Download or read book The Historical Buddha written by Hans Wolfgang Schumann and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. This book was released on 2004 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No man has had a greater inflience on the spiritual development of his people than Siddartha Gautama. Born in India in the sixth century BC into a nation hungry for spiritual experience, he developed a religious and moral teaching that, to this day, brings comfort and peace to all who practise it. This comprehensive biography examines the social, religious and political conditions that gave rise to Buddhism as we now know it.
Download or read book Concise History of Buddhism written by Andrew Skilton and published by Windhorse Publications. This book was released on 2013-06-14 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ideal introduction to the history of Buddhism. Andrew Skilton - a writer on and practitioner of Buddhism - explains the development of the basic concepts of Buddhism during its 2,500 years of history and describes its varied developments in India, Buddhism's homeland, as well as its spread across Asia, from Mongolia to Sri Lanka and from Japan to the Middle East. A fascinating insight into the historical progress of one of the world's great religions.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Buddhism written by Carl Olson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Historical Dictionary of Buddhism covers and clarifies Buddhist concepts, significant figures, movements, schools, places, activities, and periods. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 700 cross-referenced dictionary entries.
Download or read book The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha written by Bernard Faure and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2022-08-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for the French edition “This is a book that should be read by all those who are interested, whether near or far, in Buddhism, its history and its interpretations. . . . [Faure] proposes considering the ‘Life of the Buddha’ as a kind of treasure that never ceases to be reinvented and experienced, from story to story, from language to language, from culture to culture.” —Roger-Pol Droit, Le Monde Many biographies of the Buddha have been published in the last 150 years, and all claim to describe the authentic life of the historical Buddha. This book, written by one of the leading scholars of Buddhism and Japanese religion, starts from the opposite assumption and argues that we do not yet possess the archival and archaeological materials required to compose such a biography: All we have are narratives, not facts. Yet traditional biographies have neglected the literary, mythological, and ritual elements in the life of the Buddha. Bernard Faure aims to bridge this gap and shed light on a Buddha that is not historical but has constituted a paradigm of practice and been an object of faith for 2,500 years. The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha opens with a criticism of the prevalent historicism before examining the mythological elements in a life of the Buddha no longer constrained by an artificial biographical framework. Once the search for the “historical Buddha” is abandoned, there is no longer any need to limit the narrative to early Indian stories. The life—or lives—of the Buddha, as an expression of the creative imaginations of Buddhists, developed beyond India over the centuries. Faure accordingly shifts his focus to East Asia and, more particularly, to Japan. Finally, he examines recent developments of the Buddha’s life in not only Asia but also the modern West and neglected literary genres such as science fiction.
Download or read book The Buddha from Babylon written by Harvey Kraft and published by SelectBooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2014-05 with total page 696 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sudden death of the Persian Emperor in 522 BCE is one of history’s great mysteries. Was his demise self-inflicted, accidental, an assassination or due to natural causes? The author contends that during this incident Siddhartha Gautama may have been the leader of Babylon's Magi, an interfaith order that assumes governance of the region. The situation explodes when Darius the Great seizes the throne. Simultaneously the Magi Order is purged as Siddhartha, prince of the Saka nation, heads back east to the Indus. Could this event have inspired the creation of Buddhism as a pacifist movement dedicated to the pursuit of self-transformation, goodwill, and universal compassion? The Buddha from Babylon: The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama uncovers new evidence that solves this ages-old mystery and discovers Babylonian influences in the Buddha's revelations.
Download or read book A History of Buddhist Philosophy written by David J. Kalupahana and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1992-03-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David J. Kalupahana's Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis has, since its original publication in 1976, offered an unequaled introduction to the philosophical principles and historical development of Buddhism. Now, representing the culmination of Dr. Kalupahana's thirty years of scholarly research and reflection, A History of Buddhist Philosophy builds upon and surpasses that earlier work, providing a completely reconstructed, detailed analysis of both early and later Buddhism.
