Customer Reviews

Basic Teachings of the Buddha (Modern Library Classics)

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This book provides an excellent introduction to the writings of Buddha. Mr. Wallis has selected 16 passages that provide insight into the core teachings of Buddhism. I purchased this book because I simply wanted to learn more about Buddhism, and found that it has had a positive impact on my life.

Wallis writes carefully, and his notes are full of discussions about the terminology used in the book, and the origins of the words themselves. He has the linguistic care of a well trained philosopher, and the insight and heart of a person who seems to truly love his subject. His writing is warm and well crafted.

A word of warning: This is not a `For Dummies' cartoon book. Wallis's writing dives deeply into the meaning of the passages, and the analysis gets heady at times. I found myself reading some of the notes twice to grasp what he was getting at. But that's what makes the book so good!

I highly recommend this book if you would like to learn about Buddhism. It makes a great starting point.

Since someone wrote a wildly inaccurate review and gave the book only two starts, as a way of setting the record straight, I felt compelled to write a more nuanced review.

First of all, a word about "original" or "basic" Buddhism. Some scholars (I'm thinking of Donald S. Lopez in particular) would argue that the idea of an "original" or "basic" Buddhism is a by-product of colonialism. When Westerners discovered Buddhism, it had for the most part died out in India. Rather than looking at how Buddhism was actually practiced by followers in, say, Sri Lanka, Western scholars created a supposed "original" Buddhism based solely on texts that they exhumed. These texts were shipped back to Britain, and most scholars never visited the countries where Buddhism was practiced. In fact, Henry Steel Olcott, a leading early Western proponent/expositor of Buddhism, went to Sri Lanka, basically telling the locals that they had adulterated the original religion, himself believing that Buddhism had no ritual or dogma. I could go on and on, but briefly, an example of a dogmatic belief in Buddhism would be Mount Mehru. In Buddhist cosmology, at the center of the universe is a huge mountain, Mt. Mehru, which is surrounded by four islands, our world being the southern island. In an 1873 debate in Sri Lanka between Gunananda (a monk) and Rev. da Silva, Rev. da Silva stated that science had never discovered such a mountain, and so Buddhism could not be true. Gunananda cited a book by Richard James Morrison (now obscure) which "refuted" Newton's view of the universe. In a similar vein, Tibetan Buddhists refused to believe that the world was round (until the 20th century), because the Buddha said that the world was flat. Wallis states in his introduction that the Buddha was an "ordinary human being," but Tibetan Buddhists, and certainly early Therevadans, believed (still believe?) that the Buddha was omniscient and had supernatural powers.

My impression is that most modern Buddhists have jettisoned belief in Mt. Mehru, and no doubt you yourself might consider it non-essential, but it's importance to Buddhist belief was, up until the 20th century, almost equivalent to the Christian/Jewish creation account in Genesis. You personally may or may not believe that the Buddha was omniscient or had supernatural powers. My point is, there's perhaps nothing wrong with changing the religion to make it relevant to your own life, but you should definitely be aware that that is what you are doing. Later "accretions," such as a belief in Bodhisattvas (savior Buddhas) are just as legitimate as any supposed "original" Buddhism. Read "The Bodhicaryavatara" (a.k.a. "The Way of the Bodhisattva") written by the Indian monk Santideva in the 8th century, and you'll find that Buddhism *can* lean more towards the supernatural than Wallis's book suggests. And yet, I should say that I really do love "Basic Teachings".

Okay, so I probably went on too long about that.

Given that the Pali canon is at least 50 times longer than the Christian Bible, it is remarkable that Wallis only provides 60 pages worth of suttas. That means 150 pages are commentary. Honestly, at first, I found this to be disappointing. But once you read the texts and commentaries, it all makes sense. If these are the only Buddhist Scriptures you ever read, at least you'll fully understand them.

The way this book is organized, is that the introductions to the suttas and the notes are placed in the back of the book, which makes for a cleaner text if you felt inclined to read straight through the suttas. Personally, I would have preferred that the introductions were at the beginning of each sutta, but perhaps that's just my own personal taste. Wallis's notes lucidly explain why he chose to translate a word a particular way, and really, he's basically evangelical, explaining things as if he expects that you're interested in practicing Buddhism. Many scholars will attempt to sound objective in spite of their personal leanings, but Wallis's non-objectivity is both refreshing and extraordinarily helpful. Wallis's notes contain practical and nuanced insights about the texts that are clearly the result of years of long thought.

