“The Life of the Buddha” by Tenzin Chogyel is a concise, beautifully written Tibetan Buddhist retelling of the life of the Buddha. Written by an eighteenth-century Bhutanese monk, “The Life of the Buddha” gives the reader a fascinating view into the cosmological world of Tibetan Buddhism. Over the course of one-hundred pages, the author takes the reader through twelve episodes in the life of the Buddha from his resolution in a previous life to obtain enlightenment out of compassion for all living beings to his final release from the world of suffering.

The book was composed from many sources but it was meant to be a simple rendering of the story of the Buddha for the masses. The author writes, “I thought that if unbiased people of humble origins were to simply hear the name of the Buddha, this would be greatly beneficial” (5). Oftentimes surreal, the account shows a classic rendering of the Buddhist universe. The author points out that it is rare for a Buddha to be born in a universe and that makes the Dharma (teaching) of the Buddha all the more precious.

The story begins many lifetimes ago with the Bodhisattva (eventually our Buddha) being moved by compassion for all living beings and resolving to obtain enlightenment. The first few chapter take place in this cosmic time, even before the Buddha was born into our world. All the classical features of the story are present and the author tells the story concisely and with great energy. The story rolls and the text is a very quick read.

A few features that I found striking. The first is the complexity of the Buddhist universe written here. Oftentimes Buddhism is portrayed in the West as a supremely “rational” religion. While I agree that the Dharma of the Buddha is very rational and much to say about the way the Universe works, when people say that Buddhism is rational, they mean that it a religion that is devoid of any “mystical” or “unbelievable” elements. But the world presented here is an imminently enchanted world. The Buddha experiences countless lifetimes in his quest to liberate all living beings. There are multiple universes, gods that help the Buddha along the way, mystical realms, demons, etc…. The second striking feature is that the Bodhisattva was fully omniscient about his purpose and mission. So, in the story of how the Buddha encountered age, sickness, and death, the author states variations of the phrase “even though he knew what these were, he pretended not to.” This question of omniscience is one that you see play out in other religious traditions.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not describe the last chapter, which recounts the Buddha’s death. In this story, the Buddha had a son named Rahula who became a monk. On the night of the Buddha’s death, his son refused to come and see him. The pathos of this chapter makes the work have much deeper emotional impression than it would have otherwise. On one hand, we have the death of the Buddha, who brought the Dharma into the world but the story ends with his son needed to come to terms with his father’s death. It is a profoundly human touch that gives the work a lasting impression.

This is nice book and I recommend it to anyone looking to explore Buddhism more generally and the Mahayana tradition and the Tibetan Buddhist tradition even more deeply. The translation of this text is very good and the introduction is very helpful.