A fascinating collection of stories of the Thai forest monks that illuminates the Thai Forest tradition as a vibrant, compassionate, and highly appealing way of life. Real-life stories about nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Buddhist monks in Thailand are ingeniously intermingled with experiences recorded by their Western contemporaries. By juxtaposing these eyewitness accounts, Kamala Tiyavanich presents a new and vivid picture of Buddhism as it was lived and of the natural environments in which the Buddha's teachings were practiced. Stories tell of giant snakes, bandits, boatmen, midwives, and guardian spirits, and this book collectively portrays a Buddhist culture in all its imaginative and geographical concreteness.