When the Buddha Was an Elephant: 32 Animal Wisdom Tales from the Jataka

About this book

A treasury of traditional Buddhist wisdom tales illustrated with gorgeous original artwork. The Buddhist jataka tales are simple lessons in living with honesty wisdom and compassion that contain the power to transform the hearts and minds of those who hear them. They are stories of the Buddhas past livesin such forms as a boar a parrot a monkey or a peacockthat have enchanted children and adults for millennia. Their animal characters powerfully and sometimes humorously demonstrate the virtues and foibles to which we humans are prone and they point the way to more enlightened ways of living. Mark McGinnis retells the jatakas in poetic and accessible language rendering the Buddhist teachings they contain abundantly clear. Each tale is brought to life by Marks full-color illustration making the book a visually stunning entre to this edifying and highly entertaining literary tradition.