Good Books on Early Buddhism
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- Lots of folks ask me for recommendations of good books on early Buddhism. I have a bunch of good ones here, with links below!
This is my fourth CZcams video, so it's a bit rougher than some of the later ones. Apologies and thanks for watching!
Here are the books mentioned in the video:
Bhikkhu Bodhi: In the Buddha's Words amzn.to/2hivVus
Rupert Gethin: The Foundations of Buddhism amzn.to/2i1hOul
Williams, Tribe, Wynne: Buddhist Thought amzn.to/2i0CId0
Walpola Rahula: What the Buddha Taught amzn.to/2zx8OHg
Richard Gombrich: What the Buddha Thought amzn.to/2i12Swl
Richard Gombrich: Theravāda Buddhism, 2nd Ed. amzn.to/2hq3EWQ
Johannes Bronkhorst: Buddhist Teaching in India amzn.to/2hiROd9
Anālayo: Satipaṭṭhāna, the Direct Path to Realization amzn.to/2yOaVHp
Please feel free to include your own favorites in the comments section!
Check out my Patreon page: / dougsseculardharma
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secularbuddhism.org/
Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
Thank you so much for making this video, most of the books that have been recommended to me have been very opinionated and not necessarily about the teachings, so I'm very glad I found your videos and channel.
Thanks so much for your kind comment, Sadie. I’m glad you’re finding the discussion useful.
Me too.
Thank you Doug for the book recommendations. I purchased the Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon yesterday and i've been enjoying it, more so than the Dhammapada (also very good). I appreciate all the videos you have put out the far. Thank you for taking the time out to build such great video resources. Serving me well as a new Dharma practitioner.
So glad to hear it Ash. Yes, the anthology is a great source book!
What's that??????
In the Buddha's Words is mind-blowing. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an amazing scholar and an impressive editor and anthologist. Thank you for all these great recommendations.
Yes he is! Thanks Paul.
This is exactly what I needed, and I’ve picked up two books from this video and the video about the books that turned you on to Buddhism! Thank you! 🙏🏻
Hey great to hear GT, hope you find them worthwhile!
@@DougsDharma I’m positive I will!
very helpful. Looking forward to more of your videos.
Thanks Charlotte! Glad you enjoyed.
Another great video. I’m so thankful for your knowledgeable talks which have inspired my practice immeasurably. One topic I would love to hear your take on is Socially Engaged Buddhism, its origins and history.
Thanks Heather! That's a long one to trace. I have a playlist on Buddhism on politics and society that you might find interesting: czcams.com/play/PL0akoU_OszRhRTFjzEz5i7G8XoNhORcDs.html
I'm so grateful for this video! I intended to search books on early Buddhism as "Doug" came to my mind. Here I am - and I found exactly what I was searching for. Thanks a lot! 🙏🏻
At the moment I'm reading Anālayo's "Satipatthāna Meditation: A Practice Guide" which is - surprise, surprise! - a practical approach. I'm not through it yet, but considering the first 150 pages, it's absolutely recommendable.
Thanks Xiao Mao, yes everything by Anālayo is worth looking at for sure, he's a great scholar and practitioner.
Thank you for this amazing class. I study Theravada Buddhism since I was 21. I am brazilian and live in Portugal and just did the Satipatthana course with V. Analayo and got fascinated by the Early Buddhism approach. I will watch your videos and hope to know about your courses and the work of the association. 🙏🏾
Wonderful! Yes, I'm aware of Bhante Anālayo's courses, someday I would love to take one in person with him. 🙏
Oh this background and comparison is so useful. I have read Bhikku Bodhi's anthology In the Buddha's Words. Like you said, it's very useful. Am reading Johannnes Bronkhorst's Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism and it is fascinating. So I really appreciate your video.
You're very welcome, Monica. 🙏
Where did you find Bronkhorst's book for a reasonable price? Online I found the pdf but I'd like to have the book
@@nicolamorandi1154 Sorry I don't know. I read the pdf version
Very helpful - exactly what I was hoping to find. Have devoured Stephen Batchelor but need much more information about the foundations of Buddhism. Where on earth to start! These seem like great recommendations. Off to Amazon...
Thanks for the kind words, Miriam! Hope you find them useful.
Might seem silly but I started with Osamu Tezuka's Buddha series, I was also 16 and manga pops up alot around that time in my life. It definitely opened my eyes and gave me a starting point in not just understanding Buddhism but loving it from the start.
Ah yes I've read a few of those comics, I need to look at them again ... 😄
Very grateful for your guidance.
I'm 64 and a beginner. I have several books on buddhism, but without guidance and at my age confusing.
I just started Yoga as well. Never heard of it being taught here in the west until recently. Be well
You're very welcome Margaret, I hope you continue to find the videos useful!
Well, I used watch ur videos stochastically, however from now, Im going to watch ur videos from beginning and not gonna miss out a single video. Im from India btw, I watched ur video on "Navayana Buddhism" it was incredibly helpful to get acquainted about the Neo Buddhism started by NO 1 scholar in the world, DR BR AMBEDKAR. That video was merely introductory, so I hope in future u would make more videos on that and gonna talk about those stories in buddhism which got starkly debunked by DR AMBEDKAR and put forward legitimate stories by answering to questions like Why Buddhism got dissipated from India? Who were Untouchables and how they became those? Why buddha left home? Why buddha actually took Parivraja? And many more. Well, im really inquisitive in regard with buddhism and I think u r one of the best ones who r out there. Sir I really love ur videos too much, I hope that u would make more videos on DR AMBEDKAR's books. Sir undoubtedly are really great coz the way u explains these Buddha stories is pretty intriguing and really develops insatiable appetite to hear u more and more. Thanks sir from bottom of my heart. Love from India🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
JAI BHIM 💙💙💙
NAMO BUDDHAY😊🙏
🙏😊
Thank you very much. You have a lot of books. So interesting :)
Thank you for watching, gift2say. I hope you can check some of them out! 🙂
Thanks for the recommendations. I just ordered the Bronkhorst book. I was unaware of it before.
It's quite good.
In terms of ideas for future videos, I'd love to see a few videos on hard-to-directly-translate Pali words and their meaning. Sankhara, dukkha, and asava are three that come to mind. Can also have some videos on words that are contentious, such as vitakka and viccara.
Thanks Greg, great idea! I was thinking of doing one on dukkha already. Big topic!
Great Idea :)
I would love to hear you speak of Dependent Origination :)
Also about the three characteristics of nature according to what The Buddha teaches.
Thanks :)
I’m so grateful you post these videos. I personally prefer source material (or as close as I can get!) and these books are perfect!
I’m a mere beginner in this world (I came from a Taoist practice), and I would love to just read all of the earliest texts in one bundle, is the whole Pali Canon available? Or would you not recommend that? I do prefer scholarly texts like some of the ones your recommended here- I have no problem with dense material!
Thank you again!
You're very welcome kephns! A lot of this material is available on the internet for free. See this more recent video of mine for more info: czcams.com/video/LtT2v1vQBTk/video.html It would be difficult to get the entire Pāli Canon; I'm not even sure all the Khuddaka Nikāya has been translated yet, and the Vinaya and Abhidhamma is difficult to find. But the basic suttas will take years to master anyway and they are really the heart of the dhamma. Again they are available online but some of the best translations are by Bhikkhu Bodhi and I'm not sure those are all online. You can get them from Wisdom Publications.
Hi Doug! My intention is to read all the books you have listed; up to now I have read the Gethin and the Analayo. I found the Gethin to be more in depth than I imagined it would be and slightly mind bending at times. Analayo was as you described. I will reread it however and use the footnotes; went straight through this first time. I enjoyed both.Another book I found interesting was 'The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching' by Thich Nhat Hanh. You may find it of some interest also.Will you be doing another video on further reading? You must have more books up your slieve?
