The Living Buddha is a biography with a double focus. It is a vivid historical narrative based on what is known or can resonably be surmised concerning the Buddha's life and times. It is also an inspiring account of a heroic life dedicated to helping all people free themselves from suffering and futility and attain true peace of mind. The author, Daisaku Ikeda, brings unique qualifications to this portrait. As president of the Soka Gakkai International, the most dynamic Buddhist lay organization in the world, he is a spiritual leader for millions. At the same time, he is very much a man of the twenty-first century, a concerned and active member of society renowned for his work for peace. His image of Shakyamuni grows out of his own living experience as a Buddhist and as a man of action. Accordingly, the author views Shakyamuni not as a mystic, semilegendary figure half hidden in the mists of a distant age in an exotic land but as a warm and vital human being, one who was a product of his own time but who transcended circumstance to preach a message of universal validity-a message that speaks to us today as strongly as it did to those who first heard it more than two thousand years ago.

Book jacket.