Customer Reviews

Philosophy of the Buddha

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This book was a welcome addition to my collection of Buddhist literature. It really helped me see a new angle on things and shake of the literalist dogma I had taken from the Thervadan writings I had read. It helped me see past to orthodoxy built around Zen. Finally, it allowed me to see Chan's preservation of the Middle Way, and thus further pursue their vehicles for use in my practice.

In addition, Archie is NOT a Buddhist nor a practicioner of Buddhist ways. He offers a refeshing view of a very misunderstood, simple and helpful tool for building a life filled with joy.

the book in my opinion was very interesting and i would recommend it very much. this book explores the levels above what other books do. Buy a copy for yourself and your partner.

The most striking bit of information I got out of this excellent book is about the conversation between SiddhArtha and one of his students. The student asks if Gautama is a god, to which of course he replies in the negative. "Then what are you?" his student asks - "Awake!" Gautama replies. Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism are philosophical systems that were never intended to be religions. As a devout Christian, I am quite comfortable reading books like this one with that fact in mind. GOD didn't give wisdom only to the West - there is much wisdom in the East as well. The reader must keep in mind that this is human wisdom.

A.J. Bahm was a professor of comparative philosophies teaching at the University of New Mexico when he wrote and published his book _The Philosophy of The Buddha_. Published in 1958, and using the only existing translated texts available at that time as his guide -- which turned out to be the Rhys Davids', I. B. Horner, F.L. Woodward, and E.M. Hare translations, all of whom were not practicing Buddhists but rather Western enthusiasts and academics, and therefore lacking in the extensive background that a practitioner like Bhikkhu Bodhi, a contemporary translator of the Pali Canon, has -- Bahm forged as good a book as he was able considering the sources he had available.

It is uncertain whether or not, had he had better translations available, he would have been able to make much more of his study than the one he presents us with in this book. Being a professor of philosophy, Bahm was more interested in uncovering the unique ideas that Gotama expressed through his Dhamma rather than the elegant empiricism wrought on the ground of a rigorous contemplative practice. He therefore missed some of the more intuitive insights and wisdom which are amply present in the teachings themselves while at the same time capturing as much of the essence of the teachings as he was privy to understanding. This latter is present in a statement he makes toward the end of the book when he says: "It is not stilling of existence, but stilling of craving, which is the goal."

To his credit, Bahm does reproduce for the reader significant passages translated from the Nikayas (the main scriptures of the Discourses of the Buddha) which gives the astute reader an opportunity see and taste for himself the elegance and wisdom of the discourses. Yet, his utter lack of understanding of the Dhamma's ultimate grandeur shows through in statements like the following: "That the middle way is Gotama's most significant contribution to philosophy is a fundamental part of this book."

Without taking anything away from the Buddha's wisdom to travel a middle pathway through the dualities of existence without adhering to any of the extremes of the phenomenal world, this is far from a comprehensive view of the depth and utter genius that was Gotama's want to display. Within his teaching of paticcasamuppada or Dependent Co-Arising (which was, through lack of understanding, mis-translated during that time period of the 1950s and 60s as "the teaching on cause and effect") there comes to be understood the great subtlety of profundity that composes the Dhamma. Yet this most profound of the Buddha's teachings is conspicuously missing from Bahm's exposition, while the teaching on one of the other great insights Gotama had -- that of Anatta or the "without self" doctrine of reality -- is rather poorly covered in an amazingly short nine pages!

To be fair, though, the book does pretty much stay true to is original purpose which was to uncover and expose the philosophy of Gotama. It is just disappointing that it could not have presented a more accurate and indepth report of that philosophy.

Archie Bahm (1907-1996) was a professor of philosophy at the University of New Mexico. He wrote many books, such as The World's Living Religions, Metaphysics: An Introduction, Yoga for business executives and professional people, etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1958 book, "The purpose of this book is to state the philosophy of Gotama, the man himself, by means of quotations from the Pitakas themselves. This book does not concern itself with the various other Buddhist philosophies constituting the long, devious, profound, and fascinating history of Buddhism, except to challenge their conclusions as attributable to Gotama."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"Gotama's philosophy may be summed up in a simple, clear and obvious principle, which immediately compels belief once it is understood. The principle: Desire for what will not be attained ends in frustration; therefore, to avoid frustration, avoid desiring what will not be obtained." (Pg. 15)
"If... Gotama's philosophy consists in a single psychological principle, what about the numerous claims that he held such-and-such views relative to varous metaphysical problems? Regarding each question put to him, he replied, typically, as follows. Is there, for example, a next life? That, he would say, is not an important issue. Consider the possibilities: If you desire a next life and there is a next life, you have no problem. If you desire a next life and there is no next life, you will be frustrated. If you desire no next life and there is no next life, you have no problem. If you desire no next life and there is a next life, you will be frustrated. In either case... the important issue is not whether there is or is not a next life, but whether or not you are willing to accept things as they will be, however they will be." (Pg. 19)
"A shorter list of ten questions which Gotama refused to settle appears several times in the suttas... To each he replied ... 'This question is not calculated to profit, is not concerned with the dhamma ... nor to Nirvana. Therefore is it that I express no opinion upon it.'" (Pg. 113)

This is an old treatment of Buddhist philosophy, but still the best one I have read. Dr. Bahm knows what he is talking about as he did his doctoral work in Thailand with Buddhists. He is a well recognized scholar and father of the philosophy known as Organicism.

Archie Bahm was a very hip philosophy professor. He is a fine scholar, and his talent was in creating accessibility, and pleasant understandability for the modern layman, without market pretense. So you get the best of both worlds.

His Tao Te King translation is recommended in the Last Whole Earth Catalog, from the 1960's (and I consider it the finest I've read), and I would bet it informed that generation as much as, say, Alan Watts, and the Yogi Richard Hittleman.

His translations lack the far-fetched guru-esque sort of mystique and pretense that many translations exhibit. I would also recommend his translations of Patanjali's sutras. Again, I'm no expert, but I've read several of translations of these texts. Archie is a clear, concise, interpreter.