Hi Patrick and thanks for your comment and recommendation! I’ve read several of Thich Nhat Hanh’s books but not that one in particular. I have done other videos on books, such as Robert Wright’s new one: czcams.com/video/FS5Orvr0iRE/video.html, or a couple referring to the book by Massimo Pigliucci on Stoicism: czcams.com/video/wJ0iQiNf6ZE/video.html. If I find other books that you all would be interested in, you can be sure I’ll make videos on them eventually! 😀
Meanwhile do feel free to post other books you think are good reading, I’m sure others will appreciate it as well.
Thank you for this helful information. Evangelina Cortes.
You’re very welcome Evangelina! 🙏
@@DougsDharma Very good morning my great teacher, your lessons are like a fountain of clear water to me, because my understanding in this issue is really short, and my English too! but I love to learn, and when I found your lessons I send to you my gratitude and appreciation for every single class you share. Thanks a lot for give your welcome in your wonderful classes. Lotus for you. Evangelina Cortes.
thanks, this is a very useful book guide. To my knowledge, for us native speakers of Spanish there are not many available translations of this material. Many years ago I've got a copy of the Spanish version of Rahula's book: Lo que el Buda enseñó. It has had many editions, with the Pali word Buddha been used in the last ones instead of the simpler form "Buda", which was more prevalent earlier.
Thanks José. Yes, there aren't as many alternatives in Spanish, and I don't know them very well.
There is a good translation of part of the Majjhima Nikāya by Amadeo Solé-Leris and Abraham Vélez de Cea published by Kairós in Barcelona in 1999. You may be able to find a copy of that. And I think that Anālayo's Satipaṭṭhāna has been published in a number of languages. So, a start anyway.
thank you, Doug
I would also recommend Manual of Insight by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Thanks! Good video. Doug, are there any books that are studies or surveys of meditation practices throughout the Buddhist world? I just read Analayo’s book and found it uber fascinating. As you say, the footnotes alone are a treasure. Anyway, there are so many different conceptual frameworks around meditation - various Zen practices, Vipassana schools, Tibetan visualization techniques, etc. Has someone put it all together in one place?
Thanks!
Bob
Great question Bob, not that I know of. Honestly it would be very hard to do well unless one was an expert on all different kinds of practice! I have videos where I go through the early histories of various Buddhist schools but I don't discuss meditation practices in particular.
Sounds like good recommendations, thx
Hope you enjoy!
Thank you!
You're welcome, Raj!
clive erricker's little teach yourself buddhism was the first book on buddhism i read and did and still think it's a helpful intro which includes the basics along with information on society, morality, etc. rahula's book is the one i usually recommend to people.
Thanks for the info, Matteo. I don't know Erricker's book. Rahula's is a bit out of date but still very good as a general backgrounder.
rahula's is free distribution at the sangha, so i just give it to newcomers. we even have free distribution copies of mindfulness in plain english. i think monks must make agreements with their publishers to allow this as bhante g's books is still a moneymaker for it's publisher.
Since monastics aren't able to make money from their publications, I imagine you are right and they may ask the publisher to donate a number of free books to worthy causes instead. I know NY Insight at times has free distribution of certain books from Bhikkhu Bodhi and Bhikkhu Anālayo.
right i have free distribution books--extended talks and commentaries really-- by bhikkhu bodhi too, but not his major translations of the suttas. most of what's available at our free bookcase are not copies from the commercial publishers but separate printings with different covers and the names of the donors who paid for the printing at the back. so, some agreements have obviously been made. i worked for publishers for many years
Interesting. The books I've seen for free distribution are the regular printings.
Thanks for the book recommendations! I ended up getting In the Buddha's Words. It has been very eye-opening so far. Could you do a video on The Dart of Painful Feeling and what he means by Harboring Aversion? This seems very profound but I am not sure I fully understand what he is talking about. It almost sounds as if we may subconsciously want bad things to happen to us so we can enjoy the pleasures that we use to soothe the pain so to speak. Thanks!
