What we today call a religion is the remains of what was once a complete civilization. This is the theme of Professor Ling's study of the Buddha and his teaching. Far from being a recluse concerned only with an inner mystical experience, the Buddha always involved himself closely in the social and political world of his time. If the preached detachment from many of the things by which ordinary men are tied, he did so as a means of enriching life rather than escaping from it.