AfascinatingcollectionofstoriesoftheThaiforestmonksthatilluminatestheThaiForesttraditionasavibrant,compassionate,andhighlyappealingwayoflife.Real-lifestoriesaboutnineteenth-andearly-twentieth-centuryBuddhistmonksinThailandareingeniouslyintermingledwithexperiencesrecordedbytheirWesterncontemporaries.Byjuxtaposingtheseeyewitnessaccounts,KamalaTiyavanichpresentsanewandvividpictureofBuddhismasitwaslivedandofthenaturalenvironmentsinwhichtheBuddha'steachingswerepracticed.Storiestellofgiantsnakes,bandits,boatmen,midwives,andguardianspirits,andthisbookcollectivelyportraysaBuddhistcultureinallitsimaginativeandgeographicalconcreteness.