To me, this book was like reading light philosophy, a bit easier than reading dialogues of Socrates. The only difficult portion for me was the discussion of "skandhas," a.k.a. the constituent parts that make up our "self". Buddhism claims that the self is an illusion, and that our "self" is actually a series of mental processes. If you're reading this book, you might wonder "Why is so much time spent on this? Why not just say that there is no self, that there is only a series of mental processes, and leave it at that?" The answer to why so much time is spent on it, is because it is counter-intuitive to us Westerners. To take a parallel example, you might hear about Einstein's theory of relativity and *say* that you agree with it, but deep down, in your lived experience, you really believe in Newton's, or even Aristotle's, view of the universe. So, a physics teacher would devote a lot time giving examples to get his students to really believe (i.e. understand) that the new physics is true. Buddhism is very much dependent on the belief in constituent mental processes, and if you don't truly, deep down believe in "skandhas," you won't get much out of practicing Buddhist meditation.

Why is this book perhaps the best place to start? Well, for instance, you might be considering buying Donald S. Lopez's "Buddhist Scriptures" published by Penguin Classics. Lopez's anthology is good as a "Buddhism sampler," but he makes no attempt to summarize the Buddha's life, or discuss any common threads. Basically he says, "I'm not even going to try to summarize Buddhism, just read the texts and come to your own conclusion," which is extremely unhelpful for a beginning study of Buddhism. Wallis's distillation, while having a Western empirical bias, is better than no distillation at all. Or, you might think of reading the recently published Oxford World's Classics "Sayings of the Buddha," translated and edited by Rupert Gethin. Gethin is too faithful to the repetition of the original scriptures, so that for a beginner it's a bit long-winded, and Wallis's abridged excerpts are preferred, especially for a beginning study. I mean, you'll eventually want to read Gethin's anthology, but not at the outset, I don't think.

The great strength of this book is that it gives you a framework, a framework that will be of benefit to you as you read more texts and pursue further study. When I get more money I intend to give copies of this book to my friends, which is probably the highest endorsement anyone can give a book. After you read "Basic Teachings," I highly recommend purchasing the audio recording of "The Way of the Bodhisattva" by Shantideva. Wulstan Fletcher gives an inspired reading, and it is one of the most poetic scriptures I've ever heard, ever. Really beautiful. After reading Wallis's "Basic Teachings," I highly recommend reading "In the Buddha's Words," translated by Bhikku Bodhi, and published by Wisdom Publications. Less commentary, and more scriptures.

Unlike the myriad other books published under the premise of being a basic introduction to Buddhism, Wallis' cuts to the very heart of the Buddha's teaching by focusing on the Buddha's own words through referencing the Nikayas. In doing so, this introductory book emphasizes the interface of theoria and praxis whereas most spend undue time on theoria, as if there were some essence of Buddhism to be grasped through words and ideas.

Wallis makes his case for the heart of Buddhism by drawing from 16 carefully selected suttas that delineate the steps along the path of liberation. The strength of this method comes from systematically presenting what the Buddha himself had to say about each of these stages. It seems that most introductory books summarize Buddhism leaving the reader with a vague sense of unease and disappointment wondering just where and how the Buddha actually taught these messages. Leaving the story telling to the Buddha himself I found to be very effective.

This books is also arranged in such a way that mirrors self-cultivation (bhavana), beginning with the mind of incorrect discernment (avidya) and ending with the clear-seeing, awakened mind. This strikes me as slightly analogous to the layout of the Ten Ox-Herding Paintings, to a degree. But instead of ten frames, Wallis uses six sections, citing 16 suttas to do so. I find this intuitive layout to be exceedingly powerful for articulating the Buddhist path.

So that a potential reader can get a better ideas as to what he/she is getting into, I've provided here a brief thematic outline of Wallis' work. The first section of this work is called "habitat" which draws from "the hawk" (sakunagghi sutta) which demonstrates that we are not actually in our original abode. As mentioned, this begins with the deluded mind suggesting the very natural and intuitive beginnings of self-cultivation.

