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Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha

Thich Nhat Hanh,

Nguyen Thi Hop (Illustrations)

Mobi Ho (Translation)

4.46 · Rating details · 3,537 ratings · 351 reviews

Drawn from original sources, Old Path White Clouds is the beautiful classic recounting of the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha over the course of eighty years. It is retold alternately through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy who provided kusa grass for the Buddha's enlightenment cushion, and the Buddha himself.

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Paperback, 600 pages

Published May 1st 1991 by Parallax Press (first published April 30th 1987)

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Dec 06, 2017 Gabrielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: buddhism, historical, favorites, own-multiple-editions, mandatory-reading, biographies-and-memoirs, to-read-again, own-a-copy, read-in-2018, reviewed

I’ve been reading and reviewing a bunch of books about Buddhism lately, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t read my very first introduction to the teachings in a really, really long time. We visited the Cham Shan Temple (also known as the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sarira Stupa, in Niagara Falls, Ontario) over the holidays, and looking at the amazing statues and shrines and spending a little time inside the public temple reminded me how moved I was by my first introduction to the life of the Buddha, I’ve been reading and reviewing a bunch of books about Buddhism lately, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t read my very first introduction to the teachings in a really, really long time. We visited the Cham Shan Temple (also known as the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sarira Stupa, in Niagara Falls, Ontario) over the holidays, and looking at the amazing statues and shrines and spending a little time inside the public temple reminded me how moved I was by my first introduction to the life of the Buddha, and made me want to revisit it.

“Old Path White Clouds” is a beautiful and detailed novelized biography of Siddhartha Gautama. It is based on very meticulous historical research: Thich Nhat Hanh distilled his sources into a flowing narrative that is both elegant and easy to read. He has said about writing this book that he “tried to take away the mystic halos people ascribe to the Buddha. Not being able to see the Buddha as a human being makes it difficult for us to approach the Buddha”. I think that might be why it appealed to me immediately the first time I read it: this was the story of flesh and blood being just like me, who wanted to find a way to help people and ease their suffering.

This book is not a compendium of teachings or a guide for practices and mediation; its aim is to familiarize the reader with the life of Siddhartha Gautama, give them a sense of who he was and how his experiences led him to enlightenment, and inspired him to teach. That being said, I find it an invaluable work for anyone interested in Buddhism because through this biographical format, it also gives the reader a very strong sense of what Buddhism is about, without being didactic or formal. The teachings are interweaved in the story as the narrative unfolds, so it is a very good way to learn about the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, the Three Treasures, the Five Precepts, the Eight-fold Path and so on, as they arise within the story of the Buddha's life.

This book is beautiful and inspiring in so many ways. I obviously recommend to everyone, especially to those interested in learning about Buddhism. This is a magnificent story that deserves to be read again and again. ...more

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Apr 18, 2008 Patrick rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of the life and teachings of Buddha

Recommended to Patrick by: Reno Buddhist Church reading group

I just finished this reading this book as a participant in the every-other-Wednesday reading/discussion group at the Reno Buddhist Church. If you pick up a copy, don't be intimidated by the book's hefty size; it's written in an easy, flowing style and you will move through it quickly.

A thorough retelling of the story of the life Siddhartha Gautama (better known to most people as the Buddha), the book is highly enjoyable if the reader already has a basic understanding of Buddhist philosophy and ...more

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Nov 10, 2016 Grady McCallie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: buddhism

In Old Path White Clouds, Thich Nhat Hanh retells the story of the Buddha's life, drawing on accounts from multiple classical sources. The language is simple, calm, and beautiful; there's conflict in the story, but no false drama, just the clear working out and sharing of the Buddha's teachings, and the growth of the early sangha through the end of the Buddha's life.

Over the last two decades, I've acquired and read parts or all of roughly a dozen different books on Buddhism, from translations of ...more

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Aug 08, 2018 সালমান হক rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook, 2018-reads, nonfiction

This is basically Buddha's autobiography told from his various close associates and third person perspectives. Along with it, his teachings are also combined in a simple, understandable form. If you are looking for the history of Buddha and his Sangha's early days, you can pick this up.

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Sep 30, 2013 Rosie Nguyễn rated it really liked it

A great book about Buddha, and Buddhism. Found what I have thought scatterly about life, death, and human were all there in the book, more systematically, completely, perfectly. Found out that Buddhism is not merely a religion, but science about life.

