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The Living Buddha: An Interpretive Biography
An intimate portrayal of one of history's most important and obscure figures, the Buddha, this chronicle reveals him not as a mystic, but a warm and engaged human being that was very much the product of his turbulent times. This biographical account traces the path of Siddhartha Gautama as he walked away from the pleasure palace that had been his home and joined a growing force of wandering monks, ultimately making his way towards enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, and spending the next 45 years sharing his insights along the banks of the Ganges. The Buddhist canon is expertly harvested to provide insight into the Buddha's inner life and to grant a better understanding of how he came to play his pivotal role as founder of one of the world's largest religions.
150 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
27 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Daisaku Ikeda
1,228 books518 followersDaisaku Ikeda was a Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, educator, author and poet. He was the third president of the Soka Gakkai lay Buddhist organization and the founding president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), which is today one of the world's largest and most diverse lay Buddhist organizations, promoting a philosophy of character development and social engagement for peace.
Ikeda was the founder of the Soka (value-creation) schools, a nondenominational school system based on an ideal of fostering each student's unique creative potential and cultivating an ethic of peace, social contribution and global consciousness. The school system runs from kindergarten through graduate study and includes a university in Tokyo, Japan, and another in California, U.S.A.
Ikeda was a staunch proponent of dialogue as the foundation of peace. Since the 1970s he has pursued dialogue with a wide range of individuals around the world in political, cultural, educational and academic fields. Over 50 of these have been published in book form, with people such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Elise Boulding, Joseph Rotblat and André Malraux. In furtherance of his vision of fostering dialogue and solidarity for peace, Ikeda has founded a number of independent, nonprofit research institutes that develop cross-cultural, interdisciplinary collaboration on diverse issues: the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century, the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research and the Institute of Oriental Philosophy. The Min-On Concert Association and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum promote mutual understanding and friendship between different national cultures through the arts.
Ikeda was a prolific writer who has published more than 100 works, ranging from Buddhist philosophy to biographical essays, poetry, children's stories and photographic collections.
Ikeda was the founder of the Soka (value-creation) schools, a nondenominational school system based on an ideal of fostering each student's unique creative potential and cultivating an ethic of peace, social contribution and global consciousness. The school system runs from kindergarten through graduate study and includes a university in Tokyo, Japan, and another in California, U.S.A.
Ikeda was a staunch proponent of dialogue as the foundation of peace. Since the 1970s he has pursued dialogue with a wide range of individuals around the world in political, cultural, educational and academic fields. Over 50 of these have been published in book form, with people such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Elise Boulding, Joseph Rotblat and André Malraux. In furtherance of his vision of fostering dialogue and solidarity for peace, Ikeda has founded a number of independent, nonprofit research institutes that develop cross-cultural, interdisciplinary collaboration on diverse issues: the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century, the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research and the Institute of Oriental Philosophy. The Min-On Concert Association and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum promote mutual understanding and friendship between different national cultures through the arts.
Ikeda was a prolific writer who has published more than 100 works, ranging from Buddhist philosophy to biographical essays, poetry, children's stories and photographic collections.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 4, 2021
A pesar de plantearse como una biografía escrita desde la subjetividad de un seguidor de la doctrina, está bastante documentada y aporta tanto a la comprensión del momento y contexto histórico como a lo que refiere a los nebulosos acontecimientos en la vida de Buda. Es un retrato a ratos desapegado, a ratos personal y emotivo de Shakyamuni, en el que se agradece la falta de pretenciones totalizantes.
September 7, 2022
Modern readable ok
February 28, 2011
The Prince Siddhartha as a living human being. This book speaks of the prince's pampered life inside his childhood palace. As he begins to see the struggles of society, we see his inner life.
One of my favorite passages from the book: "When we look dispassionately at the great universe around us, we find that what at first glance appears to be a vast stillness is in fact constantly throbbing with creation and change. The same is true of human beings: they age, die, are reborn, and die again. Nothing, either in the world of nature or that of human society, knows a moment of stagnation or rest. All things in the universe are in flux, arising and ceasing, appearing and disappearing, caught in an unending cycle of change that is conditioned by the law of causation at work both temporally and spatially. Such is the nature of ultimate reality. My conviction is that Shakyamuni's enlightenment was a cry of wonder at the mysterious entity called life, whose myriad manifestations are joined to and dependent upon one another through the links of cause and effect . . .
