"Gotama the Buddha, who lived the life of a wandering ascetic in northern India during the fifth century B.C.E., is looked to as the founder of one of the world's major religions. One of the main sources for knowledge of his teachings is the four Nikayas or 'collections' of his sayings. Written in Pali, an ancient Indian language closely related to Sanskrit, the Nikayas are among the oldest Buddhist texts and consist of more than one and a half million words. This new translation offers a selection of the Buddha's most important sayings reflecting the full variety of material contained in the Nikayas: the central themes of the Buddha's teaching (his biography, philosophical discourse, instruction on morality, meditation, and the spiritual life) and the range of literary style (myth, dialogue, narrative, short sayings, verse)."--BOOK JACK
Includes bibliographical references and ind