Handbook for Mankind

by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

"We have ourselves, we make use of ourselves, we train ourselves, and we do things connected with ourselves every day. without knowing anything about ourselves, without being able to handle adequately problems concerning ourselves. We are still very definitely subject to suffering, and desire is still present, which produces more and more suffering every day as we grow older, all simply because we don't know the mental life we live. To get to know the Tipitaka (the Buddhist scriptures) and the profound things hidden within it is most difficult. Let us rather set about studying the Buddha's teachings by getting to know our own true nature. CONTENT Chapter 1 Looking at Buddhism, Chapter 2 Pointing to What Is, Chapter 3 The Three Universal Characteristics, Chapter 4 The Power of Attachment, Chapter 5 The Threefold Training, Chapter 6 The Things We Cling To, Chapter 7 Naturally Occurring Insight, Chapter 8 Insight by Formal Training, Chapter 9 Emancipation from the World, Conclusion About Suan Mokkh,

Genres: Buddhism, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion

237 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu was a Thai Buddhist monk and an influential ascetic-philosopher of the 20th century. Known as an innovative reinterpreter of Buddhist doctrine and Thai folk beliefs, Buddhadasa fostered a reformation in conventional religious perceptions in Thailand as well as abroad. Buddhadasa developed a personal view that those who have penetrated the essential nature of religions consider 'all religions to be inwardly the same', while those who have the highest understanding of dhamma feel 'there is no religion'.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good introduction to Buddhism but is not an Easy read.

[Siebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buddhism from the perspective of a monk makes it very pure and authentic. He covers most, but the read itself was pretty difficult since it's translated from Thai to English. Hard read but great introduction to Buddhism.

[Phil Calandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Handbook of Mankind" is an excellent overview that covers the fundamentals of Theravada Buddhism. This book is comprehensive in terms of its philosophy and practice and shows the reader how its practice can greatly enhance the life and spirituality of its readers. In my view, no other book reduces this topic to the level of the lay person. Its best to obtain this book either through the book version of through the internet.

[LINDSAY · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just re-read this important book, which has probably been republished by many groups supportive of Buddhadasa’s legacy. I found it to be at least as impressive as I did from my first reading some 20 years ago. As a translation of Buddhadasa’s sermons, it surpasses my own meagre effort of some years ago entitled, “AgriDharma”https://www.google.com.au/books/editi.... The book is seen as following the Theravada tradition, which is the earliest and clearest expression of the essence of the approach. Other traditions of Buddhism display their cultural associations and can suit certain personalities, but can also distract from the essence when the intent of ritual and rules are misunderstood. “Handbook for Mankind”, on the other hand, lives up to its title by explaining the essence of Buddhism. It does this in the traditional Eastern manner for spiritual discourse of approaching a subject from different perspectives to arrive at a rounded understanding while at the same time catering for the different ways that individuals comprehend matters. One important distinction that Buddhadasa makes in this presentation and in other documentations of his lectures is that our everyday use of language serves everyday purposes using words that also have other meanings in spiritual discourse. This is critical in the lectures’ original language of Thai, but the principle applies to English and other languages. I imagine that the difficulty that some people have in understanding such texts is that they try to apply the everyday meaning of a word to this other plane. If a reader maintains the discipline of concentration in approaching this book, then it becomes less critical to understand all the meanings of Sanskrit or Pali terms such as ‘samsara’ while also setting aside popular usage of such words as ‘karma’. This approach, which is what Buddhadasa emphasized, also allows realistic consideration of ‘rebirth’ in its originally intended form, which was and is the constant birth and death and rebirth throughout each person’s everyday life of mental constructs that lead to actions. This means that he is not talking of post-death forms of life. To make it clearer, it means that such English language words as ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ refer to experiences during life. Hell is then understood as the ‘suffering’ or ‘unsatisfactoriness’ that occurs as a result of unenlightened clinging to things that inevitably fail, disappear - or as is expressed in the Buddhist tradition, ‘die’. The book is easy to read if one keeps in mind these principles, and it is an important explication of a tradition that is made unnecessarily complex by different cultures’ interpretations, including some literal Christian readings of Buddhism. By taking the approach recommended by Buddhadasa as presented in the back cover words, it becomes clear that whoever “has penetrated to the essential nature of his religion regard all religions as being the same”. Professor Emeritus Lindsay Falvey

[Olivio Sarikas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book to understand the true ideas behind Buddhism. However, it is not easy to read and you might want to clarify several passages and terms with an actual buddhist who has read this book.
The translation is at sometimes using strange words. "discrimination" is meant in the sense of "distinguishing" and "suffering" is closer to the meaning of "getting distracted by it".

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been meaning to learn more about Buddhism, and was given this book at my parents' local Thai Buddhist temple. I found this a clear, relatively accessible overview of the main tenets and practice of Theravada Buddhism, as interpreted by a famous monk.

[Michael Tapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bhante Sujato said that this is the book that led him into becoming a monk. I loved it and I think it's a great overview of Buddhism written by a cranky monk. I read the latest translation.

[Nik Nattawat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good start to understand findings of the Buddha.

[Piter Dubosky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle and well written introduction to some of the Buddhistic concepts. The most important ideas are clearly stated and repeated several times throughout the book, so even if you don't have any prior knowledge you'll get something by the end of the read. However, don't expect to grasp everything on a first read, as there are many specific terms and can become hard to process/tiring.

[John Hannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good genaral knowledge

[Christopher Fry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction and I think pretty thorough.....easy read, lots to chew on.

[Kevin Driscoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.buddhanet.net/budasa2.htm