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Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Creator: Donald Lopez
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
Buy New: $11.56
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New (38) Used (20) from $7.08
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 98739
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 608
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 014044758X
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.38
EAN: 9780140447583
ASIN: 014044758X
Publication Date: August 31, 2004
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Product Description
While Buddhism has no central text comparable to the Bible or Koran, there is a powerful body of scripture from across Asia that encompasses the dharma, or the teachings of the Buddha. In this rich anthology, eminent scholar Donald S. Lopez, Jr., brings together works from a broad historical and geographical range, and from such languages as Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese. There are tales of the Buddhas past lives, a discussion of qualities and qualifications for a monk, and an exploration of the many meanings of enlightenment. Together they provide a vivid picture of the Buddha and of the vast and profound nature of the Buddhist tradition.
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| Customer Reviews:
Very helpful November 22, 2008
I have been practising Buddhism for a few years now in a fairly specific way. I have been interested lately in the differing belief systems and interpretations of other streams of Buddhism. After all all dharma is interrelated to all other dharma. This book is a very good overall snapshot of different beliefs and will be quite complimentary to your own practise no matter what it is.
Good value April 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It has been almost five decades since the Penguin Classics series last launched an anthology of Buddhist texts onto the market, during which time interest in the religion throughout the English-speaking world has grown to more than justify a new anthology well over twice the size of the original. That first volume was largely the work of E. Conze, working from Sanskrit, with heterogeneous scraps of translation from other languages, provided by E. M. Hare, David Snellgrove, Trevor Leggett and D. T. Suzuki, mixed in here and there.
In this new work the editor has made less of a personal contribution through translation, but has done a far superior job of orchestrating a much more balanced whole and equipping it with a reflective and highly readable introduction, which in itself provides a succinct commentary (pp. xiv-xviii) on the history of such anthologies over the years--including in its final paragraph some delightfully (and justifiably) acerbic comments on the codswallop that in all too recent times past was excerpted to represent his own area, Tibetan Buddhism. The generous list of books for further reading on pp. xlii-xlix also deserves commendation.
Inevitably the need to include translations reflecting the current state of Buddhist textual studies has all but wiped out the contribution of United Kingdom-based scholars to the enterprise, though for example the translations of K. R. Norman represent a standard of work unlikely to be matched elsewhere for some time to come, and so still find a place amongst a much longer roster of translations mostly carried out specifically for this anthology and largely undertaken on the other side of the Atlantic. One or two sacrifices have clearly been made in order to find room for such a wealth of materials, notably the exclusion of any of the finding lists cross-referencing the contents by language or by contributor that formed such a useful feature of the editor's earlier anthologies for Princeton University Press, but by and large there is very little here to complain about.
That is not the same, however, as declaring this anthology perfect. Such an ambitious enterprise is bound to entail errors, though mostly (one hopes) errors of the trivial sort that can be readily corrected in future printings.[...]
[...]drawing attention to these lapses is by no means intended to discourage any would-be purchaser: at under ten pounds a copy, one certainly gets a remarkable quantity of good, accurate translation and up-to-date introductory remarks for one's money. No one at all interested in Buddhism should hesitate for a second to make the investment.
T. H. BARRETT
 The Finger Pointing At the Moon September 28, 2007
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
According to many scholars, the amount of Buddhist literature is vast. It would be impossible to present all of it in one volume. But Dr. Lopez has presented a plausibly representative sample of Buddhist literature, with very helpful commentaries preceding each selection. The collection is quite revealing to a Western reader like myself, in that it shows the implausible, supernaturalistic nature of much Buddhist literature. Nevertheless it is good background information for anyone who wants to study more modern or Western-friendly Buddhism, like Zen. It is not surprising that Zen practitioners dismiss many Buddhist writings as irrelevant or unimportant. Zen considers lengthy, repetative sutras and philosophical treatises to be merely fingers pointing at the moon, which should not be mistaken for the moon itself.
Excellent June 29, 2006
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
This is a very useful anthology for students of Buddhism. In addition to highly readable translations of selected ancient texts filled with descriptions and advice; it also includes many instructive fables and tales, including "Maitreya describes the Future" and "A King gives away his Head."
Of particular note is the predecessor to the biblical story of the loaves and fishes -- it is the story of how a single portion of alms fed 84,000 sravakas and 12,000 bodhisattvas, and still the food did not run out. hmmmm, sound familiar?
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