Buddhist Suttas

By F. Max Müller

Book Overview

On being asked to contribute a volume of translations from the P li Suttas to the important series of which this work forms a part, the contributor has to face the difficulty of choosing from the stores of a nearly unknown literature--a difficulty arising from the embarrassment, not of poverty, but of wealth. I have endeavoured to make such a choice as would enable me to bring together into one volume a collection of texts which should be as complete a sample as one volume could afford of what the Buddhist scriptures, on the whole, contain. With this object in view I have refrained from confining myself to the most interesting books--those, namely, which deal with the Noble Eightfold Path, the most essential, the most original, and the most attractive part of Gotama's teaching; and I have chosen accordingly, besides the Sutta of the Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness (the Dhamma-kakka-ppavattana Sutta), which treats of the Noble Path, six others which treat of other sides of the Buddhist system; less interesting perhaps in their subject matter, but of no less historical value. This book is also available on Kindle.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1461178886
• ISBN13: 9781461178880
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

History

I just finished reading the previous review, and it is interesting to see why perhaps (s)he did not understand it. The background in Tibetan Buddhism will really throw one off when studying early Buddhism since once Buddhism left India, it quickly changed, evolved and blended with other religions. Mainly the Bon religion in Tibet, where now four different sects exist (The Dalai Lama's being the most popular in the west--but nowhere near the largest of them). Early Buddhism is actually quite different from what you see today. It can even be said that this is a 180 degree turn from it, a change from what it was even meant to be. Rhys Davids is the founder of the PTS, an organization dedicated to the translation and romanization of ancient Buddhist texts, mainly the Nikayas.I would keep books like these only for people that wish to learn about the Buddhism taught by Gotama, not by a long line of Lama's in a region that never heard of Buddhism for centuries after it died out.