This delightful set of three little books outlines in simple (but not simplistic) terms, the life of the Buddha, Buddhist teaching and monastic life in Thailand. The author, a former American journalist, lived in Chiang Mai for many years before his untimely death in 1995. His views are based on extensive reading on the sources of Buddhism, intensive interviews with senior and knowledgeable monks, plus his own religious participation and observations.
Written primarily for Westerners, the books are intended to give an understanding of and insight into a religion and its practices; a religion that, twenty-five centuries after the Buddha’s death, attracts the adherence of millions world-wide, not only in Asia, but also in increasing numbers in the West.