Thanks Craig! Well pains are often described as "darts" by the Buddha, and pains do cause us aversion, so which passage are you referring to?
@@DougsDharma In the Buddha's Words page 31. It has a reference of SN36:6, IV 277-10 "While experiencing that same painful feeling, he harbors aversion towards it."
@@craigsmachineshop2040 Ah yes this is from the parable of the two arrows. See my video on it, maybe it will help clarify: czcams.com/video/B3Mw2qIeUn4/video.html
Thank you for this. I see this video is a few years old. Do you have any new recommendations that aren’t listed? Just curious. This is incredible by the way!
Thanks! I’d look for books by folks like Bhikkhus Anālayo and Sujato, they both monastic scholars who write on the early tradition. Anālayo in particular is extremely prolific.
I think these are very relevant books on early Buddhism
1. What the Buddha taught? By Walpola Rahula
2. Mindfulness bliss and beyond - a meditator's handbook by Ajahn Brahm
3. Eight Mindful paths to happiness by Bhante G
4. When the iron eagle flies by Ayya Khema
The writing of Bhikkhu Bodhi in his preface and explanatory notes to his translation of the suttas is very useful too. (I recommend his lectures on the Majjhima Nikayas). Venerable Analayo's book on Satipathana sutta is very good but not easy reading (plus he does have a bias towards Vipassana). But his works are worth reading.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I've owned Bikkhu Bodhis "In the Buddhas Words" for about 5 years now.
It is certainly kind of a digest of the full Pali Canon. But do not be deceived into thinking it loses anything for that.
I'd say you could read it individually, but it benefits from group study. There is a lot there to unpack and unravel, and reading in isolation most have a tendency to rush through. As if we are reading a novel.
I really appreciate the naturalness of the language in his translations.
I've read a lot of Mahayana sutras which I've picked up through various Pure Land schools which distribute such material and these are often extremely difficult to follow. The translations being far too literally conveyed in English with no attempt at context or even SVO sentence structure. This book is much more readable!
Yes, Bhikkhu Bodhi is a very good place to start with learning the dharma.
Anālayo: Satipaṭṭhāna, the Direct Path to Realization is available for free online!
Wonderful sir.
I think you read some nalanda master book like nagarjuna is book there in many though idea...
Thanks Stanzin!
Hi Doug. Thanks for the suggested books. I would like to suggest a lesser known scholar in early Buddhism. It's the late David Kalupahana, a Sri Lankan born academic.
Hi 4 𝞥. Yes, I'm familiar with David Kalupahana, and mentioned one of his books in another more recent video of mine: czcams.com/video/u51Yh65TunU/video.html
Which others Bronkhorst books do you recommend? Did you make a video about his approach?
Try reading "Nisshitsu" Thought it was a story book but its a wisdom powerbomb. Even a kid can read it. And the wisdom is so deep.
I want you to learn Abhidhamma (the higher teachings of the Buddha). It helps you to know the nature.
you have all the dicourse of buddha collection! i have just one! hugs from Argentina!
🙏😊¡Un abrazo!
@@DougsDharma no sabia que hablas español! show your books of the discourses of the buddha! please! :)
Thanks for this. I now have a fully-populated wishlist on Amazon :-). While doing that, I bumped into Gombrich's
'How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings' which sounds really interesting. Have your read it, and if so, is it as interesting as it looks?
That's a collection of his scholarly essays on early Buddhism. It's not nearly as approachable as "What the Buddha Thought", though it certainly is worth reading.
@@DougsDharma Thanks Doug! I have been reading a bit more about Jainism and seeing how intertwined some of the central ideas are with Buddhism (both in terms of congruences and contrasts) which, in combination with what you have said about vedic/upanishaddic Brahminism, makes me hope for a book intended to shed light on the overall social and intellectual milieu in (and before) the Buddha's time. Do you know of anything that fits that bill?