Download or read book The Scientific Buddha written by Donald S. Lopez and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-25 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the story of the Scientific Buddha, "born" in Europe in the 1800s but commonly confused with the Buddha born in India 2,500 years ago. The Scientific Buddha was sent into battle against Christian missionaries, who were proclaiming across Asia that Buddhism was a form of superstition. He proved the missionaries wrong, teaching a dharma that was in harmony with modern science. And his influence continues. Today his teaching of "mindfulness" is heralded as the cure for all manner of maladies, from depression to high blood pressure. In this potent critique, a well-known chronicler of the West's encounter with Buddhism demonstrates how the Scientific Buddha's teachings deviate in crucial ways from those of the far older Buddha of ancient India. Donald Lopez shows that the Western focus on the Scientific Buddha threatens to bleach Buddhism of its vibrancy, complexity, and power, even as the superficial focus on "mindfulness" turns Buddhism into merely the latest self-help movement. The Scientific Buddha has served his purpose, Lopez argues. It is now time for him to pass into nirvana. This is not to say, however, that the teachings of the ancient Buddha must be dismissed as mere cultural artifacts. They continue to present a potent challenge, even to our modern world.
Download or read book The Buddha karita or life of Buddha written by Aśvaghoṣa and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Gautama Buddha written by Vishvapani Blomfield and published by Quercus. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The words and example of Gautama (often known by the title, "Buddha") have affected billions of people. But what do we really know about him? While there is much we cannot say for certain about the historical Gautama, this persuasive new biography provides the fullest and most plausible account yet. Weaving ancient sources and modern understanding into a compelling narrative, Gautama Buddha places his birth around 484 BCE, his Enlightenment in 449 BCE and his death in 404 BCE, a century later than the traditional dates. Vishvapani Blomfield examines Gautama's words and impact to shed fresh light on his culture, his spiritual search and the experiences and teachings that led his followers, to call him "The Awakened One." Placing Gautama in a credible historical setting without assuming that he was really just an ordinary person, this book draws on the myths and legends that surround him to illuminate the significance of his life. It traces Gautama's investigations of consciousness, his strikingly original view of life and his development of new forms of religious community and practice. This insightful and thought-provoking biography will appeal to anyone interested in history and religion, and in the Buddha as a thinker, spiritual teacher and a seminal cultural figure. Gautama Buddha is a gripping account of one of history's most powerful personalities.
Download or read book The Life of Buddha as Legend and History written by Edward Joseph Thomas and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scholarly work offers a fascinating examination of the lore surrounding the life of Buddha. From his ancestry, birth, and youth to his final days, it chronicles Buddha's preaching, his 20 years' wandering, the establishment of rival schools of philosophy, and much more -- including thought-provoking perspectives on Buddhism as religion and philosophy.
Download or read book Smile of the Buddha written by Jacquelynn Baas and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The relations between eastern and western cultures have long been a neglected topic, and this careful and intelligent look at a small but significant part of those relations is most welcome."--Thomas McEvilley, author of The Shape of Ancient Thought "How wonderful that Jacquelynn Baas has seen the light of the Buddha's smile shining from faraway Asia into the realm of the art of modern times in what we think of as the West! . . . Her work reveals how some of our most influential artists explored and expressed the sophisticated perceptions and joyful energy emanating from the realm of Buddhist Asia."--Robert A. F. Thurman "As a Buddhist scholar and artist I welcome this thoughtful and richly detailed study of how many aspects of Buddhism have stimulated, invigorated, and enriched Western arts over the past 150 years."--Stephen Addiss, author of The Art of Zen "A crucial contribution to modern art studies, this high-spirited text surveys Western artists awakened by the wisdom of the East, from Monet and Duchamp to O'Keeffe to Martin. It is a thoughtful book about thoughtful artists, their values and their visions, with a lot to offer general readers and specialists alike."--Charles Stuckey, Associate Professor of Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Download or read book Buton s History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet written by Buton Richen Drup and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2013-08-20 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fourteenth-century Tibetan classic serves as an excellent introduction to basic Buddhism as practiced throughout India and Tibet and describes the process of entering the Buddhist path through study and reflection. It begins with setting forth the structure of Buddhist education and the range of its subjects, and we’re treated to a rousing litany of the merits of such instruction. We’re then introduced to the buddhas of our world and eon—three of whom have already lived, taught, and passed into transcendence—before examining in detail the fourth, our own Buddha Shakyamuni. Butön tells the story of Shakyamuni’s past lives and then presents the path the Buddha followed (the same that all buddhas must follow). After the Buddha’s story, Butön recounts three compilations of Buddhist scriptures and then quotes from sacred texts that foretell the lives and contributions of great Indian Buddhist masters, which he then relates, concluding with the tale of the eventual demise and disappearance of the Buddhist doctrine. The text ends with an account of the inception and spread of Buddhism in Tibet, focused mainly on the country’s kings and early adopters of the foreign faith. An afterword by Ngawang Zangpo, one of the translators, discusses and contextualizes Butön’s exemplary life, his turbulent times, and his prolific works.
