Pāli Canon. The translated passages are interspersed with a minimum of explanation, allowing the compilers of the Canon to speak for themselves. While the passages in the Canon are not sufficient for a strictly chronological account, they do contain ample material for a thematic one that highlights the Buddha’s three main accomplishments: 1) finding the path and attaining awakening, 2) teaching that path to his contemporaries, establishing a living apprenticeship for awakening, and 3) establishing the Dhamma and Vinaya to give structure to that apprenticeship so that the True Dhamma would last for many generations. Particular attention is given to the many accounts of the Buddha’s awakening and the role that his awakening played in shaping the Dhamma he taught.

Genres: Biography, Buddhism

554 pages, ebook

Published October 26, 2019

About the author

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff (born Geoffrey DeGraff, 1949), is an American Theravada Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order (Dhammayutika Nikaya), Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a translator of the Pāli Canon as well as more modern Buddhist works and the author of many articles and books on Dhamma.

Reviews

[Eduardo Serra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book, but most of the content comes straight from the Pali Canon, I would've liked to see more commentaries and a greater variety of sources.