I don't know of any single book that really does that, you have to read around a number of scholars of the early tradition and sort of triangulate a bit ... 🙂
@@DougsDharma Oh well, that will be fun in any case :-)
Thank you so much ❤ You video has helped me a lot. I am an epileptic patient but still recovered after reading the books you suggested. can you suggest any books on Zen Buddhism?
Hi Kabir and thanks for the kind note! Two books on Zen I have enjoyed are Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind Beginner's Mind and Paul Reps's Zen Flesh Zen Bones. These aren't academic histories though, they are more about Kōans and practice.
Thank you so much ❤
You are very welcome Kabir! 🙏
I wanted to contact you. Do you have any email id? Contact regarding my urge to take Buddhism
You should be able to find my email address through my page here: independent.academia.edu/DouglassSmith 🙂(I prefer not to put it too many places to avoid spam).
Hi Doug, is there a recommendable kind of Buddhist encyclopedia or dictionary which explains key terms? If I search for something like that, I find a lot of offers. But maybe there's one which you find recommendable... 🙂
Hmmm ... I don't use one (except a Pāli dictionary sometimes), so I'm not really sure. In general if you're having questions just googling terms is a good way to start. Much of the stuff on Wikipedia is perfectly fine.
@@DougsDharma
Actually I'm searching for something printed. Christmas gift... 😬😏😂 Thanks a lot anyway! 🙏🏻
MERCI
🙏🙂
Is 'An introduction to Buddhism' by Peter Harvey any good?
Thanks for the question, Joris. I've only glanced through Harvey's book so I can't say for sure, but I expect it is very good as well as an introduction to Buddhism generally. (Harvey is a very eminent scholar). The only caveat here is that it's less about early Buddhism than some of the others I've mentioned; it treats the later material at greater length.
I see, thanks for the response! Good information and loving the channel.
The picture on Bhante Rahula's book cover is a Buddha statue in Javanese style, right?
I don't have access to the book right now, it's off being cleaned unfortunately!
The damahapda changed my life
Probably the most famous book from early Buddhism!
You said that some of Gombrich's ideas are a little controversial. Can you tell me what some of those ideas are? I know, for example, that he prefers to translate "Not-Self" as "Not-Soul." Really appreciate the videos and the channel!
Hi ben, this is all a bit “inside baseball” so I didn’t want to get too into it. But to take one example, Gombrich believes the Buddha taught that loving kindness and the other Brahmavihāras were one route to awakening all by themselves.
do you have any updates? aka newer books you read up to today that you can add to the list.
Hi Blu, I’ll append my “Books” playlist URL to the end here if you want to take a look at some other books I’ve discussed on the channel, but these are still the bunch I’d suggest for an intro to early Buddhism in particular. czcams.com/play/PL0akoU_OszRjBKHxKj98qtSmcLpBmDWkL.html
I have little bit more knowledge about Buddhism so I am very eager to learn actual translation of tripitika. What will be your recommendation.. is there any book regarding this.
Bhikkhu Bodhi's book that I mention in this video contains actual translations from the Tripitaka, along with introductory essays. If you want the whole book, you can start with Bodhi's translation of the Majjhima Nikāya.
@@DougsDharma thank you so much.
thoughts on Buddhism plain and simple by steve hagen?
I don't know that one raghav, so can't comment on it.
I would recommend that book it's a really good read.
I read that book. Steve Hagen is a Zen Buddhist, so his book is coming from a Zen tradition perspective, not really an Early Buddhist perspective, which is the topic of this video.
Sir is it tripitak available in English? I want to read abhidhammapitak ( 7 books)
I'm not sure if the entire abhidhamma pitaka is available in translation.
@@DougsDharma ok sir.
Hi, I heard you will put the list of the books in the comments. I searched and could not find. Is it me who could not find it or it is not in the comments? If it is not there, will you please put them? It will do great help. Thank you
The list of books is in the description box under the video.