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Mar 05, 2019 Peter Upton rated it it was amazing

With its ‘Four Establishments of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Five Faculties, the Five Powers, the Seven Factors of Awakening and the Noble Eightfold Path’(page 457)and ‘such simple practices as the sixteen methods of observing the breath’ (page 476)Buddhism has always felt too intellectually demanding to appeal to me. However, my biggest doubt was that I was under the impression that they believed in an endlessly repeated cycle of birth, death and rebirth which I couldn’t accept With its ‘Four Establishments of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Five Faculties, the Five Powers, the Seven Factors of Awakening and the Noble Eightfold Path’(page 457)and ‘such simple practices as the sixteen methods of observing the breath’ (page 476)Buddhism has always felt too intellectually demanding to appeal to me. However, my biggest doubt was that I was under the impression that they believed in an endlessly repeated cycle of birth, death and rebirth which I couldn’t accept because even if they were right, there must be at least a micro-second between death and rebirth. Where does that soul/spirit go to in that micro-second? If the next world is outside of the rules of time then that micro-second could be an eternity to the soul/spirit that has entered it. There is also the question of what happens to all of the soul/spirits that die in mass extinctions like the First World War and its accompanying flu epidemic when there are not enough new births to accommodate them instantly?
There was no answer to my query until page444 when Buddha says, “If not, how could there be a way out of birth and death?” ‘A way out’! A doorway leading where? He believes that there is a next world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is followed by such a beautiful explanation that I am sure the writer of this book will forgive me for quoting it in full.
“Ananda, have you ever stood on a seashore and watched the waves rise and fall on the surface of the sea? Birthlessness and deathlessness are like the water. Birth and death are like the waves. Ananda, there are long waves and short waves, high waves and low waves. Waves rise and fall, but the water remains. Without water, there could be no waves. Waves are water, water is waves. Though the waves may rise and pass away, if they understand that they themselves are the water, they will transcend notions of birth and death. They will not worry, fear, or suffer because of birth and death.”
Many years ago I had a similar realization in that we are all like droplets of water from a great lake to which we return, rippling the surface with our new knowledge. But this explanation by the Buddha is so simple and yet so complete. Absolutely beautiful!
So let’s also simplify the rest of the core of Buddha’s teachings which he gained through meditation and moments of enlightenment.
1: Everything is interconnected and depends on everything else in this world for its survival. “When you look at a leaf or a raindrop, meditate on all the conditions, near and distant, that have contributed to the presence of that leaf or raindrop.” (page 409) To which I would add, see that it is also part of the water, part of God.
2: On the way to attaining spiritual liberation.
‘He said that offerings and prayers were not effective means to attain liberation.’ (page 232).
He also said,
“ a person who has never tasted a mango cannot know its taste no matter how many words and concepts someone else uses to describe it to him. We can only grasp reality through direct experience. That is why I have often told the bhikkhus (monks) not to lose themselves in useless discussion that wastes precious time better spent looking deeply at things.” (page 467).
So practice meditating instead of reading about it.
“But if one tries too hard, one will suffer fatigue and discouragement.......know your own strength. Don’t force your body and mind beyond their limits. Only then can you attain the fruits of practice.” (pages 484-485)

Having attained these fruits Buddha gives the following advice that so many religious leaders should follow.
“My teaching is a means of practice not something to hold onto or worship. My teaching is like a raft used to cross the river. Only a fool would carry the raft around after he had already reached the other shore, the shore of liberation.” (page 213)
This is a beautiful book of 572 pages where you will not only learn about the Buddha's life and journey to enlightenment but find many more thought provoking statements.

...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Yirong rated it it was amazing

Personally, the best written recount of the buddha's life.
Beautiful, clear and simple writing without missing out on the important sutras and key essence of what buddhism is all about.

I have attended Thich Nhat Nanh's retreat and enjoyed it thoroughly. He also mentioned in his website that " I knew that the readers would have much happiness while reading the book because I had so much happiness while writing it"

Indeed I felt light and happy reading the book. Its simple yet deep. It deserves a Personally, the best written recount of the buddha's life.
Beautiful, clear and simple writing without missing out on the important sutras and key essence of what buddhism is all about.

I have attended Thich Nhat Nanh's retreat and enjoyed it thoroughly. He also mentioned in his website that " I knew that the readers would have much happiness while reading the book because I had so much happiness while writing it"

Indeed I felt light and happy reading the book. Its simple yet deep. It deserves a second read - which I intend to do and cross reference with all the sutras.

------------

More information about Thay's account of writing Old Path, White cloud taken from
http://www.plumvillage.org/history-of...

At that time I was also writing the book Old Path White Clouds. We did not have central heating yet, only a wood stove in the little room above the bookshop, and the weather was very cold. I wrote with my right hand, and I put my left hand out over the stove. I was very happy writing. From time to time, I would stand up and make myself a cup of tea. Every day, the few hours I spent writing was like sitting with the Buddha for a cup of tea. I knew that the readers would have much happiness while reading the book because I had so much happiness while writing it.

