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Title: Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics)
ISBN: 0140440887
Author:
Anonymous
Publicate Date: 1959-07-30
Publish: 1959-07-30
List Price: $15.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.40
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Every Fall Of A Drop Of Water
"Striving to understand the truth of the human condition and following the path of spiritual enlightenment is the fundamental nature of Buddhism."
The above quote is the first sentence in the introduction to the book, "Buddhist Scriptures". It sums up quite nicely the reason and basis of the chosen material on all of the subsequent pages. Each page contains a brief passage from a Buddhist text or the writings of a person significant within the history of Buddhism and encompasses both major streams of the religion: Theravada and Mahayana. The brief, three-page introduction of the book explains that Buddhism as a religion is not really limited to a single deity, "but rather a representation of a lineage of exemplars, or enlightened disciples..." who follow the teachings of the original Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). According to the unlisted author of this book, the teachings of Buddha, or dhamma [or dharma in Sanskrit], are to identify and explore the nature of human suffering and escape from it, and is, "the ultimate journey to enlightenment."
"Buddhist Scriptures" is by no means a comprehensive or scholarly collection but it is a worthwhile and enjoyable book. The brief passages cover a wide variety of topics such as karma, attachment, wisdom, emptiness, and even moral ideas. Serious students of Buddhism will find the references under each passage a treasure trove pointing to further study. The casual reader can simply take pleasure in the insights and will find that each selected piece has meaning and value, such as this one from the 14th Dalai Lama [the current Dalai Lama]:
"As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery.... we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger and attachment, fear and suspicion, while love, compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness." (Page 34)
And from much older Buddhist texts, like this one from the Samyutta Nikaya [Connected Discourses]:
"The fool believes the battle is won with harsh speech, but finding forbearance alone brings one victory." (Page 19)
This would be a good book to use for daily meditations and spiritual support, even for non-Buddhists. Anyone on a spiritual path will be able to appreciate the immense importance of the words within this book. Additionally, "Buddhist Scriptures" would make an excellent gift. It has a beautiful cover and each page is bordered to match the cover, and the page numbers surrounded by what appears to be a lotus flower.
Although this little book lists a publisher and design credits, there really is no author or name of the compiler that stands out. Perhaps this unknown person wished to share what he or she felt was some of the best of what Buddhism has to offer and at the same time wanted to practice humility and non-attachment. Perhaps too, it was out of great respect for the texts and persons quoted that the compiler chose not to list a name. Whatever the case, anyone possessing this book will probably express some genuine gratitude for the work that this unknown person has put into this.
"Do not think lightly of goodness, thinking it will pass you by. For just as a water pitcher fills up with every fall of a water drop, a wise person accumulates goodness, little by little."
-from the Dhammapada [path of the dhamma] (Page 43)
Brian Douthit
Editor of Eyes Of The Poet: Love and Passion in Lasting Splendor
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2: wonderful read
Running a temple is like herding cats.
Americans are very smart, and we even like doing yoga or meditation, healthy things. We're not so good at getting along, being in community.
We're very individualistic. To have a temple, we have to work together, and most people have a really hard time with that.
Most people there love the idea of meditating and having a spiritual director, but the person on the cushion next to them, they feel like they have nothing to do with.
Reconnecting people is difficult.
Buddhist say he and Jesus were the same, and also that Buddha was before Jesus, Buddha was totally 100% against alcohol, even in moderation.
Jesus said drink this wine in rememberance of me ( blood ).
So they cant both be the same when one said drink this and the other said don't drink.
And why is it that I know several middle age women that are really into telling me about Buddism from time to time, and they drive new fancy imports and one has a Mooney Airplane, just for flying to the ocean for a couple days at a time here and there. another smokes cigs and pot and drinks beer daily, and is in early 50's, and NOT dumb at all, has a great job. but when we talk about all men and women are messed up and all our bodies are whicked no matter who we are or what religion, she says no. I dont get it.
yes yes this book is wonderful wonderful.
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3: Condensed Buddhist Scriptures
This is a great condesing of Buddhist writings from the huge volume available into a small amount that all schools can agree on. 50% Of this was excellent staying with the true psychcological aspects of Buddhism I enjoy, mixed with 50% mythology of Buddhas past lives and the migration of the soul after death. If you are a beginner I would suggest staying with the Dhammapada, Four Noble Truths, and the eightfold path.That is where enlightenment rests and is all that is needed. Come and see.
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4: Excellent overview
I had been looking for a book that would give me a good overview on the Buddhist sutras, and stumbled upon this one. Initially sceptical, Conze's book turned out to be an indispensible companion which I still refer to contrantly. I am reading it through again the second time, as once is never sufficient to grasp the contents.
The strength of this book is that it keeps external commentaries to a minimum and lets the sutras and scriptures speak for themselves. Where Conze interposes is where the book is weakest, eg in his summary of the "Morality" passages where his own moral standards ultimately impinge on the translation.
Conze is also a good guide to some of the main scriptures and his selection covers a sufficiently wide enough array of topics to provide any reader with a good starting point for understanding Buddhist teachings.
What I found most invaluable was the introduction, which mapped out roughly the timeline of the past and future Buddhas. I have not seen this elsewhere, and here Conze does a good job of putting the historical Sakyamuni Buddha in perspective of the buddhas of the past, in particular Dipankara, and the next Buddha Maitreya.
The selections of the Past Lives and Birth Stories also gives a good overview to the historical Buddha Sakyamuni's past incarnations and his life story, which include many fantastical details which the Western writer has often obliterated in order to make the Buddha more believable to readers, at the expense of His true magnificence (sadly, even our Asian writeups on the Buddha Sakyamuni in English often sidestep the more supernatural aspects of the Buddha and in this way has led to much ignorance even amongst Asians of the greatness of the Buddha's powers). Reading these chapters was thus a real eye-opener.
Also very interesting were the chapters on Doctrinal Disputes, which give some perspective into how the differences in schools have been tackled in a positive way.
The sections on Meditation are perhaps a bit too brief, as is the section on Other Worlds, but there is enough here to entice the reader to delve deeper into the scriptures, for which a book such as this will necessarily serve mainly as a taster.
This does not mean, however, that the contents do not have substance. Conze does a good job of extracting the pith from the scriptures he offers, so that the core messages from the scriptures come through pretty complete. And that is why this book is an invaluable companion to anyone interested in Buddhism.
The only aspect that could do with some improvement is the referencing of sources, which could be more detailed. For example, when Conze tells us that he extracted from Ashvaghosa, there is nothing in the book to tell us which edition, the exact title, bibliography etc, so that hunting down the exact text has been a challenge.
Otherwise, Buddhist Scriptures is both essential reading and a good spiritual companion.
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5: A solid introduction
The translator, Edward Conze, in attempting to include what is common to most Buddhists rather than concentrating on what separates them, has made some difficult choices and has made them well. Though readability is not too highly stressed at the expense of accuracy, the resulting work is accessible to readers of varying education and interest levels. (Given the difficulty of the ideas expressed in many of the selections included, this is no small accomplishment.) I would recommend this book as an introduction to Buddhist thought and as an aid to further study (though I would not necessarily recommend it as an end to the matter for one whose interests tend toward the academic). The glossary and the list of sources included at the end are both quite helpful.
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