Presenting vivid pictures of Gautama Buddha's life, teaching, suffering, death, and subsequent nirvana, the Mahaparinibbanasutta is a principal Buddhist text.

In Hermann Beckh's words, it describes "one of the greatest human beings that ever lived, who stood at the threshold of the super-human--a teacher and leader of humanity." Prof. Beckh's translation of this important sutta achieved a quality and faithfulness based on decades of extensive study and meditation. From his academic and spiritual knowledge, Beckh added insightful editorial material, including an introduction, commentary, and notes. The English rendering here--by Indologist and long-standing Buddhist practitioner Dr. Katrin Binder--is based on both the original Pali and Beckh's German translation. An afterword by Thomas Meyer--informed by Rudolf Steiner's research--traces the development of Buddha's individuality in the afterlife.

Departure of the Perfected One concludes Beckh's great triad of works on the subject of Buddha, which includes Buddha's Life and Teaching and From Buddha to Christ.

Through a contemporary reading, these books open up vast new perspectives on the world of sacred Buddhist scriptures to anyone interested in spiritual development.

Departure of the Perfected One: the Story of the Buddha's Transition from Earth to Nirvana, Hermann Beckh, Temple Lodge Publishing, Paperback,146 pages, $19.95

Hermann Beckh (1875�1937) was a co-founder of The Christian Community, a linguist and scholar, fluent in twelve languages, and the author of more than twenty works on Christology, cosmology, and musicology. After studying Law, he channeled his extensive research on Hinduism and Buddhism into a renewal of sacramental Christianity. �Without the Professor,� writes his colleague Rudolf Meyer, the beginning of the new movement for religious renewal would be �unthinkable.