Fortunate to Behold- A History of the Birth of the Blessed One Sakyamuni Buddha at Lumbini

About the Author The translator, David P. Jackson, had the privilege of knowing and working with the author for many years. A long-time historian of Tibetan Buddhism, he previously published a detailed hagiography of the venerable author's life entitled Lama of Lamas.

Preface In this book I am happy to present a new English rendering of Fortunate to Behold, a short history of Buddha Sakyamuni's birth at Lumbini by the great master Chogye Trichen Rinpoche (1919-2007). The work also includes questions and answers about several related themes and brief accounts of his founding of two new temples, one in Lumbini and the other in Bouddhanath.

Originally written in Tibetan in 1986, the first version was first translated into English by Cyrus Stearns and immediately published that same year by the author for private distribution in Nepal.' Due to extreme pressure of time-its author originally needed to have printed copies in hand within just two months-and for lack of the still unpublished Tibetan-Sanskrit dictionary of J. S. Negi, Stearns then could not locate the correct Sanskrit equivalents for many Indian personal names. Nor did he have access to several other now crucial dictionaries and sources.

Introduction Our enlightened teacher, the Buddha, this Blessed One Sakyamuni, appeared here in this present world in order to train living beings who had not been disciplined by other buddhas, appearing at a time when five kinds of degeneracy were rampant. For that purpose, he left Tusita heaven, entered his mother's womb, was born at Lumbini in a birth attended by inconceivable miracles, as a youth mastered the worldly arts, enjoyed a retinue of queens, renounced royal life and practiced austerities, subdued Mara, actualized buddhahood, turned the wheel of Dharma, and passed into nirvana.

**Contents and Sample Pages**