Analayo is a professor of Buddhist Studies at the Sri Lanka International Academy in Pallekele. He teaches at the Center for Buddhist Studies of the University of Hamburg and researches at the Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Taiwan. His works include Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization (2003), Perspectives on Satipatthana (2014), Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation (2015) and Mindfully Facing Disease and Death (2016).

In this work, Bhikkhu Analayo applies his consummate knowledge of the textual collections of Early Buddhism to the task of constructing a biography of the Buddha that focuses on his life as a meditator. The book not only paints a very human picture of the Buddha's life, but through the exercises attached to each chapter it enables the reader to join the Buddha on his quest for enlightenment and beyond, into his mission as a teacher and through to his parinirvana or passing away. While offering a scholarly portrait of the Buddha, this book is also a testament to the overarching unity of the various early Buddhist schools in their conception of the Buddha's life, a unity that coexists along with a rich diversity in their detailed narrations about particular events in that life. - Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi

• INTRODUCTION 1 THE MOTIVATION TO GO FORTH 2 MORAL CONDUCT AND FEAR 3 OBSTACLES TO CONCENTRATION 4 ABSORPTION 5 THE IMMATERIAL ATTAINMENTS 6 FORCEFUL CONTROL OF THE MIND 7 BREATH CONTROL 8 FASTING 9 FINDING THE PATH 10 DETERMINATION 11 RECOLLECTION OF PAST LIVES 12 THE DIVINE EYE 13 AWAKENING 14 THE DECISION TO TEACH 15 THE TWO EXTREMES 16 THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS 17 THE THREE TURNINGS 18 HONOURING THE DHARMA 19 SEEING THROUGH VIEWS 20 DWELLING IN EMPTINESS 21 DAILY CONDUCT 22 TEACHING 23 OLD AGE AND DISEASE 24 FINAL NIRVANA CONCLUSION REFERENCES ABBREVIATIONS