Ebook: An end to suffering: the Buddha in the world

Invention of Buddhism -- World of the Buddha -- Death of God -- Long way to the middle way -- Science of the mind -- Turning the wheel -- Little dust in the eyes -- Looking for the self -- Fire sermon -- Spiritual politics -- Empires and nations -- Western Dharmas -- Overcoming Nihilism -- Last journey -- Committed to becoming.;[This] book [is] about the Buddha's life and his influence throughout history, told in the form of the author's own search to understand the Buddha's relevance to a world where class oppression and religious violence are rife, and where poverty and terrorism cast a long, constant shadow. [In the book, he] describes his restless journeys into India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, among Islamists and the emerging Hindu middle class, looking for this most enigmatic of religious figures, exploring the myths and places of the Buddha's life, and discussing Western explorers' "discovery" of Buddhism in the 19th century. He also considers the impact of Buddhist ideas on such modern politicians as Gandhi and Mandela. As he reflects on his travels and on his own past, [he also] shows how the Buddha wrestled with problems of personal identity, alienation, and suffering in his own, no less bewildering, times. In the process he discovers the living meaning of the Buddha's teaching, in the world and for himself. The result is the most three-dimensional, convincing book on the Buddha that we have.-Back cover.