@@DougsDharma Thank you so much! Now I saw it 🙏
Hmm...
Can anyone recommend a book on rebirth concept of Buddhism?
I know Anālayo has written one recently but I haven’t read it so can’t comment.
Why is bronkorst controversial...? A detailed explanation if you can.
Well to be fair there aren't many scholars at his level of this material, and many of them are controversial for one thing or another. That's just scholarship. In his case though I think it's his belief that Vedic Brahmanism made little appreciable difference to the Buddhist dharma.
Hey Doug
Can you suggest me just 1 book on Buddhism the complete guide
I cannot read so many books of early and late buddhism 😶
Do give just 1 book suggestion
No one book could ever hope to be a "complete guide" to Buddhism, there is too much! But a good place to start would be either with Rupert Gethin's book if you want a scholarly introduction to the basics, or Bhikkhu Bodhi's In the Buddha's Words if you want to read a lot of selections from suttas.
Which sutta Or mantra most powerful in Buddhism
I'm not sure how to answer that, because I don't know what you mean by "powerful". There are many very deep suttas of course.
@@DougsDharmathank you sir suggest me any suttas for practice. 🙏
You missed to include "Buddha and his Dhamma - by Dr.B.R Ambedkar "
😄I did a video on it, which probably you've seen! czcams.com/video/qlH_qieCgCA/video.html
How can we got these books
Hi Monto and thanks for the question, I have links to the books in the information box below the video. If that doesn't work for you, search for the titles at your local bookstores. 🙂
Reexamining jhana...by grzegorz polak
Thanks Soumya!
Nice list of good books on Buddhism, but I'm not sure I would consider them "Early Buddhism". In my evaluation, Bhikkhu Bodhi (and others on your list) is heavily influenced by the Theravada tradition and the Abhidharma, not so much "Early Buddhism". I'm certainly not saying anything at all negative about Bhikkhu Bodhi, or any others I just don't see him or Rupert Gethin as Early Buddhist scholars, but more as Pali or Theravada scholars.
The Analayo book on your list is really good, but if you want it to be considered in the category of "Early Buddhism" it definitely needs to held along side of his follow-up book, "Perspectives on Satipatthana". According to Analayo, his first book "Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization" was written as his PhD thesis and was coming from what he only knew then, Pali and a more Theravada perspective. He tells how, in the process of writing his first book, he became aware that the Pali canon was not the only source of the suttas. This led him to learn Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskit in order to translate and compare the suttas from the Chinese Agamas, the Tibetan suttas, Sanskrit fragments as well as other sources. "Perspectives on Satipatthana" was written to show how a comparative analysis of the Pai suttas next to other sources could be quite effective in showing what might be considered early and what might be later. Analayo's prolific work since that time has painstakingly taken the concept of "Early Buddhism" from something held by many scholars as perhaps untenable to a quite mainstream, robust and valuable way of interpreting the suttas. His methodology includes a comparative analysis of all of the extant versions of each sutta with criteria to help shed light on what would most likely be considered "early" and what might be later errors in transmission or changes due to other factors. He's also very careful to point out that he in no way wants to give the impression that there is one way better than the other or that he is creating "Early Buddhist" fundamentalism.
Thanks for your thoughts Paul. You're certainly right that Anālayo's later work is more comparative between the Āgamas and the Pāli canon; much contemporary work by him and others (e.g., the folks over at Sutta Central) has been to do this with Chinese, Pāli, and other extant fragmentary Sanskritic material. Still, the Pāli remains the only complete version of the canon in a language related to that of the Buddha. (If Richard Gombrich is right, it *is* the language of the Buddha). So a study of the Pāli material is very close to a study of early Buddhism, if done carefully. It is certainly possible for a good scholar to get underneath the commentarial and abhidhammic material, as I think Bhikkhus Bodhi, Sujato, Anālayo, and Rupert Gethin, Richard Gombrich, Johannes Bronkhorst, and other competent scholars are able to do. But such work is always preliminary, and there is certainly a huge amount more to be done on all fronts. Which books would you recommend on early Buddhism?
which one to start with ,the second one?
