Departure of the Perfected One: The Story of the Buddha's Transition from Earth to Nirvana - The Mahaparinibbanasutta

The Mahāparinibbānasutta is a key Buddhist text that presents vivid pictures of Gautama Buddha's life, teaching, suffering, death, and subsequent nirvāṇa. Prof. Beckhs translation achieved a quality and faithfulness based on decades of study and meditation, and Dr Katrin Binder's English rendering is based on both the original Pālī and Beckhs German translation. An afterword by Thomas Meyer traces the development of Buddha's individuality in the afterlife. This book concludes Beckhs great triad of works on the subject of Buddha.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 146 pages
Publication date: 21 April 2023
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing

The Mahāparinibbānasutta, a pivotal Buddhist text, vividly portrays the life, teachings, suffering, death, and subsequent nirvāṇa of Gautama Buddha. In the words of Hermann Beckh, it represents "one of the greatest human beings that ever lived, who stood at the threshold of the super-human – a teacher and leader of humanity." Beckh's meticulous translation of this sutta, which resulted from decades of extensive study and meditation, achieved a remarkable quality and faithfulness. Drawing from his academic and spiritual expertise, he added insightful editorial material, including an introduction, commentary, and notes.

The English rendering presented here is by Dr. Katrin Binder, an Indologist and longstanding Buddhist practitioner, based on both the original Pālī and Beckh's German translation. An afterword by Thomas Meyer, informed by Rudolf Steiner's research, explores the development of Buddha's individuality in the afterlife.

The publication of Beckh's remarkable triad of works on Buddha, including Buddhas Life and Teaching and From Buddha to Christ, concludes with the Departure of the Perfected One. Through a contemporary reading, these books offer vast new perspectives on the world of sacred Buddhist scriptures to those interested in spiritual development.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781915776068