Before He Was Buddha, Book 4: From Boyhood to Enlightenment

This book basically provides a mini-biography of Siddhartha Gautama written in a simple and accessible style. Not quite a children's book, but certainly accessible on a "young adult" level. The events start with the familiar stories of the Buddha's fateful trips outside his insulated life of luxury as a young man, where he first saw sickness and death. This set him on the path that eventually led to enlightenment. The book covers his life story after enlightenment as well, including his life with the first group of Buddhist monks and eventually his death. This book serves well as a very basic introduction to Buddhism. It provides good information on how it all started, but there have been a few thousand years since the events discussed. The author explains some fundamental aspects of Buddhism as well as the basic logic behind its practice, without going into details that would be needed to really start practicing today. As an analogy, reading about the life of Christ doesn't necessarily explain Christian practices today, but it does give a basic idea of what the Christian ideal is supposed to be. The information you get from this book is similar to that. This book is not aimed at practicing Buddhists, but for people who are curious and want an accessible, easy-to-read introduction. Recommended.

This book reviewed the life of Buddha in a simple and effective way. The author explains the meanings of the symbols in Buddha's life and doesn't spend too much time on details. He also explains some of Buddha's wisdom and his religion, but not to the point where it's sickening. This book has effectively let me appreciate the Buddha and is also a good book for a beginner Buddhist.

This is a great book for all those who seek wisdom of faiths . Many of us Think of Buddha as the robust guy , who we think asians think is a God . With this book you learn many things ,, One being that Buddha was not the little fat guy and two that he was born in India and his words spread through asia and europe and finally to the west with not a drop of blood spilled He was never thought of as a God. But a wise person (enlightened one ) Read this you will enjoy, reads easy ,,,

This is a good beginning book that is a fast, enjoyable read. It doesn't get too bogged down in dry teachings and philosophy, but gives you enough to give one a beginning feeling. It also gives a feeling as to who Buddha the human being was.

The book was well written with many examples illustrating the message of each chapter. I especially liked the companion pictures and quotes from Buddha which distill the message of each chapter. The book was informative and enjoyable. If you are a first time reader of Buddhasm and want to know about Siddhartha's life as he became an enlightened One, then this book is the one for you.