Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh presents the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, drawn directly from 24 Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources.

Retold in Thich Nhat Hanh’s inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha’s life over the course of 80 years—partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy, and partly through the eyes of the Buddha himself. Old Path White Clouds is a classic of religious literature.

“I have not avoided including the various difficulties the Buddha encountered, both from his own disciples and in relation to the wider society. If the Buddha appears in this book as a man close to us, it is partly due to recounting such difficulties.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh, from the Afterword