Was Gotama called Siddhartha? Was he a prince? Did he live in luxury and voluptuousness? Did he have his famous four encounters? Was he superhuman? Answering these questions, and many others, this book analyzes every element of Gotama's traditional biography, from his birth to his Enlightenment, before he became the Buddha. Two questions are raised here:

• Is it possible to distinguish reality from legendary inventions?

• ​Is it useful to make this distinction? Confronting the earliest accounts of the Theravāda current with those of late Buddhist literature, using both historical data and the tools offered by text digitization, the author answers the first question in the affirmative: the link between reality and fiction can be detached. Confronting the ideas nourished by legendary tales with the key notions of the Buddha's teachings, the author also answers in the affirmative: the link between reality and fiction must be severed.

With a degree in philosophy from the Université Paris-Sorbonne, Didier Treutenaere is a practicing Buddhist in the Theravāda tradition. 

He is also the author of :

- 100 questions sur le bouddhisme Theravāda (link to the book)

- Bouddhisme et re-naissances (link to the book)

- Rohingyas, de la fable à la réalité (link to the book)