Lifeofthebuddhas.com

The life of the Buddha presented in the subsequent ten acts is neither history nor a myth. It is a pious report of the founder of Buddhism as the Buddhist tradition tells it. The whole story of the Buddha takes on a mythic and legendary character. A wealth of detail is to modern sensibilities of a decidedly “miraculous”

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Jack Kerouac wrote Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha in 1955 but it never made it to publication until 2008.  And frankly, I can see why.  And its not because Americans weren’t interested in Buddhism–America’s love affair with Eastern spirituality goes back to the 1800’s.

More catechism than historical fiction, the most notable thing about this short book is the number of lists.  God(s) know, Buddhists love their lists.

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This painting depicts scenes from the life of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. Although no single authenticated account of the Buddha’s life survives, several Sanskrit texts are acknowledged as generally authoritative, among them the Lalitavistara, the Buddhacharita, and the Mahavastu. These literary accounts inspired works of art in which Shakyamuni’s life was codified into four, eight, or twelve great events, although some narratives, as shown in this painting, include additional scenes as well. Gautama Shakyamuni spent most of his life in eastern India,

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The Names of the Buddha

Accounts of the life of the Buddha, meaning “the enlightened one,” contain historical and legendary materials, which are difficult to distinguish clearly. He was named at birth Siddhartha, meaning “he who will succeed,” belonged to the Gautama clan, and was called Shakyamuni, “sage of the Shakya people.”

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