The second section, "de-orientation," relies upon the famous "a talk with Malukya" (culamalukya sutta), "threefold knowledge" (tevijja sutta), and "discourse in Kesamutta" (Kesamutti sutat). This section explains the source of our infatuation with the unreal and the means to overcome it, which is knowing for ourselves.

The third section, "re-orientation," draws from "the all" (sabba sutta), "ball of foam" (phenapindupama sutta), "evidence of selflessness" (anattalakkhana sutta), and "the burden" (bhara sutta). This section emphasizes the immediacy of our original domain, which is the sensorium, and how much of what we assume or infer to be real is actually ephemeral and an utter mis-investment of energy.

The fourth, "map," draws from the "turning of the wheel" (dhammacakkapavattana sutta) and "Gotama's discourse" (Gotama sutta). This point introduces the "preeminent realities," which is Wallis' de-pretense-ified translation of the Four Noble Truths. This, Wallis explains, is simply the way reality functions and as such is in no need of the title "Truth with a capital T."

The fifth section, "destination," draws from "destination" (parayana sutta), "quenched" (nibbuta sutta), "signs of the fabricated" (sankhatalakkhana sutta) and "signs of the unfabricated" asankhatalakkhana sutta). It explains the destination of the Buddhist path, which is leaving behind identity with the specious and identifying with the real, which is the unfabricated, the immediate, the impermanent and interconnectedness.

The last section is "going" which draws from the buddha's two explicit suttas for the instruction of meditation, which are the anapanasati sutta and the satipatthana sutta. These are the means for engaging in the dynamism of the real through very basic and straightforward attention to the breath.

Overall, I find the method employed to teach Buddhism in this book to be extremely useful as it centralizes praxis and the lived application of Buddhism, at all times tying Buddhist fundamentals to lived experience and using the Buddha's very words (albeit translated into the English) to do so. I do see room for some to be overwhelmed by how this book will ask the reader to think about Buddhism and the world in general as the introspective and psychological nature of this book (and what the Buddha taught in general) makes it difficult to hold the material at arm's length for a "proper" objective study. Here, the reader is really the topic of the book ("To study the Buddha Way is to study the self."), so it may be prudent to read this book alongside of something a little more light and less existential.

If you had to choose 2 to 4 books as your only guides to a lifelong Buddhist practice, this should be one you select.

Similar to Stephen Batchelor's existential re-evaluation of dharma, scholar Glenn Wallis corrects the distortions of "Buddhist-English-hybrid terms" which interfere with true understanding of key concepts, in sixteen suttas. (Often known to us as "sutras." This type of reversion to the Pali, closer to the language by which the Buddha would have transmitted--and had preserved in oral form by his followers--his teachings in, rather than Sanskrit, shows how exacting this translation and commentary will be.) I found this approach to go back to early texts very compatible with Batchelor's "Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist" (2010) and "Buddhism Without Beliefs" (both reviewed by me on this blog and Amazon) as a serious study of how teachings can answer our own longings and challenge us as post-modern readers.

Umberto Eco may be familiar, but not in a book on Buddhism; he and Hans-George Gadamer suggest model approaches for Wallis' reader: a dialogue must be entered with a text, lest it as a "lazy machine" prove inert for us. The heavy work we put into mastering these sometimes repetitive, intricate, insistent teachings pays off. Wallis expects us after studying these "basic teachings" to have a "doctrinally responsible basis" for more study, and to put words into practice as actions.

I could have read a whole book on what his introduction hints at in three-dozen concentrated pages of suggestion, insight, and challenge. "Religious literature is immediately recognizable as religious in large part because of its extravagant language. Such language is 'not' inviting the reader to examine closely, much less argue with, the claims that it is conveying." (xxxiv) Wallis adds how we seem predisposed to accept as plausible a person's proclamation using grand language, and we become enchanted, awestruck, taken in.

He finds the Buddha himself took this tack in his initial attempt to sway his five former companions and Upaka! And, the Buddha learned to persist, to overcome doubt and to convince his audience as the suttas do us, in Wallis' expectation, if we regard the dharma "as at least potentially verifiable." (xxxv) Quite a demand for a reader coming to this as if a quick introduction--which it is and is not, so be prepared. He hints at sly wit. His determination to present a non-speculative, experientially based dharma in the early teachings aligns too with many raised in a more secular or skeptical culture, but who still search for meaning. (After reading this, fittingly, I learned that Wallis co-founded "Ruin," a hardcore 80s punk band, when in college in Philadelphia.)

