Narada Maha Thera

The Buddha and His Teachings

The Buddha and His Teachings

A clear, detailed introduction to the basic teachings of Buddhism available in English, this book explains concepts and doctrines which form the common bedrock of all schools of Buddhism as they have been preserved by the oldest living Buddhist tradition.

The beginning of this resource is devoted to the life of the Buddha and leads into the Buddha’s teachings. The final chapters show the continuing relevance of Buddhism to the problems of human life today. 


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About Narada Maha Thera

The Venerable Narada Maha Thera born as Sumanapala Perera (July 14, 1898 - October 2, 1983) was a Buddhist monk and translator within the Theravāda tradition, and the head of the Vajirarama Temple in Colombo. He was popular in his home country of Sri Lanka, as well as abroad.

In 1929 he represented Sri Lanka in the opening ceremony for the new Mulgandhakuti Vihara Monastery in Sarnath, India, and in 1934 he visited Indonesia as the first Theravāda monk for 450 years. From then on he traveled to many different countries for missionary work, including Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Nepal and Australia. In 1956 he visited Great Britain and the United States and addressed a large crowd at the Washington Monument. He contributed to the ban-style of Dhamma teachings in the 1960s and brought the Buddha's teachings "to the daily lives of the Western middle class in Sri Lanka."

You yourselves must strive, the Buddhas only point the way

Buddha, Dhp 276