Thus We Heard: The Life of the Buddha

Golden Sri Lankan Buddha holding mudra

The timeless teachings of the Buddha have inspired, guided, motivated, and provided tools for those who have sought higher spiritual attainments for millennia.

But just who was Prince Siddhartha who renounced the world to seek enlightenment and to eventually become the Buddha?

The authors (Theravada Buddhist scholar-monk Pandit Dr. Walpola Piyananda, the abbot of Dharma Vijaya in Los Angeles, and Stephen Long) decided the best place to find out will always be the Buddhist canon.

A close investigation uncovered a wealth of information on the life of the Buddha. It provides many clues that illumine exactly who and what the Buddha was — minus the speculations, fables, and tales from the early Buddhist commentaries.

Thus We Heard: Recollections of the Life of the Buddha is an amalgam of three kinds of books: a fully-researched biography, a collection of important Dhamma (Dharma) messages, and a historical novel that “might have happened.”

The Bodhi Tree Grows in L.A. (Ven. Piyananda)

It features imagined conversations with nine of the enlightened arhat disciples of the Buddha and “special guests” who “may have” attended the First Sangha Council which took place 90 days after the Buddha’s final nirvana.

This book helps readers gain a deeper appreciation of the life of the Buddha and a greater understanding of why these teachings have powerfully influenced humanity for 26 centuries. More