Amazon Reviewer E. Godfrey sums up the six-part structure or path constructed by Wallis to arrange the sixteen suttas. Habitat, De-orientation, Re-orientation, Map, Destination, and Going comprise the stages. These, Wallis explains, "are the result of 'my' effort to trace the footsteps of the Buddha," the "Fortunate One" as he renders his title (although I did not catch why this was)--a nice twist on the conventional "Enlightened One" or "Awakened One." Although Wallis lists many appropriate synonyms for "dukkha," arranged by intensity on pp. 120-1, he agrees they all contain "some degree of unease," and I accept his nuanced choice.

Instead of "suffering," then, we get a more flexible term; so with "Four Noble Truths," here as "pre-eminent realities," which to me fits with a conception of the points as aligning with "reality," or to me, how things are. Wallis also nods to Old English and Germanic roots, and this linguistic care is echoed in our tongue as well as the Sanskrit and Pali in which I trust Wallis' expertise, frankly. His commentaries appended after the suttas, separately, account for his careful selections of terms, and these should be consulted--as should the introduction and the eloquent, carefully delivered suttas themselves--with patient reflection. A book I can return to, and study over and over. (I will compare this with Rupert Gethin's "Sayings of the Buddha" soon.)

I really like the way Glenn formatted this book, taking 16 suttas that are exemplary of basic Buddhist teachings, and adding commentary in every day, easy-to-understand language. I have to heartily disagree with the one reviewer who went off about the God statements. Clearly, he did not read the book The reviewer obviously just saw the word God in the TOC or text and made the assumption Glenn was saying Buddha taught about god. That is not what he was saying!

I really enjoyed the translations of these suttas and the commentary that followed. If you want to read more details about my review you can read them here: <...>

If a better book of introductory readings from the Buddha's teaching exists in English, I'm not aware of it. This is an outstanding achievement. The organization of the texts is as first rate as the translations. I give it my highest accolade. It's a book everyone should read.

I agree with the best and worst review on amazon currently. The book is a good starting place for someone who is serious about Buddhism, but it has a 'western' bias. However, the reviewer with the criticism did not go out of their way to say what is the bias exactly.

The bias is somewhat theistic, but that can be seen through directly because almost anybody knows that Buddhism is an atheistic tradition. However, the true 'western' mentality is to side step the religiosity and cultural mores at stake in the actual Triptaka, and replacing them with a 'science of consciousness' perspective.

Although Buddhism lends itself to a scientific society (see the Dali Lama participating in neural imaging experiments while meditating), and Buddhism has a recorded tradition of 'psychology,' nonetheless, Buddhist thought does confront ultimate and mysterious truths, which are not scientific, and science never ever really touches in experience, but only hypothesizes and theorizes.

This book contains significantly distorted translations of the suttas. I've studied Buddhism and the Pali Canon (Tipitaka) for about six years now, so I'm pretty familiar with Buddhist doctrine, in great detail, and many of the Pali suttas. This book is not accurate. For example, the Buddha does not teach a path of "union with God" because there is no God in the Christian sense, and he doesn't teach a path of union with or worship of any god. However one sutta describes him as teaching exactly that!

The translator is trying way too hard to translate the suttas into western terms and he is distorting them in too extreme of a manner. The pali term dukkha is translated by him as "unease" which is way too trivial of a term. Dukkha means everything from unease, to stress, to massive suffering. "Stress" is a much better translation. He also translates references to "Enlightenment" as "knowing reality," but this is misleading because many people think they "know reality." This references that involve "one who knows reality" may lead readers to think that they are included in this grouping, which they are not.

This book is not all bad, but if you read it you are very likely to come away with some significantly distorted ideas about Buddhist doctrine. Some of these things are clarified in his endnotes and "guide to reading the suttas" but not all of them are, and people who don't read the notes will come away with even more distorted notions.

It's really very sad that an author with these sorts of credentials would be creating such massive distortions in his translations. I would skip this book and read Thanissaro Bhikkhu's sutta translations at [...]. Ven. Thanissaro, also known by his birth name Geoffrey DeGraff, has been a Buddhist monk for over 30 years and has a degree in European Intellectual History. In my opinion he does the best job of translating the Pali suttas into English.