Bhikkhu BodhiBesprekingen

From: LibraryThing

Bikkhu Bodhi has done us a great service in translating this treasure with meticulous care and integrity. In general, it is a work for scholars, not because it is heavy, never, but because of the nature of its compilation. There is much repetition even after the Venerable's eliding, but it is well-organized and easy to navigate considering its size. My only qualm is with the index.
The Majjhima Nikaya is a necessary antecedent.

Wonderful and clear.

Renowned scholar-monk and bestselling translator Bhikkhu Bodhi's definitive, practical guide on how to read ancient Buddhist texts in the original language.
Bhikkhu Bodhi's sophisticated and practical instructions on how to read the Pali of the Buddha's discourses will acquaint students of Early Buddhism with the language and idiom of these sacred texts. Here the renowned English translator of the Pali Canon opens a window into key suttas from the Samyutta Nikaya, giving a literal translation of each sentence followed by a more natural English rendering, then explaining the grammatical forms involved. In this way, students can determine the meaning of each word and phrase and gain an intimate familiarity with the distinctive style of the Pali suttas--with the words, and world, of the earliest Buddhist texts.

Ven. Bodhi's meticulously selected anthology of suttas provides a systematic overview of the Buddha's teachings, mirroring the four noble truths, the most concise formulation of the Buddha's guide to liberation. Reading the Buddha's Discourses in Pali shares with readers not only exceptional language instruction but also a nuanced study of the substance, style, and method of the early Buddhist discourses.

well written book with a college level English useage as the pali language is not easily translated into simpler words.

Time to Stand Up retells the story of the historical Buddha, one of the greatest sacred activists of all time, as a practical human being whose teachings of freedom from suffering are more relevant than ever in this time of global peril. Evolving onward from the patriarchal template of spiritual warriors and their quests, former nun Thanissara explores awakening from within a feminine view where the archetypes of lover and nurturer are placed as central and essential for a sustainable world.

Vital is an investigation into the pinnacle of Buddhist practice, the realization of the "liberated heart." Thanissara questions the narrative of "transcendence" and invites us into the lived reality of our deepest heart as it guides our journey of healing, reclamation, and redemption. As the book unfolds, the author examines traditional Buddhism--often fraught with gender discrimination--and asks the important question, "Can Buddhist schools, overly attached to hierarchal power structures, and often divorced from the radical and free inquiry exemplified by the Buddha, truly offer the ground for maturing awakening without undertaking a fundamental review of their own shadows?"

This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pali Canon, the authorized scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection--among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original teachings--consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections. The Majjhima Nikaya might be concisely described as the Buddhist scripture that combines the richest variety of contextual settings with the deepest and most comprehensive assortment of teachings. These teachings, which range from basic ethics to instructions in meditation and liberating insight, unfold in a fascinating procession of scenarios that show the Buddha in living dialogue with people from many different strata of ancient Indian society: with kings and princes, priests and ascetics, simple villagers and erudite philosophers. Replete with drama, reasoned argument, and illuminating parable and simile, these discourses exhibit the Buddha in the full glory of his resplendent wisdom, majestic sublimity, and compassionate humanity.

Basics of the eightfold path. It's a bit too moralising for me, written for monks from Thailand I suspect.

This book is a selection of texts from the Pali Canon (translated into English) together with explanations/comments from the Editor. The book is divided into ten chapters. Each chapter first contains 10-20 pages of explanations in the form of a running text, then 40-80 pages of translated texts from the Pali Canon interspersed with a lot of footnotes (which can be found in the end, approx. 5-10 pages per chapter). The style of the whole text is very dry. The comments are unbiased/objective.

The Pali Canon contains a lot of repetition; firstly there often is a lot of repetition in a single sutra; secondly various concepts/formulas (e.g., the four noble truths, the five hindrances, the six sense bases, the twelve factors of dependent origination, etc...) are found again and again in many different sutras. For me it was of great help to have these formulas identified and commented-on by someone who is well-acquainted with the underlying text. However, some of the comments (especially those in the footnotes, that often cite the traditional commentary) I found meaningless. For example the sutra on p. 359 says that each of the four noble truths is "actual, unerring, invariable." Footnote 52 on p.451 then explains that "unerring" here means "not falsifying its real natures; for suffering does not become non-suffering."

The Pali Canon is often very esoteric. For example p. 163 where the Buddha claims that "an angry and irritable character" leads either to a rebirth "in a state of misery" or if one is reborn "in the human state, then wherever he is reborn he is ugly." It also contains quite precise lengths of time for lives of beings that are reborn in certain heavens/realms. By including these more esoteric texts the book seems to provide an honest picture of the Pali Canon; on the other hand reading these texts also felt a bit like a waste of time. Maybe it is advisable to concentrate on those texts from the Pali Canon that are more compatible with modern day thought.

As a final note, the form described in the first paragraph (i.e., first comments, then several sutras, and footnotes in the back) often made me use three bookmarks at one time; I would have preferred a text that can be read more successively.

Includes an important discussion on the distinction between the Arhat and the Buddha, so often overlooked but so critical to Mahayana polemic over the Hinayana. Most Mahayana polemic makes no attempt at tracing its origins in the Tripitaka. Here the staunchly orthodox will find reasonable doubt.

Bhikkhu Bodhi is head and shoulders above the rest not only in translating Pali into English but also in his interpretations.

Bikkhu Bodhi has done us a great service in translating this treasure with meticulous care and integrity. In general, it is a work for scholars, not because it is heavy, never, but because of the nature of its compilation. There is much repetition even after the Venerable's eliding, but it is well-organized and easy to navigate considering its size. My only qualm is with the index.
The Majjhima Nikaya is a necessary antecedent.

I would read this any day over the Bible. Whereas biblical parables have no meaning for me (Water in to wine? So what!), even when I was a Christian, parables from the Pali Canon are thoughtful and applicable to daily life.

A fairly small (273 pages) selection of texts from one of the lesser-known parts of the Pali Canon. Includes some notes, though not nearly as many as 'In the Buddha's words' does.

Nearly 500 pages of sutras chosen from the Pali Canon, with commentaries by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Bhikkhu Bodhi is one of the best-known contemporary translators of the Canon, though doubtless some scholars and practitioners would say that both the choice of sutras, and the way certain terms are translated, support an overly conservative view of the texts' orginal meaning.

The best English translation in my opinion.

Written by a Westerner whose life experience was as a Buddhist monastic, this collection of essays conveys a friendly spirit, in the manner of a wise and practical teacher.