Walpola Rahula's What the Buddha Taught is a perennial backlist best-seller and has proven to be an indispensable guide to beginning Buddhism. It is renowned for its authoritative, clear, logical, and comprehensive approach. The Heritage of the Bhikkhu is a vivid account of the Buddhist monk's role as a servant to people's needs as a follower and teacher of the basic Buddhist principles. In this fascinating and informative volume, the author -- a noted Buddhist monk and scholar who received monastic training and education in Sri Lanka -- emphasizes Buddhism as a practical doctrine for daily living and spiritual perfection, not simply a monastic discipline. The Heritage of the Bhikkhu is a pioneering work that deserves to stand with the author's earlier masterpiece.