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Guide to the Buddhist Path
In this highly readable handbook on the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, Sangharakshita guides us unerringly through the complex tradition of Buddhism, revealing the beauty and richness of the essential teachings of the Buddha. A Guide to the Buddhist Path is a reliable map of the Buddhist way that anyone can follow.
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1996
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About the author
Sangharakshita
205 books76 followersSangharakshita was born Dennis Lingwood in South London, in 1925. Largely self-educated, he developed an interest in the cultures and philosophies of the East early on, and realized that he was a Buddhist at the age of sixteen.
The Second World War took him, as a conscript, to India, where he stayed on to become the Buddhist monk Sangharakshita. After studying for some years under leading teachers from the major Buddhist traditions, he went on to teach and write extensively. He also played a key part in the revival of Buddhism in India, particularly through his work among followers of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
After twenty years in the East, he returned to England to establish the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in 1967, and the Western Buddhist Order in 1968 (now known as the Triratna Buddhist Community and the Triratna Buddhist Order respectively).
Sangharakshita has always particularly emphasized the decisive significance of commitment in the spiritual life, the paramount value of spiritual friendship and community, the link between religion and art, and the need for a ‘new society’ supportive of spiritual aspirations and ideas.
In recent years Sangharakshita has been handing on most of his responsibilities to his senior disciples in the Order. Based at the Adhisthana retreat centre in Herefordshire UK, he is now focusing on personal contact with people. For more, go to www.sangharakshita.org.
A collection of 27 volumes will represent the definitive edition of his life’s work as a Buddhist writer and teacher. Find out more about The Complete Works of Sangharakshita
A series of talks by Sangharakshita: ‘Launch of The Essential Sangharakshita and Living Ethically’.
The Second World War took him, as a conscript, to India, where he stayed on to become the Buddhist monk Sangharakshita. After studying for some years under leading teachers from the major Buddhist traditions, he went on to teach and write extensively. He also played a key part in the revival of Buddhism in India, particularly through his work among followers of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
After twenty years in the East, he returned to England to establish the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in 1967, and the Western Buddhist Order in 1968 (now known as the Triratna Buddhist Community and the Triratna Buddhist Order respectively).
Sangharakshita has always particularly emphasized the decisive significance of commitment in the spiritual life, the paramount value of spiritual friendship and community, the link between religion and art, and the need for a ‘new society’ supportive of spiritual aspirations and ideas.
In recent years Sangharakshita has been handing on most of his responsibilities to his senior disciples in the Order. Based at the Adhisthana retreat centre in Herefordshire UK, he is now focusing on personal contact with people. For more, go to www.sangharakshita.org.
A collection of 27 volumes will represent the definitive edition of his life’s work as a Buddhist writer and teacher. Find out more about The Complete Works of Sangharakshita
A series of talks by Sangharakshita: ‘Launch of The Essential Sangharakshita and Living Ethically’.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 22, 2019
I found this beautifully formatted and illustrated book at the Half Price in Redmond, it's probably not easy to find these days. Beyond its value as just a nicely made book, it has been my introduction to some Mahayana concepts I wasn't previously familiar with.
Structurally, much like other similar books, this appears to be basically transcribed tapes of dharma talks. I'm guessing this from the way each section is about five or six pages addressing some core element of Buddhist philosophy in a meandering, conversational style which reads as very off-the-cuff, so probably a set of taped and lightly-edited talks.
Those of us who have approached Buddishm via secular mindfulness (for instance in a workplace setting), are mostly working in a system based on the southeast Asian Theravada tradition, which is highly focused on meditation techniques, analysis of meditation experiences, etc., all filtered through the gloss of the (mosly east-coast American) hippies, seekers and academics who translated much of this material into a Western context from the 1970s onward. This strain of practice can be very Western in its rendering of meditation as a kind of ultimate sport or role-playing game, with varied and increasingly fantastic levels to be reached and explored. I obviously have a weakness for this stuff myself, but try to remember that this take is somewhat hot compared to how the vast majority of people on Earth experience Buddhism.
With apologies for some possibly misleading simplifications: Chinese Buddhism by and large takes Mahayana forms that are very different than the meditation-focused Western approach, and bear some resemblance to mainstream American Christianity, with their focus on chanting, offerings, and the devotional approach to spirituality. For example, the Pure Land flavor of Buddhism is one of the most popular in the world, and stipulates that by merely repeating the name of Amithaba, the Buddha of Compassion, one will be reborn after this life in a Pure Land without suffering, a set of concepts that might be greeted more sympathetically in a Baptist church than they would in a Zen monastery. The dry, intellectual buddhism currently percolating into the west has little in common with what Buddhism represents to the global mahority of its adherents.
So, this book goes into some detail about a number of these more traditional and mainstream practices, some of which posit a great number of cosmic and celestial Buddhas of various attributes and descriptions. These are fasinating as they seem to represent a set of oral culture mnemonic devices or "memory palaces", for sorting and storing various kinds of imformation. For example, Akshobya, the blue Buddha of the east, touches the earth with his hand, and rides an elephant, while Ratnasambhava, the golden Buddha of the south, holds out a jewel in the "mudra" or hand-position of giving, and rides a pair of lions (presumably in a conveyance of some kind rather than, like, standing on their backs life surfboards or something).
