In the eighteen chapters of this book, I give an account of basic Buddhism, centered on the life of Śākyamuni, the historical Buddha, and the primitive teachings of his time. The book is not an ordered, doctrinal presentation but a blend of what I have to say about the teachings and of material concerning the life of Śākyamuni taken from the oldest and most reliable sources. Though I did not intend to write a detailed biography, I have made use of the historical evidence considered most correct.
The oldest extant Buddhist classics – the Agama sutras and the Vinaya-pitaka – were not written as biographies of Śākyamuni and contain only a fragmentary exposition of his words, actions, teachings, and discussion. These works, which cover a period of more than forty years, deal less with the life of Śākyamuni than with correct revelations of his teachings and, although not compiled with the intention of producing scholarly, historically factual records, contain fairly detailed accounts of the first two or three years of activity after Śākyamuni attained enlightenment and of the events of the period of about a year surrounding his entrance into nirvana.
The writing of biographies of Śākyamuni did not begin until several centuries after his death. There are about ten kinds of such biographies, all of which show him as a superhuman being for whom nothing was impossible. They reveal his greatness but fail to give a picture of his true humanity and go too far in the effort to create a powerful impression.
Attempts on the part of later writers to make Śākyamuni seem supernatural led Western scholars to assume that he had never existed as an actual human being but was a fiction invented on the basis of ancient Indian sun myths. In order to obtain an impression of Śākyamuni as a living human being and to understand his true greatness, it is essential to rely on the unembellished accounts found in the oldest historical sources. Though fragmentary and incomplete, this material gives a clearer, more vital picture than accounts compiled in later periods.
A true picture of Śākyamuni and the religion he founded is of maximum importance today for the following reasons. Śākyamuni is ranked as one of the four great sages of the world, together with Socrates, Jesus Christ, and Confucius. Buddhism itself ranks with Islam and Christianity as one of the world’s three great religions. People of learning and culture in both the East and the West who attempt to interpret the issue impartially agree that, of the four great sages, Śākyamuni had the most harmonious and outstanding personality. Furthermore, cultural leaders throughout the world insist that, in terms of rationality and of inspiring peace and a spirit of generosity, either Buddhism or something similar to it is the ideal kind of religion for the future of all mankind.