Thanks for the question raghav. It's hard to say which to start with because each person comes with their own particular interests. I'd say give them a look and find one that speaks to you. That said, Rahula's or Gethin's would make great starting points, unless you want to dive right into the suttas, in which case Bhikkhu Bodhi's anthology might work best.
I'm done with the whole spirituality, which look down upon human feelings by classifying them as ego. You know what; I know it's plain stupid for one to be in one sided love, but the sadness is real when i see my entire world becoming a dreadful recollection of memoranda that she do exist and I've lost her. I have taken the KO punch on the face gracefully. But it's stinkingly dull and sad. I'm done with materiality and spirituality as both of them don't recognise the reality of feelings like love, one sided love, sacrifice, valour etc.
Excuse me? Could you explain what you mean Asad?
Sorry brother, I'm sorry. This wasn't intended for your channel. Now I'm editing my comment.
Too many ads...😐
I found you through PewDiePie 😂
Thanks for sharing
Ha! Now how did that happen? 🤔
He did a video on 72 books he read in 2018 and it just so happened, one of them are In the Words of Buddha. I did a search for the book and found you ☺
czcams.com/video/pNar3Dh9zDk/video.html
It is shocking that you introduce Walpola Rahula’s books as academic....,its absolutely exaggerated rubbish....
Rahula's book is standardly assigned in university courses on Buddhism, and that is how I first encountered it. He was one of Richard Gombrich's friends and mentors, and indeed perhaps Gombrich's most famous book "What the Buddha Thought" is written in homage to Rahula's "What the Buddha Taught". In the preface to his book, Gombrich says, "The title of this book is a gesture of homage to the late Ven. Dr. Walpola Rahula, who taught me much of what I understand of early Buddhism." (p. viii). Like it or not, Rahula is considered academically valuable.
That said, I did make the point in the video that Rahula's views are outdated in certain respects now as regards current scholarship. My own feeling is that Gethin's "Foundations of Buddhism" is significantly better, but Rahula's does give a good overview of the early material, for the most part. (NB: Gethin also cites Rahula's book in his bibliography).
This is really misleading
Could you elaborate on what you feel is misleading, samuel?
Sir I have quite doubts regarding to early Buddhist history.
Can u tell me whether Buddha was born in democratic republic or not?
And If he did born in democratic republic family then how there was caste factor involved?
I know that there were monarchy states nd non monarchy states. And Buddha was born into democratic republic which was non monarch. And his father was elected head of the council or something like that. And as we know that caste is rigid feature of class. When class gets rigid and ossified they form caste. And when these ossified class start to marry within their community then it constitutes caste. In Dr Ambedkars words, "Superposition of endogamy over exogamy leads to the creation of caste".
So I wanna know that did caste really existed in the family in which buddha was born into? Did caste really existed in non monarchy states?
I think not. I think Buddha regarded caste as foreign affair. I think for Buddha, merely priest followed caste. Becoz caste is nothing but concept of purity and pollution. And priest considered their blood as pure becoz they used to did animal sacrifice, rituals and all. So they through that becoz of this god gets impressed and does rainfall and all. So they regarded their blood as pure and others as impure. And they only followed caste and Buddha considered caste as foreign affair and opposed priest, rituals, gods, soul, animal sacrifice and all.
So, whats ur views on this?
Please make a video on history of Buddhism.
Make a video about whether Buddha was born in democratic republic or not. Please clear history of Buddhism which still remains unclear.
Please make videos by adding the views of Richard Gombridge, Dr Ambedkar, and other great Buddhist scholars and Buddhist historians.
Please make that video. 🙏
The Buddha was most likely born into some sort of oligarchy, not a democracy.