Customer Reviews

The Authentic Dhammapada of the Buddha

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This is not an authoritative translation of the Buddhist classic in any shape, way or form --but rather a weak, unscholarly, revisionist text penned and published by a person who claims to be a Doctor of Buddhology (who will not reveal what institution bestowed this degree upon him) and who also claims to be a Buddhist monk (although he will not reveal who ordained him).

This work is published by the author's own publishing company: Dark Star Publications, out of Kentucky.

To make things more interesting, this author, who goes by the self-assumed name "Shakya Aryanatta", has also written his own editorial reviews under the pseudonyms of "Venerable D.S. Ananda Author, Buddhist monk, and Pali Scholar" (D.S. stands for "Dark Star" as in the author's own publishing company name) and "Orthodox Buddhist Foundation for scriptural studies" of which our Shakya Aryanatta is the founder!

If you are looking for authentic Buddhist scripture you have come to the wrong place with this title.

This book is a poor attempt at armchair Buddhism. This translation is so far from the mark; however, it may be worth reading to see what the Dhammapada is not. This is also a great example of why we have "experts" with degrees and/or formal monastic training.

This is worse than merely amateur scholarship. It's fake. A real scholar with such revolutionary ideas would not be afraid to be peer-reviewed in scholarly journals. Unfortunately, I bought the book without checking up first. This is crank, pseudo-scholarship of the worst kind. Don't be deceived.

Translation's of this type are highly questionable!
One good thing to come out of this book is that we can still rely on the like's of Peter Masefield and Mrs Rhys D to publish unbiased translation's of the Buddha's teaching's!

Elitist in the Extreme - Makes one wonder if Fanaticism has any place in the world of Buddhism

This is the first scripturally and contextually accurate translation of Buddhism's favorite discourse, and it sets a milestone for the authentic portrayal of the ancient doctrine of the Buddha. Those who have other translations of the Dhammapada will discover the genuine teachings for the first time, and have a completely new love and respect for what the Buddha was truly teaching. Numerous English translations of this text exist but none are truthful to the original, most are even very unfaithful to the original Pali text in fact. Taking no liberties with the Pali and remaining true to context, and the Buddha himself; this translation sets straight that agenda of translators and Buddhist secularists who have superimposed their slant onto this Sutra of the most sagacious wisdom of the Buddha. Very painstaking efforts to hold true to the ancient Pali Dhammapada text makes this translation unlike any other! Accuracy was paramount in the translator's mind; making this most popular reading in Buddhism, infinitely more subtle and beloved now that authenticity to the ancient text takes highest priority over everything else. -"Having read other translations of the Dhammapada, this book sets me aback many steps; like the solid gold statue of the Buddha in Asia that was covered by plaster very long ago during the war to hide its true value and only recently rediscovered. This book will set aback others who know only of inaccurate translations, and draw new followers to Buddhism who have not had the opportunity to see the bona fide ancient teachings of the Buddha, from amongst an ocean of speculative translations and interpretations." Venerable Sariya Dhammatra, Dr. of Buddhology

For the very first time ever, the English reader will be delighted at the discovery of the worlds first English Dhammapada with all its rich metaphor and meaning intact that so brilliantly moved peoples and changed the hearts and minds of so many. This is genuinely the work as accurately and as close as possible to what the Buddha truly taught. Never before has the reader seen such a coherent, deeply meaningful and yet highly accurate translation of the sermons of Buddhism's Dhammapada. As I found out in the proof that was sent to me, there are many dozens of verses which have never before been seen in English as they read in the original text, which are translated for the first time in this book. One quick look at the verses will immediately reveal how evenly consistent and deeply meaningful Buddhism truly is and will shed great insight onto the teachings of the totality of fulfillment that the Buddha taught. Ven. Aryanatta has done a tremendous service for the English tongue of Buddhism's understanding by revealing the truly splendid meaning of quite possibly the single most popular discourse in Buddhism, which has been so well received by the entirety of all schools. I'm happy to say that upon my second rereading of this Dhammapada proof, I found what was completely and utterly missing in all others that I had read. The coherency and elaboration gave me a truly meaningful insight into the discourses the Buddha gave; as if I was there myself on the ground listening to the Buddha expound the path. I cant say in words how succinctly clear it all is to me now upon reading this Dhammapada as it was truly expounded in the long since gone yore of Buddhism's early heydays, before the rich metaphor and meaning was forever lost! After I had read this Dhammapada through and through I was possessed of an understanding of Buddhism that I had never gotten from any other text before today. I quickly retrieved my other translations and laid them side-by-side for comparison. There was almost no similarity between many of them! I contacted Ven. Aryanatta and asked him about a couple of verses of but quite a lot, which seemed to have no agreement with other translations. I asked him to give me an explanation as to why they are so different from each other. After very lengthy explanation of the nuances of certain words and so forth it was quite clear that he had opened up a treasure chest of new awareness on such a deep level of the authentic discourses as the Buddha truly taught them. I was so extensively moved after the rereading that I was in an otherworldly stupor of bliss for several days in contemplation of the meanings that I had seen for the first time of this beautiful work! I can hardly describe how enamored I am with the full and rich explanation into English that this work has brought to me over so many others I have read both before and after. Suffice to say that I have nary seen anything before in Sutra translations that has so eloquently inspired me and so accurately captured the minutia and nuances in the English of Buddhism's core message and meaning. Venerable D.S. Ananda

Out of the many translations I have encountered of this well-loved book, this is by far the most inspiring and thought-provoking translation yet. Ven. Shakya Aryanatta has obviously spent painstaking hours in translating these stanzas, the result of which resonates well with the Buddha's original teachings and with the reader's own soul. All too often we see poor quality translations by scholars of questionable ability. In the words of Mrs. Rhys Davids: "Men read a little monk-formula here, a little verse there, much in little books about it all, and then - Heaven help them! set to and write something "on Buddhism"!!", (C.A.F. Rhys-Davids, A Manual of Buddhism for Advanced Students, page 334). It is indeed refreshing to encounter such a translation as this "Law of Illumination", particularly by an eminent scholar and Pali expert as Ven. Shakya Aryanatta.