In the Cool Shade of Compassion: The Enchanted World of the Buddha in the Jungle, Tiyavanich Kamala

This work ingeniously intermingles real-life stories about nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Buddhist monks in old Siam (todays Thailand) with experiences recorded by their Western contemporaries. Stories of giant snakes, bandits, boatmen, midwives, and guardian spirits collectively portray a Buddhist culture in all its imaginative and geographical brilliance. 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 Buddhas teachings were practiced.
This book was previously published under the title The Buddha in the Jungle.