Download or read book What the Buddha Thought written by Richard Francis Gombrich and published by Equinox Publishing (UK). This book was released on 2009 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that the Buddha was one of the most brilliant and original thinkers of all time. This book intends to serve as an introduction to the Buddha's thought, and hence even to Buddhism itself. It also argues that we can know far more about the Buddha than it is fashionable among scholars to admit.
Download or read book THE BOOK OF BUDDHA written by Arundhati Subramaniam and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2009-06-16 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around 2500 years ago a thirty-five-year-old man named Siddhartha had a mystical insight under a peepul tree in north-eastern India; in a place now revered as Bodhgaya. Today; more than 300 million people across the globe consider themselves beneficiaries of Gautama Buddha’s insight; and believe that it has irrevocably marked their spiritual commitment and identity. Who was this man who still remains such a vital figure for the modern-day questor? How did he arrive at the realization that ‘suffering alone exists; but none who suffer; the deed there is; but no doer thereof; Nirvana there is; but no one seeking it; the Path there is; but none who travel it’? The Book of Buddha traces the various stages of the spiritual journey undertaken by a man who started out as Siddhartha the Seeker; achieved understanding as Shakyamuni the Sage and attained supremacy as Tathagata the Master—finally reaching transcendence as Jina the Victor when he was transformed into the Buddha and became the Enlightened One. Combining personal insight with a deep understanding of Buddhist philosophy; Arundhathi Subramaniam gives the reader a sensitive and revealing portrait of the Buddha and his role in shaping and transfiguring the course of history. In this passionate and deeply felt rendition of the Buddha’s life she explores his enduring impact; and affirms that though he promised no quick-fix solution to life’s problems; Buddhism has remained truly democratic because it holds out the promise of self-realization for all.
Download or read book Siddhartha written by Marilia Albanese and published by White Star. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Siddhartha: The Prince Who Became Buddha is a compelling reconstruction of the life of the man who became Buddha. Siddhartha Gautama was a historical character that was born in a century of great ferments and in a country where the spiritual search has been a priority for a long time. The salient episodes of the life of the Buddha are introduced in the first part of the work, getting information from various literary sources, such as the Buddhist Canon or the Chinese pilgrims' reports, with an iconographic support of works produced in different times and countries. In the second part it is human feeling of the Buddha that is tried to express, going the same way that one day saw him tireless pilgrim, with a specially commissioned search of modern images, that remembers the suffered run of Siddhartha, tragically stricken by a universal pain and determined to find an antidote, not only for the people of his time and his country, but forever and for everybody."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book The Noble Eightfold Path written by Bhikkhu Bodhi and published by Buddhist Publication Society. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Buddha's teachings center around two basic principles. One is the Four Noble Truths, in which the Buddha diagnoses the problem of suffering and indicates the treatment necessary to remedy this problem. The other is the Noble Eightfold Path, the practical discipline he prescribes to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying causes of suffering. The present book offers, in simple and clear language, a concise yet thorough explanation of the Eightfold Path. Basing himself solidly upon the Buddha's own words, the author examines each factor of the path to determine exactly what it implies in the way of practical training. Finally, in the concluding chapter, he shows how all eight factors of the path function in unison to bring about the realization of the Buddhist goal: enlightenment and liberation.
Download or read book A History of Indian Buddhism written by Akira Hirakawa and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. This book was released on 1993 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive and detailed survey of the first six centuries of Indian Buddhism sums up the results of a lifetime of research and reflection by one of Japan's most renowned scholars of Buddhism.
