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Best book on the life of the historical Buddha?

c3bhmc3bhm
edited August 2010 in Buddhism Basics
Hi,

Can anyone give me some top recommendations for detailed biographies of the *historical* Buddha, please...

I'm more interested in whatever we know about his actual behavior, quotes, where he visited and what he actually said to whom, etc. Not so much the 'mystical'/conceptual stuff or the teachings themselves.

I am very familiar with the broad strokes of his life and story, but am hoping to find a book or two that have deeper daily details and specifics.

Thanks for the help!

Comments

  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited August 2010
    Personally, I'd highly recommend Bhikkhu Nanamoli's Life of the Buddha, whose account of the Buddha's life is compiled from all the available material in the Pali Canon. Unfortunately, we don't have the Buddha's exact words, only what are recorded to be his words, and the discourses of the Buddha that are recorded in the Pali Canon are generally considered by scholars to be the closest thing we have to what the Buddha actually taught. That said, anything dealing with the Buddha's life will undoubtedly include a fair amount of what'd you call 'mystical stuff,' as well as a fair amount of his teachings, since much of his biographical information must be extrapolated from Buddhist texts.
  • c3bhmc3bhm
    edited August 2010
    Cool. Thank you. That happens to be the EXACT book I put a hold request in for at my library.

    I know there are a million bios on SG, but what I'm hoping for is deep and dedicated work by a HISTORIAN who tries to cut through the 'poetry' (and potential mumbo jumbo) as much as possible to depict as accurately as possible who the actual human being was and what they actually did. Not so much the impact or the theories, and as little 'interpretation' as possible.

    Some Christian scholars did that for Jesus ("The Historical Jesus" I think) and that's what I'm hoping for, for Buddha.

    Thanks for the fast reply!

    P.S. Any documentaries you recommend, about Buddha? I just watched the hour-long BBC doc. and it was extremely shallow and generic. Half way through the Richard Gere narrated recent one, and it feels pretty much the same. It's as if the same Buddha-doc. has been made about 10 times telling the exact same 'high points'.
  • SherabDorjeSherabDorje
    edited August 2010
    That's probably the best you're going to do for documentaries. The real historical facts are not well known, as pointed out above.
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited August 2010
    I don't know of any good documentaries, but another book that's not too bad is Hans Wolfgang Schumann's Historical Buddha.
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited August 2010
    Karen Armstrong's Buddha is very accessible and more readable than Schumann. You have to bear in mind that there is even less contemporary evidence and epigraphy than for Jesus or Mahomet; even archaeologists disagree over the birthplace.
  • c3bhmc3bhm
    edited August 2010
    Yeah, I hear you - as lack of accurate records go.
    And thanks for the other 2 recommendations. I'll check those out next.
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