Having attained enlightenment, he himself was free of the ignorance that blinded other men and could live in accordance with the true Law of Life. What joy he must have felt!"
I consider Daisaku Ikeda my mentor. Everything he writes speaks to my heart.
One of my favorite passages from the book: "When we look dispassionately at the great universe around us, we find that what at first glance appears to be a vast stillness is in fact constantly throbbing with creation and change. The same is true of human beings: they age, die, are reborn, and die again. Nothing, either in the world of nature or that of human society, knows a moment of stagnation or rest. All things in the universe are in flux, arising and ceasing, appearing and disappearing, caught in an unending cycle of change that is conditioned by the law of causation at work both temporally and spatially. Such is the nature of ultimate reality. My conviction is that Shakyamuni's enlightenment was a cry of wonder at the mysterious entity called life, whose myriad manifestations are joined to and dependent upon one another through the links of cause and effect . . .
Having attained enlightenment, he himself was free of the ignorance that blinded other men and could live in accordance with the true Law of Life. What joy he must have felt!"
I consider Daisaku Ikeda my mentor. Everything he writes speaks to my heart.
February 11, 2017
This book offers a great view to Siddharta / Shakyamuni life as a men and philosophers as well describes the importance of philosophy in ancient India and the way of living the religion. A must read for me
200-299-religion
November 5, 2019294.363
August 4, 2011
Daisaku Ikeda, The Living Buddha: An Interpretive Biography (Soka Gakkai History of Buddhism), Burton Watson, trans., 2008, Middleway Press, 162 pp., ISBN: 978-0-9779245-2-3, $14.95.
The Living Buddha, first printed in 1976, captures the heart of Buddhism in recounting the story of Shakyamuni Buddha’s life: his sensitivity to suffering he saw around him, his enlightenment and discovery of the source and end of suffering, and nearly a half century spent establishing a community to proclaim the path to achieve that end. Ikeda (Buddhism Day by Day: Wisdom for Modern Life), the long-time president of Soka Gakkai International (“Society for the Creation of Values”), a sometimes aggressive lay branch of Nichiren Buddhism, studiously avoids the hagiographic and fantastic elements of some traditional accounts. Instead he paints a portrait of an extraordinary but nonetheless human figure who allowed neither opposition nor adulation to shift the focus away from the content of his message to himself. While Karen Armstrong’s Buddha (Viking/Penguin, 2000) in an extra fifty pages covers the same ground with more flair and depth, Ikeda’s book offers a lucid and compelling brief introduction to the Buddha’s life for the general reader.
The Living Buddha, first printed in 1976, captures the heart of Buddhism in recounting the story of Shakyamuni Buddha’s life: his sensitivity to suffering he saw around him, his enlightenment and discovery of the source and end of suffering, and nearly a half century spent establishing a community to proclaim the path to achieve that end. Ikeda (Buddhism Day by Day: Wisdom for Modern Life), the long-time president of Soka Gakkai International (“Society for the Creation of Values”), a sometimes aggressive lay branch of Nichiren Buddhism, studiously avoids the hagiographic and fantastic elements of some traditional accounts. Instead he paints a portrait of an extraordinary but nonetheless human figure who allowed neither opposition nor adulation to shift the focus away from the content of his message to himself. While Karen Armstrong’s Buddha (Viking/Penguin, 2000) in an extra fifty pages covers the same ground with more flair and depth, Ikeda’s book offers a lucid and compelling brief introduction to the Buddha’s life for the general reader.
January 1, 2012
the book was a great introduction to siddhartha. I hope to use it as a reference in the future. as always, ikeda has a wonderful writing style and he always uses thoughtfulness an sincerity in his work. this book was a pleasure to read but at times I did feel that I expected a more story-like account of the Buddha.
December 16, 2014
No es un libro de budismo, es un libro PARA budistas. Muy informativo.
July 15, 2025
Really nice book. Writer's interpretations seem very nuanced. Has greatly helped my understandings of the Buddha's origins.
200-299-religion
May 2, 2019294.363
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews