The Jataka tales compose a large collection of Buddhist morality stories in which the Buddha recounts some of his past lives on his long road to enlightenment. Even though they’re a part of the Pali Canon and contain words attributed to the Buddha himself, they’re more folktale than religious text, and their popularity stems as much from their entertainment value as their moral messages. Often compared with Aesop’s Fables, the Buddha-to-be is sometimes born as an animal, and he frequently overcomes difficult situations and solves problems in creative and comical ways. This book features abridged, plain-language versions of all 547 classical Jataka tales, the first-ever complete collection of this sort in English. Much easier to read than the stodgy translations done by scholars more than a century ago, these concise stories are as enjoyable as they are enlightening and appeal to everyone, not just Buddhists. “With these modern English renderings of Cowell's nineteenth century translations, Tim Bewer has offered freshly readable versions of the entire jataka collection . . . This enormous labor of love makes these delightful, but long obscured, texts elegantly accessible to modern readers. They will be valued by all lovers of Buddhist art and literature for their spiritual and aesthetic qualities, but also by those who simply admire the fabulous Indian imagination, for these tales make their wisdom charming with entertainment and fun.”—Stephen Jenkins, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Cal Poly Humboldt “Easy to read and understand, these versions of the Jataka tales are a delight.”—Phra Saneh Dhammavaro, Founder of the Monk Chat Program and International Meditation Center at Wat Suan Dok, Chiang Mai

The Jataka as we possess tells about the life of Buddha during some incarnation in one of his previous existences as a Bodhisatta (one being destined to enlightenment). Each separate story is embedded in a framework, which forms the story of the present. The present selection brings together the Jataka stories of the most widespread interest.

Whereas Western intellectuals seek the essence of Buddhism in its doctrines and meditation practices, the traditional Buddhists of Asia absorb the ideas and values of their spiritual heritage through its rich narrative literature about the Buddha and his disciples. The most popular collection of Buddhist stories is, without doubt, the Jatakas. These are the stories of the Buddha's past births, relating his experiences as he passed from life to life on the way to becoming a Buddha. At times he takes the form of a bird, at times he is born as a hare, a monkey, a prince, a merchant, or an ascetic, but in each case he uses the challenges he meets to grow in generosity, virtue, patience, wisdom, and compassion.This anthology of Jatakas, ably told by Ken and Visakha Kawasaki, remains faithful to the original yet presents the stories in clear and simple language. It thereby makes the Jatakas accessible even to young readers and to those for whom English is not their first language.