A Buddhist Bible (Beacon paperback 357--Religion) [Paperback]

Dwight Goddard (Editor), Huston Smith (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Beacon paperback 357--Religion | Publication Date: October 1970

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Donald S. Lopez, Jr. is professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies at the University of Michigan. His most recent books are The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to Its History and Teachings and Prisoners of Shangri-La.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 684 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (MA) (October 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080705951X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807059517
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,054,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buddhist Texts in America, May 17, 2001

By 

Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Buddhist Bible (Paperback)

Dwight Goddard's collection of Buddhist Sutras and related texts, first published in 1932, is available in paperback with introductions by Robert Aitken and Houston Smith. The importance of this book lies in its role in the development of American Buddhism as well as, of course, in the texts themselves.

Dwight Goddard, according to Aitken's introduction, was an enigmatic figure with training first as an engineer (where he became wealthy as a result of an invention) and as a Christian minister. In the latter role, he travelled to the East and became interested in Eastern Religions -- a seeker in the true sense of the term. In the 1930s, while in his 60s he produced this collection of texts, many of which he translated himself, which give a broad view of the nature of the teachings of Buddhist schools. The book helped teach Buddhism to Americans beginning in the 1930s.

In the 1950s, Jack Kerouac, then living in San Jose, California discovered Goddard in the public library. He carried the book with him wherever he went and used it as the basis of whatever knowledge of Buddhism he had. The beats in the 1950s were one of the sources leading to the growth of American Buddhism, and Goddard's book was Kerouac's teacher.

The main value of this book, though, is not in its role in Buddhist History in the United States but lies in the texts themselves. Goddard presents in one volume a selection of primary source materials from the Theravada, Manayana, Zen, Tibetan, and and other Buddhist traditions. Many of these texts have been more recently translated, but the translations in this book are readable, at the least and they are all in one volume. They are not easy reading and will require many rereadings, but they do present a compliation of basic Buddhist materials for those wishing to benefit from them. My own familiarity with Buddhist texts is primarily with the earlier texts in Theravada Buddhism. This book is comparatively light on Theravada texts but gave me the opportunity to read the texts of other Buddhist Schools.

This is a very fine anthology and is of historical interest for the transmission of the Buddha's teaching to the United States. I have found that many people interested in Buddhism restrict themselves to the practice of meditation or to books setting out Buddhist teachings rather than availing themselves of the original source materials. This book is a great way to read the original texts. There will be something of meaning in them for you.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I can't think of a better introduction to the sutras, June 22, 2000

By 

Tim (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Buddhist Bible (Paperback)

I have to agree with the reviewer below me (even though he stole most of it from the book's introduction). The language the translators use is sometimes less than modern and more often nonstandard, but the sutras just feel right. It's hard to find a better collection of introductory sutras than this. A warning: the texts focus on Mahayana Buddhism (though not exclusively), and even the Tao Te Ching is in here, so old-time Theravadans might feel a little left out, but I think the diversity is a good thing.

Don't take this book as a literal bible--it's too personal to Goddard. It's also not the best intoduction to Buddhist thought out there: if you want a basic intro to Buddhist thought, I'd suggest Rahula's _What the Buddha Taught_. If you like what you've seen elsewhere and want to start delving into the sutras, this is the place to start.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars available free online, February 13, 2006

By 

Tara Belsare "Nirvana with a twist." (upstate NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Buddhist Bible (Paperback)

The copy right on this little gem has not been renewed and the full text is available online at sacred-texts dot com. Free - is the Buddhist ideal for the cost of dharma.