6. Previous Lives

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS vii
3. Foreword ix
4. Introduction 1
5. Part One: Myth and History
6. Introduction 7
7. 1. The Legend of the Buddha between History and Myth 9
8. 2. A Bit of Historiography 25
9. 3. An Unfindable Biography 43
10. Part Two: The Life of the Buddha as Narrative and Paradigm
11. Introduction 65
12. 4. The Life of the Buddha in Acts 67
13. 5. Secondary Episodes 91
14. 6. Previous Lives 107
15. 7. Dramatis Personae 130
16. 8. Māra, the Fallen Demon King 145
17. 9. The Life of the Buddha as a Paradigm 155
18. 10. New Conceptions of the Buddha 167
19. Part Three: The Unending Story
20. Introduction 177
21. 11. Chinese Lives of the Buddha 179
22. 12. Japanese Lives 183
23. 13. The Illustrated Nirvāṇa 200
24. 14. The Buddha as Seen by His Rivals 207
25. 15. Japanese Biographies and Criticisms 213
26. 16. The Indian Buddha as Seen from the West 221
27. 17. The Modern Buddha 237
28. Epilogue 251
29. Notes 253
30. Bibliography 277
31. Index 301
32. ABOUT THE AUTHOR 309