Buddhist Myths: Cosmology, Tales & Legends

by Martin J. Dougherty

Buddhist Myths is an accessible, engaging, and highly informative exploration of the fascinating mythology underlying one of the world's oldest and most influential religions.
 
Practiced today by more than 500 million adherents, Buddhism emerged from India between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Based around the original teachings of the Buddha, key texts emerged to promote a true understanding of Buddhist ethics and spiritual practices. The Buddhist traditions created a vast body of mythological literature, much of it focused on the life of the Buddha. For example, the 550 Jataka tales tell of Buddha's early life and renunciation, as well as his previous human and animal incarnations. Buddhist Myths discusses these tales as well as cosmology, the life of the Buddha, various teachings (such as the Pali Canon), divine and extraordinary beings, and kings, heroes, and saints.

Genres: Religion, History

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 14, 2022

About the author

Hailing from northeast England, Martin J Dougherty is a professional writer specialising in military history. He has been at times a games designer, an engineer, a self-protection instructor, a teacher and a defence analyst. Martin has published a range of books covering topics as diverse as self-protection, medieval warfare and space flight, and has addressed international conferences on anti-shipping missiles and homeland security issues.

Martin's interests include martial arts and fencing. He has coached Fencing, Ju-Jitsu, Self-Defence and Kickboxing for many years at the University of Sunderland, and has competed to national level as a fencer. As a martial artist he holds black belts in Combat Ju-Jitsu, Nihon Tai-Jitsu and Self-Defence. Martin is a Senior Assessor with the Self-Defence Federation and an IL1 instructor/assessor with the Britsh Federation for Historical Swordplay, specialising in the Military Sabre and the Smallsword.

Reviews

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Buddhist Myths: Cosmology, Tales & Legends Martin Dougherty offers both a visual and informative look at Buddhism.

I have come to expect a nice mix of wonderful images and accessible text from Dougherty, his books on Hindu Myths and Roman Myths are equally appealing. This is enjoyable as a book to flip through and look at the photographs, letting the captions give just a bit of insight. Yet it is also a nice read, very accessible, with the pictures serving to enhance the text. This is NOT academic. There is a big difference between a book that is informative and one that is academic. Though if all you want is a picture book you will be disappointed, there are words.

While there are no notes or bibliography the way the book is organized lends itself very well to spurring further research, formal or informal. In my case I was curious about a few things and did some very basic searches, nothing particularly involved, and found some additional information which I found fun. This is an excellent introductory text and offers plenty of information that can be looked into further.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Hikari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated and typeset book introducing Buddhism to the reader. The book starts from the assumption that you’re not particularly familiar with Buddhism and builds from there. The aim of the book is to educate rather than convert the reader and provides a factual account (as much as is possible) of the man often known as The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) and some of his contemporaries as well as overviews to Buddhist cosmology, typical Buddhist teachings and a summary of the Jakata Tales.

If you’re after a detailed description of a particular form of Buddhism, this isn’t the book for you and the author notes this. The aim is to give a general overview and introduction to the interested reader and it does this admirably. Highly recommended.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kathy Shimpock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dougherty’s book focuses on Buddhist myths, tales, and legends. It includes stories of Buddhist cosmology; the life of Buddha; Jakata tales (Buddha’s early life, renunciations, and incarnations); multiple teachings; divine and extraordinary beings (including gods and bodhisattvas); and notable figures (kings, heroes, and saints). Further, the text provides an extensive history of Buddhism with sidebars defining terms, concepts, and cultural elements. The color illustrations of Buddhist art and architecture is just the “icing on the cake.” This is much more than a coffee table book and is recommended for those interested in Buddhist stories, folklore, and culture.

[Nikki King · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. The images in this book were outstanding. As was the content. I would love to purchase a physical copy of this text. The descriptions and information were well organized and easy to read. I felt as though I learned a ton. It was a wonderful and insightful book. My favorite section of the book was Chapter 4; about the teachings. The index was very helpful to go back and refresh about ideations or figures. Absolutely incredible read from start to finish.

[Pedro Pascoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent primer on Buddhist myths, read as a companion piece to Journey to the West, to understand a bit more about Buddhism.

[Kate Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting this book to be so text heavy!
There is a ton of info in here, and it's a little overwhelming at times.
It is very serious and could have done with injecting a bit of 'fun' into the pages - it's very academic.