Gotama the Buddha: His LIfe and Teaching

Sixth century B. C. was an important era in history. This was the period when a great benefactor of mankind was born and became renowned as Gotama, the Buddha. The Buddha rediscovered the path of Dhamma, the law of nature (the path to liberation), leading to the eradication of universal suffering. With great compassion, he spent forty-five years teaching Dhamma, the path out of suffering, to millions of people helping them to come out of their misery.

Even today this path is helping humanity, and will continue to do so provided the teachings and practice are maintained in their pristine purity.

This book contains a brief sketch of the life and teaching of the Buddha and a description of the six historical Councils.

This book is ideal for Vipassana meditators as well as non-meditators.

Vipassana is one of India’s most ancient meditation techniques. It was rediscovered around 2500 years ago by Gotama the Buddha.

The Prinicpal Teacher of Vipassana, late Mr. S. N. Goenka, was authorised to teach this technique by a respected Vipassana teacher of Burma, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Born in Burma of Indian heritage, and well established as a businessman and householder, Mr. S. N. Goenka did his first course under the guidance of Sayagyi in 1955 at the International Meditation Centre in Rangoon. this course was a watershed experience for Mr. S. N. Goenka.

In 1969, Goenkaji returned to India and re-introduced this ancient meditation technique to the land of its origin and spread it throughout the World. He inspired the creation of close to 200 centres on six continents, specifically for the practice of Vipassana. All of them are financed solely by voluntary donations and offer the teaching without any charges. Today, the teaching is available in all the world’s major languages, and hundreds of thousands of people join courses every year.

**Contents and Sample Pages**