What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada - Softcover

Walpola Rahula

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802130313 ISBN 13: 9780802130310

Publisher: Grove Press, 1974

This comprehensive, compact, lucid, and faithful account of the Buddha’s teachings persistently enjoys great popularity in colleges, universities, and theological schools both here and abroad. An exposition of Buddhism conceived in a resolutely modern spirit.” from the Foreword.

For years,” says the Journal of the Buddhist Society, the newcomer to Buddhism has lacked a simple and reliable introduction to the complexities of the subject. Dr. Rahula’s What the Buddha Taught fills the need as only could be done by one having a firm grasp of the vast material to be sifted. It is a model of what a book should be that is addressed first of all to the educated and intelligent reader.’ Authoritative and clear, logical and sober, this study is as comprehensive as it is masterly.”

A classic introductory book to Buddhism, What the Buddha Taught, contains a selection of illustrative texts from the original Pali texts, including the Suttas and the Dhammapada (specially translated by the author), sixteen illustrations, and a bibliography, glossary, and index.

Review:

Beneath the enormous umbrella of Buddhism, there is a diverse galaxy of customs and beliefs, but there is also a kernel of truth that every sect holds dear. Rahula Walpola, scholar and monk, discovers this foundation of Buddhism for us first through straightforward explication, never skipping over a point that has yet to be substantiated, then through translations from key scriptures. Logical and focused, these are the essentials of Buddhism; know them first, then move comfortably on to other Buddhist works.

About the Author:

The Venerable Dr Walpola Sri Rahula was a Buddhist monk and scholar. He received a traditional training and education in his native Sri Lanka before studying at the University of Calcutta and the Sorbonne. He held a chair at Northwestern University, Illinois, and was the Vice-Chancellor of Vidyodaya University, Colombo. He is widely regarded as one of the most qualified and enlightened scholars of the Buddhist tradition, with a deep knowledge of the original texts.

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 1974
• ISBN 10: 0802130313
• ISBN 13: 9780802130310
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 151