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Shakyamuni Buddha
Buddhism ranks with Christianity and Islam as one of the three great universal religions, and a growing number of books about its teachings are available. But until now there has been no non-doctrinal introductory biography of its founder, Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha.
The present book has been prepared especially for modern readers interested in the life of the Indian prince turned sage who founded this vital, practical religion some twenty-five hundred years ago.
Nikkyo Niwano, winner of the 1979 Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion, was president of Rissho Kosei-kai, an organization of Buddhist lay people than numbers over 5 million members throughout the world.
The present book has been prepared especially for modern readers interested in the life of the Indian prince turned sage who founded this vital, practical religion some twenty-five hundred years ago.
Nikkyo Niwano, winner of the 1979 Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion, was president of Rissho Kosei-kai, an organization of Buddhist lay people than numbers over 5 million members throughout the world.
128 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 22, 2019
I read this book as part of the study into Pure Land Buddhism lay ministry, as required by the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness. This book does actually ready fairly well, as I was worried that it would be heavy with Indian and Asian nouns, traditions, rituals, and the like that would lose me quickly. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, although it was heavy on Indian names of people and places.
The good about this book is that I wanted to learn more about the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. I didn't know he was called "Shakyamuni Buddha", as he apparently was prince of the Shakaya tribe, of which his name comes. Some of his life I knew, such as his miraculous birth, growing up a wealthy prince, and making his outings from the four gates. I knew about him learning under great teachers and gurus of the time, abandoning them to become an ascetic, and abandoning asceticism to learn the "middle way". I knew about his meditation under the bodhi tree, his fight with Mara, his ultimate victory, and his Enlightenment.
Some other details I knew, but that's about where the story ended for me, so this book was good in taking the story further. I learned about the various disciples that renounced their old way of life to become monks and follow him. I learned about some of the various teaching and sermons he taught while traveling India. I learned about his reunification with his father, wife, and son, their conversions, the separate lives each of them led, and the ultimate illness and death of Shakyamuni.
Unfortunately, I felt the book was a bit sparse in some of these details after Siddhartha gained his Enlightenment. The author does a great job going into great detail with his early life, but moves through the rest of his life fairly quickly.
To illustrate this, note the page counts. Pages 1-45 deal with his early life and Enilghtenment. Pages 45-91 deal with his mission and teaching the Law, and pages 91 through 120 deal with his return home and his death.
It is said that Siddhartha was 35 years old when he achieved Awakening, and spend the next 45 years, until his death at 80, teaching the Law. He is attributed to teaching some 84,000 sermons. Compare this to Jesus' 3 year ministry, and a handful of parables in the Gospels. I would have like to have read more about the sutras he taught, the background and result of them, and how they relate to so many of the various Buddhist traditions that exist today.
Still, it's a good book, and I'm glad I have it as part of my library.
The good about this book is that I wanted to learn more about the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. I didn't know he was called "Shakyamuni Buddha", as he apparently was prince of the Shakaya tribe, of which his name comes. Some of his life I knew, such as his miraculous birth, growing up a wealthy prince, and making his outings from the four gates. I knew about him learning under great teachers and gurus of the time, abandoning them to become an ascetic, and abandoning asceticism to learn the "middle way". I knew about his meditation under the bodhi tree, his fight with Mara, his ultimate victory, and his Enlightenment.
Some other details I knew, but that's about where the story ended for me, so this book was good in taking the story further. I learned about the various disciples that renounced their old way of life to become monks and follow him. I learned about some of the various teaching and sermons he taught while traveling India. I learned about his reunification with his father, wife, and son, their conversions, the separate lives each of them led, and the ultimate illness and death of Shakyamuni.
Unfortunately, I felt the book was a bit sparse in some of these details after Siddhartha gained his Enlightenment. The author does a great job going into great detail with his early life, but moves through the rest of his life fairly quickly.
To illustrate this, note the page counts. Pages 1-45 deal with his early life and Enilghtenment. Pages 45-91 deal with his mission and teaching the Law, and pages 91 through 120 deal with his return home and his death.
It is said that Siddhartha was 35 years old when he achieved Awakening, and spend the next 45 years, until his death at 80, teaching the Law. He is attributed to teaching some 84,000 sermons. Compare this to Jesus' 3 year ministry, and a handful of parables in the Gospels. I would have like to have read more about the sutras he taught, the background and result of them, and how they relate to so many of the various Buddhist traditions that exist today.
Still, it's a good book, and I'm glad I have it as part of my library.
March 17, 2023
Great read
February 15, 2009
This book is a small and quick read. It is a narrative biography of Buddha and is very fascinating.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews