This classic of 20th-century literature, translated by Sherab Chodzin Kohn, chronicles the spiritual evolution of a man living in India at the time of the Buddha—a spiritual journey that has inspired generations of readers. Here is a fresh translation from Sherab Chodzin Kohn, a gifted translator and longtime student of Buddhism and Eastern philosophy. Kohn's flowing, poetic translation conveys the philosophical and spiritual nuances of Hermann Hesse's text, paying special attention to the qualities of meditative experience. On the subject of sacred literature, Hesse once said: "The very oldest works age the least." The same may one day be said of his Nobel Prize-winning masterpiece, as astonishing today as it was when first published nearly 80 years ago.