Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Lives and Retellings
Narrative retellings of the Buddha's life and teachings for general readers.
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Texts
Buddha, the Gospel — Paul CarusA retelling of the life and teachings of the Buddha compiled from canonical sources by Paul Carus. One of the earliest and most widely-read presentations of Buddhism for Western audiences.The Life of Buddha — Andre Ferdinand HeroldA literary retelling of the life of the Buddha from birth to final nirvana, drawn from traditional Indian sources and rendered into elegant French prose by Andre Ferdinand Herold, translated into English by Paul C. Blum.The Life of Buddha and Its Lessons — H. S. OlcottH. S. Olcott’s address on the life of the Buddha and what it teaches, printed by the Theosophical Publishing House at Adyar as No. 15 of the Adyar Pamphlets (first edition 1912, second edition 1919), weighing the legends that gather round founders of religions, setting out what Olcott held certain of Gautama’s life, and drawing from it lessons of tolerance, brotherhood and self-reliance.The Splendour of Asia — L. Adams BeckL. Adams Beck’s 1926 retelling of the life and teaching of the Buddha, in four parts and twenty-two chapters, from the birth at Kapila through the renunciation, the enlightenment and the ministry to the death at Kusinara and the division of the relics, with verse that includes psalms of the nuns and monks of the early order.