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The Bare Bones Dhammapada: Big Mind Big Love
The well-loved Dhammapada is an ancient Buddhist text of awakened integrity. It contains four hundred twenty-three aphorisms attributed to Buddha. Tai Sheridan transforms the original with images that cut to the chase of Buddha's wisdom. He strips the Dhammapada of monasticism, chauvinism, and concepts of evil, shame, and sensual denial. His contemplations are for an audience of any gender, lifestyle, or spiritual inclination.Reader's
A single page gives such a gift that I take in my breath and am drawn to stop and take it in.
The simplest things are always the most precious. Tai Sheridan has shown this to be true.
Concise, accessible, and remarkable. Everything we need to know is found in these pages.
You can flip them open to any page and find inspiration.
Tai Sheridan delivers quality books over and over.
Tai practiced Zen for fifty years with Berkeley and San Francisco Zen Centers. After ordination, he took the path of teacher-writer. His books transform Zen and Buddhist teachings into accessible contemplations.
A single page gives such a gift that I take in my breath and am drawn to stop and take it in.
The simplest things are always the most precious. Tai Sheridan has shown this to be true.
Concise, accessible, and remarkable. Everything we need to know is found in these pages.
You can flip them open to any page and find inspiration.
Tai Sheridan delivers quality books over and over.
Tai practiced Zen for fifty years with Berkeley and San Francisco Zen Centers. After ordination, he took the path of teacher-writer. His books transform Zen and Buddhist teachings into accessible contemplations.
101 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2011
43 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 24, 2012
I normally enjoy Tai Sheridan's work; he has a talent for taking complex spiritual ideas and making them accessible and understandable. I like to read his books when I need a sort of "spiritual jump start," and his books are most useful when one has at least a basic understanding of the topic already.
But this book was difficult and cumbersome. In his introduction, he explains that it shouldn't replace the Dhammapada; this isn't a translation, it's more of an interpretation. Sherridan's intent is to reproduce the basic ideas of that sacred text in the simplest way possible--a nice goal, but I don't think he achieved it here.
The issue here is that he's made it too simple. The language is stilted and jarring; there is no punctuation at all, and the text simply doesn't flow. You'll have several lines of poetry made up of nouns with no verbs at all; the result is language that sounds forced, confusing, and meaningless.
I can see what he was going for here: taking these extremely complicated ideas and putting them into as few words as possible to get the kernel of wisdom across to the reader. Unfortunately, he's taken it a step too far, and we're left with a text that is nigh unreadable. Instead of being simple and accessible as intended (and as most of his work is), the reader with no experience of the Dhammapada will find themselves working hard to wrest meaning from every line. I get the impression that reading this is actually more difficult than reading the original.
On the other hand, if I had approached this after reading the original (translated) text, I imagine I would have got more out of it. I'm still a fan of Sherridan and would recommend any of his other books, but I would give this one a pass.
But this book was difficult and cumbersome. In his introduction, he explains that it shouldn't replace the Dhammapada; this isn't a translation, it's more of an interpretation. Sherridan's intent is to reproduce the basic ideas of that sacred text in the simplest way possible--a nice goal, but I don't think he achieved it here.
The issue here is that he's made it too simple. The language is stilted and jarring; there is no punctuation at all, and the text simply doesn't flow. You'll have several lines of poetry made up of nouns with no verbs at all; the result is language that sounds forced, confusing, and meaningless.
I can see what he was going for here: taking these extremely complicated ideas and putting them into as few words as possible to get the kernel of wisdom across to the reader. Unfortunately, he's taken it a step too far, and we're left with a text that is nigh unreadable. Instead of being simple and accessible as intended (and as most of his work is), the reader with no experience of the Dhammapada will find themselves working hard to wrest meaning from every line. I get the impression that reading this is actually more difficult than reading the original.
On the other hand, if I had approached this after reading the original (translated) text, I imagine I would have got more out of it. I'm still a fan of Sherridan and would recommend any of his other books, but I would give this one a pass.
October 7, 2014
This book has it's strengths and its flaws. It is tough to get into the flow of broken free verse but once you get used to the stop and go style there are some excellent words, phrases, and ideas. The translation is at the same time modern and literal. Modern word usage with a ever so literal phraseology. My only criticism is the breaking away of the monastic, the asceticism and other ideas that would have made the flow better. In the end no matter how you try you cannot separate the good from the bad, the hard to understand from the easy to comprehend. No great works of religion or philosophical thought should be segregated from the culture and history of the times it changes meaning and of not done right modifies the intent of the text. If you want to read this book without prior knowledge of Buddhist thought, this book will be hard to get through and appear quite confusing.
January 15, 2018
Tai Sheridan delivers another decent interpretation of the Dhammapada. This would be good for someone wanting a quick taste of what the actual text of the of the Dhammapada has to offer. Problem is...this doesn't come close. It is an interpretation not a translation. So it is easy to get confused here. Good for a quick sit down though.
August 17, 2022
1. everything luminous mind ego invites anguish.
2. everything luminous mind calmly move with totality color your shadow happy
3. Resentment broils innards shuts out blue green peace
?????!!!!!!!!! What the hell does that mean?
And that are just the first three verses.
I only know what it means because I have about 7 different translations of this beloved classic of Buddhist teachings.
Apparently, there are now more than 50 translations of the Dhammapada. I own just a few of them, starting with the very serviceable original one by F. Max Muller. This one is by far the worst I’ve read among them. I get it that it is apparently more an interpretation than a translation, but if you have the ill fortune of finding this as a beginner Buddhist student, you run a high risk of being discouraged forever.
The author translates individual words putting them haphazardly together with no attempt to give the lines a cohesive meaning, rendering the aphorisms rather incomprehensible, and removing their beautiful poeticism.
Please don’t bother. Don’t let the clumsiness of this effort put you off this greatest achievement of ancient thinking, still extremely relevant to today’s world.
Do yourself a favour and pick Gil Fronsdal translation instead.
2. everything luminous mind calmly move with totality color your shadow happy
3. Resentment broils innards shuts out blue green peace
?????!!!!!!!!! What the hell does that mean?
And that are just the first three verses.
I only know what it means because I have about 7 different translations of this beloved classic of Buddhist teachings.
Apparently, there are now more than 50 translations of the Dhammapada. I own just a few of them, starting with the very serviceable original one by F. Max Muller. This one is by far the worst I’ve read among them. I get it that it is apparently more an interpretation than a translation, but if you have the ill fortune of finding this as a beginner Buddhist student, you run a high risk of being discouraged forever.
The author translates individual words putting them haphazardly together with no attempt to give the lines a cohesive meaning, rendering the aphorisms rather incomprehensible, and removing their beautiful poeticism.
Please don’t bother. Don’t let the clumsiness of this effort put you off this greatest achievement of ancient thinking, still extremely relevant to today’s world.
Do yourself a favour and pick Gil Fronsdal translation instead.
May 16, 2021
Interesting interpretation
Tai Sheridan has interpreted the Dhammapada thru verse. The passages are beautiful but short. To obtain more meaning of his text, I read a more traditional version of the Dhammapada simultaneously with Tai's. The results provided a deeper understanding of each text.
Tai Sheridan has interpreted the Dhammapada thru verse. The passages are beautiful but short. To obtain more meaning of his text, I read a more traditional version of the Dhammapada simultaneously with Tai's. The results provided a deeper understanding of each text.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews