Before Buddha was Buddha: learning from the Jataka tales

Discover how ordinary beings-a deer, a robber, a monkey, a parrot, and more-make up the past lives of the Buddha before he was Buddha. The jataka tales are ancient Buddhist stories found in both the Pali Canon and Sanskrit tradition, recounting the many past lives and ongoing spiritual work of Shakyamuni Buddha on his way to his final birth as Siddhartha Gautama. In them we find the Buddha facing difficulties, making tough choices, doing hard work, falling down and getting back up-the kind of continuing effort of spiritual practice that all beings face. Before Buddha was Buddhafocuses on a selection of particular jataka tales in which the Buddha in past lives faces temptations and struggles with self-doubt as well as his own shortcomings. In these tales he's not beyond life's messes-its challenges and disasters-but is down in the mix, trudging through the mud with the rest of us. Each story, presented in brief, is followed by a commentary pointing to its relevance to our lives and practice-realization today.

Intro; Title Page; Dedication; Contents; Preface: Just Like Us, the ƯBuddha Had Difficulties; 1. Prince Siddhartha: The Crisis of Leaving Home; 2. The Banyan Deer: Hard Choices; 3. The Naga King: The Treasure of Our Human Life; 4. The Master Musician: A Bodhisattva's Anxiety and Self-Doubt; 5. The Gardener Sage: Getting Free of Attachments; 6. King of Kings: The Limit of Desire; 7. Time Is Short: Letting Go, Heading Home; 8. The Monkey Bodhisattva: The Horror of "Me and Mine"; 9. Prince Temiya: Strength to Stand Firm; 10. Two Cousins: Working with Karma.

11. Great King Goodness: The Challenge of Nonviolence12. The Monk Who Lied: Making Sense of Big Troubles; 13. The Brave Parrot: Being Small in a Big, Troubled World; 14. The Quarreling Quails: Arguments and Anger on the Path; 15. The Bodhisattva Robber: What's Right, What's Wrong?; 16. The Ogre Child: Finding the Way No Matter Who You Are; 17. Hairy Kassapa: Even Great Sages Make Mistakes; 18. Touching the Earth; Appendix: A Dream within a Dream-a Zen View; Bibliography; Index; About the Author; Copyright.