Writing Old Path White Clouds was not hard work; rather, it was an immense joy. It was also a time of discovery. Some sections were more difficult to write than others. One difficult section was when the Buddha first gave teachings to the three Kashyapa brothers and received them as disciples. There are documents that say the Buddha had to use miracles to do it, but I wanted to show that he did it with his compassion and understanding. The Buddha has a great capacity of understanding and compassion, so why would he have to use miraculous powers? I had a strong faith that I would be able to write the chapter in that light. That was the most difficult chapter for me, but eventually succeeded. The second most difficult chapter was when the Buddha went back to visit his family after becoming enlightened. He was still the son of his parents and a brother to his siblings. I wished to write in a way that would retain his human qualities. The way he took the hand of his father upon their meeting, the way he related with his younger sister, with Yasodhara and Rahula, was very natural. I could only write in that way because I felt the ancestral teachers supporting me. In reading Old Path White Clouds, we find that Buddha is a human being and not a god. That is precisely the aim, to help readers rediscover the Buddha as a human being. I tried to take away the mystic halos people ascribe to the Buddha. Not being able to see the Buddha as a human being makes it difficult for us to approach the Buddha.

...more

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Apr 12, 2010 Nikki rated it it was amazing

Shelves: spiritual-physical-mental-health, mythology

This is so much more than a book. It's absolutely an experience. I have walked alongside the Buddha for 572 blissful pages. Thich Nhat Hanh delivers a beautiful narrative of the Buddha's life, including his path to enlightenment and all his teachings in the years that follow. Imbedded within the Buddha's story are many stories about other followers, monks, and nuns, how they struggled, and how they came to follow the Buddha. Many of the Buddhas teachings are contained within this text and ...more

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Dec 08, 2018 Anthony Mazzorana rated it liked it

Shelves: buddhism

The good: It's easy reading and a nice way to learn more about the Buddha's teachings.

The bad: 572 pages felt like 572 pages. It's a biography but it isn't. It's fictionalized. So it's hard to know what Thich Nhat Hanh made up and what he got from original sources. Granted, the Buddha lived over 2,500 years ago so it deserves a serious clump of salt anyways.

The ugly: I don't like that the Buddha's wife is depicted as encouraging him to leave her and their only child to go and find "The Way". ...more

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May 04, 2016 Heidi Nummi rated it it was amazing

The most beautiful and inspiring book I've ever read.

A must-read for every living being.

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Jul 07, 2019 Evy Ngo rated it it was amazing

This book gives me a general view of life of Buddha as a human rather than a god or a saint. Thanks to this, I found myself on the same path he passed and therefore encouraged to move forward on my path to enlightenment. Moreover, maybe because it was written by a zen master, the energy in the book is so calming and soothing, as if I was taught by the zen master himself. Every time I read, I found myself lighter of stress and saw more joy sparkling in life.

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Nov 26, 2018 Bobby Tang rated it it was amazing

I find this book more philosophical than religious. The teachings are based on the dissection of life and attempt to construct a way to overcome the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, under the Buddha's view.

In short, I find 3 biggest takeaways from this book.
1. Suffering exists because of our expectation defied by reality.
2. Impermanence is permanent. Interdependence is the truth.
3. To love is to give, not to impose.

This is not an easy book because of heavily philosophical contents and ...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Sophie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, buddhism

A very beautiful book retelling the Buddha's life story and his teachings.

The language is very simple, but really stunningly beautiful. It captured my heart right away. The story is told through the eyes of a young buffalo boy who ends up becoming a monk, and through the eyes of the Buddha himself. His teachings are recounted and explained various times, and you get a good impression of what they were, even if you don't understand all of them.

I'm having a little trouble of expressing just how ...more

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Sep 17, 2008 Aaron rated it it was amazing

Shelves: life-story, fiction, philosophy-religion, sets-the-standard

Revered monk Thich Nhat Hanh tells a fictional story of the life of the Buddha. Despite the fact that it is quite long, this is perhaps the best introduction to Buddhism for general public. He does a great job making the characters very realistic and entertaining to read, while at the same time telling the mainstream story of Shakyamuni Buddha's real life, as well as the lives of several other characters along the way to flesh out other aspects of Buddhism.

Fairly easy reading, although long. If ...more

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Mar 29, 2019 Tams rated it liked it

First 300 pages was enjoyable, almost lost a star as the last 300 pages was a slog.

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Nov 24, 2014 Pratima rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Loved the Book. Will Recommend everyone to read it atleast once.

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Apr 08, 2018 Abhi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biographies, philosophy, india, religion

A beautiful biography of the Buddha that also covers the basics of Theravada Buddhism.

One of the best things about this book is that you get to see a religion evolving in real time. Simple precepts of being present eventually transform to become over 200 sutras and guidelines as the community of bhikkus keeps growing. The author tries to build as objective a picture of Siddhartha Gautama as can be done almost 2500 years after he existed.