These kinds of content structures, besides being wildly entertaining in a superhero comics kind of way (n.b. each of these Buddhas also has a "wrathful" or inverted manifestion with a completely separate set of attributes!) are also genuinely practical and useful as ways of inclining the mind toward a group of similar concepts and sensations. The techinque assosciated with these figures in Mahayana is tantric practice, where one imagines oneself as one of these deities in the hopes that some of their virtuous attributes will rub off during the process and stick around.
This is a useful and interesting book for anyone whose only encounter with Buddhism has been of the dry, mindfulness-first variety that is gaining traction in mainstream Western culture. It's worth having the context to understand that we're generally only seeing a small part of a large, complex, colorful picture.
Structurally, much like other similar books, this appears to be basically transcribed tapes of dharma talks. I'm guessing this from the way each section is about five or six pages addressing some core element of Buddhist philosophy in a meandering, conversational style which reads as very off-the-cuff, so probably a set of taped and lightly-edited talks.
Those of us who have approached Buddishm via secular mindfulness (for instance in a workplace setting), are mostly working in a system based on the southeast Asian Theravada tradition, which is highly focused on meditation techniques, analysis of meditation experiences, etc., all filtered through the gloss of the (mosly east-coast American) hippies, seekers and academics who translated much of this material into a Western context from the 1970s onward. This strain of practice can be very Western in its rendering of meditation as a kind of ultimate sport or role-playing game, with varied and increasingly fantastic levels to be reached and explored. I obviously have a weakness for this stuff myself, but try to remember that this take is somewhat hot compared to how the vast majority of people on Earth experience Buddhism.
With apologies for some possibly misleading simplifications: Chinese Buddhism by and large takes Mahayana forms that are very different than the meditation-focused Western approach, and bear some resemblance to mainstream American Christianity, with their focus on chanting, offerings, and the devotional approach to spirituality. For example, the Pure Land flavor of Buddhism is one of the most popular in the world, and stipulates that by merely repeating the name of Amithaba, the Buddha of Compassion, one will be reborn after this life in a Pure Land without suffering, a set of concepts that might be greeted more sympathetically in a Baptist church than they would in a Zen monastery. The dry, intellectual buddhism currently percolating into the west has little in common with what Buddhism represents to the global mahority of its adherents.
So, this book goes into some detail about a number of these more traditional and mainstream practices, some of which posit a great number of cosmic and celestial Buddhas of various attributes and descriptions. These are fasinating as they seem to represent a set of oral culture mnemonic devices or "memory palaces", for sorting and storing various kinds of imformation. For example, Akshobya, the blue Buddha of the east, touches the earth with his hand, and rides an elephant, while Ratnasambhava, the golden Buddha of the south, holds out a jewel in the "mudra" or hand-position of giving, and rides a pair of lions (presumably in a conveyance of some kind rather than, like, standing on their backs life surfboards or something).
These kinds of content structures, besides being wildly entertaining in a superhero comics kind of way (n.b. each of these Buddhas also has a "wrathful" or inverted manifestion with a completely separate set of attributes!) are also genuinely practical and useful as ways of inclining the mind toward a group of similar concepts and sensations. The techinque assosciated with these figures in Mahayana is tantric practice, where one imagines oneself as one of these deities in the hopes that some of their virtuous attributes will rub off during the process and stick around.
This is a useful and interesting book for anyone whose only encounter with Buddhism has been of the dry, mindfulness-first variety that is gaining traction in mainstream Western culture. It's worth having the context to understand that we're generally only seeing a small part of a large, complex, colorful picture.
November 8, 2014
Very clear, easy to read introductory book about Buddhism. The text is composed of two parts, each one of them dealing with the most important aspects of this tradition: the Three Jewels (the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha) and the three aspects of the path (Morality, Meditation and Wisdom). With a straightforward language and way of speaking, Sangharakshita explains flawlessly each one of the concepts that anyone interested in Buddhism should know about.
December 17, 2019
A great introduction to Buddhism written by a Westerner with vast experience of Buddhism and India - basic introduction to the beliefs of Buddhism, explanation of many Sanskrit words and terms, and, crucially, pointers to and discussions of the most common mistakes made by Westerners with gently instructions how to avoid them. There may be a better primer for Buddhism but i have not encountered it yet. Will be blogging about this book for the next few weeks.
April 13, 2019
A great introductory text that is also useful for consolidating understanding for those more familiar with Buddhism.
January 1, 2020
Great introduction to Buddhist Path - very detailed and open explanations.
May 15, 2012
Well, my list of book shelves pretty much sums it up:
MUST READ!
On My List of the 10-Best Books of All-Time!!
~Dharma Mitra Jeff Stefani
MUST READ!
On My List of the 10-Best Books of All-Time!!
~Dharma Mitra Jeff Stefani
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews