Synopsis The Philosophical Library presents the most important thinkers through the ages and their most influential writings.When Siddartha Guatama, a Hindu prince, renounced the world in search of the meaning of life, he became known as the Buddha, or the enlightened one. Through penance, asceticism, and meditation he created the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the basic tenets of Buddhism. Collected here, taken from the sacred books of Buddhism, are the essential spiritual truths he taught.This book needs no preface for those who are familiar with the sacred books of Buddhism. To those not familiar with the subject, it may be stated that the bulk of its contents in derived from the old Buddhist canon and concentrates on the life of Buddha and on the Buddhist doctrine.