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Feb 07, 2019 Wangmo Ghalley rated it it was amazing

Simple yet so profound.
This books gives all the basic teachings of the Buddha ...more

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May 17, 2013 Moon Rose rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: celestial, non-fiction, kindle, 2013-shelf

Immersion. Awareness. Awakening.

This is Gautama Buddha′s threefold pathway in reaching the summit of an Enlightened Existence. An age Old Path leading to the steep stairway towards the soaring White Clouds in the sky. This ultimate realization should be the direct aspiration of every thinking man, the end point of his being and the beginning of his interbeing as the capacity to attain this Supreme Wisdom of Divination is present in all of human consciousness despite its seeming untapped nature ...more

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Dec 03, 2018 Stuti Jain rated it it was amazing

Feels like living with Buddha.

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Jun 24, 2017 Rathi rated it liked it

I feel almost guilty to say that I did not like this book very much. Buddha as per this book was a proselytizer more than a fully realized soul. He also calls his path the only true path. I come from a religious system that emphasize s on multiple roads leading to the same destination. And my understanding of Buddha was a little different - I think he was definitely a realized soul who taught compassion and tolerance towards all living beings. There is also quite a bit of Brahmin hatred in the ...more

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Dec 24, 2017 Shravan Mishra rated it it was amazing

This is an extraordinary book. Reading this book is like meditating.
The whole life story and the journey of the Buddha has been narrated in such a beautiful way that you feel like you are taking the journey along with the Buddha himself.
It is not just a story of Siddhartha's life, it's a deep glance into the teachings and Yogic practices employed by the Buddha and his close disciples.
Any spiritual seeker will love this book. It's filled with compassion and love. It's too overwhelming and often ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 Sherilyn Siy rated it did not like it

I liked the first 1/4 of the book and was completely hooked into the story of the Buddha's enlightenment and insights into life, death, the universe. I love the Thich Nhat Hanh books I have read so far and was so looking forward to this book. However, he lost me when he started going into who donated what to the Buddha, who visited the Buddha and became monks, who hosted vegetarian banquets for the Buddha, and the nitty gritty rules of monk life. I honestly think A LOT can be cut out from the ...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Evan Backer rated it it was amazing

I picked this book up from the store without even researching it. It's wonderful so far - a "novelistic" approach to the Buddha's life and teaching, told from the perspective of a young buffalo boy named Svasti. Written by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, it somehow manages to be charming and full of vibrant personality while still explaining very well the teachings. Thich Nhat Hanh presents the Buddha not as a stoic and silent being, but as a human who grows in his concern for the root of all ...more

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Aug 09, 2008 Maureen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: buddhism

Thich Nhat Hanh, in addition to being an influential religious leader and poet, is a scholar of the first order. Nowhere is his level of scholarship more evident than in this book. He draws upon original sources to tell the life of the Buddha. His writing style is simple and poetic, and he relays the large and small events of Buddha's life in a highly readable fashion. This book is engaging enough to read to children, but sophisticated enough to hold the attention of any adult interested in ...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Nicole rated it it was amazing

"The Buddha explained that all things depend on each other for their arising, development, and decline. Without dependent co-arising, nothing could exist. Within one thing existed all things. 'The meditation on dependent co-arising is the gate which leads to liberation from birth and death. It has the power to break through fixed and narrow views such as the belief that the universe has been created either by some god or from some element such as earth, water, fire, or air.'" p. 159

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Oct 06, 2014 Duke rated it liked it

As someone has said, the best way to define this book as
"Revered monk Thich Nhat Hanh tells a fictional story of the life of the Buddha"

Since I am well-versed with Buddha original teachings, hence its unfair to call all the incidents as real but agreed that this book is best we could re-collect about Buddha life.

P.S "50%+ are just fictions".

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Aug 05, 2011 Nick Mather rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I would say that this is a much better narrative of the life of the Buddha than Hesse's Siddhartha, but I'll refrain from that since the two books have different approaches in mind. Hanh writes from the engaged perspective of a practioner of zen and that shows in the elegant simplicity of the language he uses.

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Oct 08, 2007 Rick rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone interested in Buddhism

Shelves: spirituality

Not only is this a comprehensive history of the Buddha written from a first person, narrative perspective; but anyone who reads it will also come away with a basic working knowledge of the tenets of Buddhism. Even with all that, perhaps the thing I liked best about it is that reading it felt like meditating... very peaceful.

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Jan 02, 2012 Ashwin rated it it was amazing

One of the most profound books I ever read. I just happened to pick it up at an airport while killing time and just could not stop reading until I had finished it. Led me to places I did not know existed.

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About Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh

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Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in southwest France where he was in exile for many years. Born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo, Thích Nhất Hạnh joined a Zen (Vietnamese: Thiền) monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. Upon his ordination as a monk in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name Thích Nhất Hạnh. Thích is an honorary ...more