Customer Reviews

The Buddha (Past Masters)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book, perhaps better than any other I've read, brings to light the unique philosophical position of the Buddha. Carrithers clearly explains how the Buddha stood out from the intellectual background of his time and helps one understand how and why the Buddha arrived at his views. A brilliant account of the Buddha's life and teachings not only for its scholarship but also for its refreshing lucidity.

This is a recycled version of the same book by the same publisher in the Past Masters series. It is a pity there have been no changes if any made to the original work done in 1983 as a few things have changed in Buddhist studies since then. At least the pictures are better and the book looks shorter than the original transmission.

A sharp, highly critical approach with the most important elements highlighted. A coherent essay of depth and rigour. A joy to read and appreciate.

This is the 2nd book on Buddhism in the A Very Short Introduction series (VSI) by OUP. The book "Buddhism a VSI" by D. Keown is also excellent. In fact most of the books on the VSI series seem to be brilliant. To be recommended to anyone, cheap to buy, cheaper to read and the taste is very expensive.

This work is in essence a reprint of the earlier Past Masters work 'The Buddha'. It provides a succinct, clear overviews of the historic Buddha, his teachings and the development and spread of these up to the present day.

Written by a British Anthropologist from an academic perspective - but accessible to general readers, this work is stripped of the enigmatic and ethereal detritus that presents a barrier to understanding in some Buddhist writing, especially for those of an empirical and sceptical bent. Despite the detached, academic style, it is nevertheless clear that Carrithers is deeply impressed with Buddhism.....as will many readers be after finishing this book.

This work is very short, only around 100 pages, and this adds to its power. I recommend it unreservedly as a concise introduction to Buddhism. Certainly the most succinct, lucid yet thougrough overview of Buddhism that I've yet read.

One major claim of this book is that in Buddha's case it is impossible to understand the thought without understanding the life. Thus Michael Carrithers tells us the story of Buddha's life, of his coming to meet with a sick person, an aged man and a corpse, his renunciation of the world and his wandering until he meditating calmly under a Bo tree comes to the enlightentment that is his liberation.For forty- five years afterwards he wanders and teaches but when he leaves the world the seed has been planted , there are followers who will spread his teachings throughout the world.
I write these words without understanding what ' enlightentment' means and without knowing why I should seek for it, and without having any sense of why it is right to be liberated from the pains and difficulties of our most intimate human connections. I write these words without knowing why it is better to be ' enlightened and kind' rather than to be ' just kind'. And I write too without really understanding how one can have detachment and peace without faith in a personal God.
It is not enough to read a book, and take in the meanings intellectually to truly understand it.
I do not understand the way of the Buddha, but my sense is that this work is a fine introduction to beginning to know it.

This lucid little book draws on the Pali canon to retell the life of the Buddha and to recast his philosophy as a strategy for moral and psychological transformation. It succeeds in making Buddhism palatable to modern Western readers at the cost of playing down religious doctrines such as karma and rebirth. Given these omissions, I'm not sure whether it is faithful to the teachings of the historical Buddha or to Buddhism as practiced by the vast majority of Buddhists in Asia. However, I would strongly recommend the book to anyone who is curious about Buddhism but who would be put off by a "religious" book.

Barely two pages repeat the standard account of his life; half of these hundred pages explore the Indian contexts that inspired and then separated the Buddha from his predecessors. Carrithers emphasizes the psychological, "insight" (vipassana) meditation and moral aspects of dharma. He argues that while the legends compress his enlightenment into one moonlit night, that true liberation for him as his followers came over a lifetime's application of lofty ideals to daily rigor.

It's a pragmatic, rather than nihilistic, pessimist, life-denying, or navel-gazing attitude. Carrithers dismisses the fantastic tales; he explores instead the secular ideas. Tested by experience, the Buddha's "stubbornly disciplined pragmatism" marks the man and his message. His originality emerged from "his close analysis of human experience, but his importance stemmed from his acceptance of this common Indian belief in rebirth." (53-4) Carrithers delves into the Indian traditions at surprising length, carefully dissecting how the Buddha integrated some, rejected some-- while challenging the estates system and the caste structure by offering everyone some chance to better their karmic situation.

Elucidating "tanha," the "clinging, craving, impulse, thirst" whose propensity comprises the First Noble Truth of Suffering, Carrithers shows how "the impersonal active principle" was what the Buddha sought to discover as an answer to the eternal human condition: "how did I come to be in this sorry plight?" (64-5) While monks tend to gain the advantage by renouncing earthly ties to seek such detachment from cares, Carrithers concludes by showing the wider integration of the laity into this ideal. Practicality, the analogy with "skillful" craftsmanship to the spiritual quest, and psychological explanations for human predicaments and their remedies characterize for Carrithers the Buddhist synthesis.

This brings in an ethical, outwardly directed dimension, for after one has sought to tame one's desires, one needs to guide others along this same path to reduce their suffering. The Buddha's discourse to some common folk, the Kalamans, therefore assumes importance: rational attention to easing harm and maximizing benefit will hasten the betterment of all. While Carrithers (perhaps for editing reasons) skims over how cultural relativism does and does not apply to how our values are rooted in our own time and place, nonetheless he suggests how Buddhist concerns connect the psychic, the small-scale, and the "universal collectivity of all things."

Therefore, for those reading this book in the West, beyond its parochial origins, the Buddhist philosophy can suggest a template akin to Socratic reflection. Upon it, rational moderns may construct a values-based platform for self-transformation. As with this life, "shorn of its mythical elements," a Buddha freed from legend (you do not even learn the name of his son and wife here nor of the cities he travelled among, nor of his birthplace, for instance) may present a sensible example for secular inspiration.

I bought this book in Napal when I was visiting two years ago. I had bought previous books on Budda and found them difficult at best. Michael Carrithers does in 102 pages (my edition) what other books have failed to do in books with greater than 300 pages. Highly recommended as a good primer even if you want to read the larger volumes.