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Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Work...
Review: Firstly, Bhikkhu Nanamoli (Osbert Moore) was a gifted intellectual and prized authentic textual translation above mere book writing. Unlike soooo many Buddhist authors in the West, he was NOT looking to sell a book and become an Author to impress friends and family or help sell his meditation retreats. His intent was always aimed at a scholarly (re: intellectually rigorous) rendering of sacred texts. This rare combination of a deeply intellectual mind with the veneration of a monk's spirit towards his textual sources has given us some of the most pristine English translations of the Buddha's works.
This book was culled from the Pali canon and aims to give the modern reader an overview of the life of the Buddha. As the texts chosen for this work are strewn across 10 000 or so pages of the Pali language canon, the author has achieved a remarkable feat of editing. It gives the English world an authentic overview of who the Buddha was and what he did. The selections are rendered in clear lucid English, with every passage referenced. It is not a biographical novel however. There are no artificial attempts at plot, or other literary devices, or to turn the Canon into something more conventional. It is wholly faithful to the source material.
If you have any interest in whom the Buddha was and what he taught, start with this book. And leave the pseudo-biographies and novelizations to the hacks.
Rating:
Summary: MORE THAN AN ANCIENT LEGEND RETOLD...
Review: One of the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Digha Nikaya, summarizes the Buddha's teaching this way: "To do no evil deeds, to give effect to good, to purify the heart." The essense of this teaching can be conveyed no more powerfully than by a carefully told account of the Buddha's life, and no account of his life can be told more carefully than the one by Bikkhu Nanamoli. Nanamoli, a scholar-monk, deliberately chooses not to glorify the tale by weaving it into yet another overly rich, silk-and-gold tapestry of the sort which the oriental world has loved to make of it. Instead he patiently pieces together dozens of bits from the oldest fabrics he can find, and creates from them a simple quilt, stunning in the geometrical honesty of its design and beautiful in the precision with which it is crafted. The ancient fabrics from which Nanamoli snips out the elements of this biography are selected exclusively from works encompassed by the Pali Tipitika. By imposing this limit on his sources Nanamoli does not compromise the completeness of the work nor diminish the elegance of the story; in a remarkable way, he actually enhances both. Nanamoli brings to life a flesh-and-blood Buddha, and convinces the reader than anxient India and its people are more like the world today than different from it. The evolution of the Buddha's doctrine is allowed to remain an epic, but on a human scale. Nanamoli preserves the grandeur of the great Teacher's achievements without aggrandizing him as a person. By the book's end the reader will surely concede that fanciful myth and axaggerated exploits about the Buddha are not needed to enhance our admiration of him. As this stimple story gains momentum, we are allowed to experience first-hand how one of the world's most compelling leaders created himself through the sheer power of his intellect and the wonder of his spiritual perfection. For the serious student, Nanamoli's book selects, organizes and reproduces all the basic facts of the Buddha's life and most of his essential ideas. (One entire chapter uses selections from the Tipitika just to summarize the major components of his teaching or dhamma). Through its other footnotes and indices, the book also equips the reader to turn to and review the original Tipitika sources any times he wishes. In effect Nanamoli creates a historical road-map, starting with specific events, ideas and people, and leading straight back to the original texts themselves. The index is very complete, and the lengthy list of sources neatly summarizes each fragment taken from a given scripture, then locates it by title and page. A real map helps to find most of the places the Buddha frequented, and documents the scope of all the world he knew and wandered. If one proposes to confine himself only to a single book about Buddhism, this would not be a bad choice. However if one is committed to read all he can about the Buddha, Nanamoli's biography should be within reach at all times. More than just another ancient legend retold, this unpretentious book gives great coherence and meaning to the intricate web of Buddhist teaching and doctrine. In my view it sheds far more light on this web than do a great many of the other highly elaborate books written with the ambitious aim of explaining or expounding upon that doctrine. Nanamoli's work is devoted to the Buddha's life. However the reader may find that the book has the power to deal with other lives as well. It will certainly inform and stimulate. But I predict that it might actually reach into the very lives of all those who read and study it, and could dramatically change those lives forever.
Rating:
Summary: MORE THAN AN ANCIENT LEGEND RETOLD...
Review: One of the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Digha Nikaya, summarizes the Buddha's teaching this way: "To do no evil deeds, to give effect to good, to purify the heart." The essense of this teaching can be conveyed no more powerfully than by a carefully told account of the Buddha's life, and no account of his life can be told more carefully than the one by Bikkhu Nanamoli. Nanamoli, a scholar-monk, deliberately chooses not to glorify the tale by weaving it into yet another overly rich, silk-and-gold tapestry of the sort which the oriental world has loved to make of it. Instead he patiently pieces together dozens of bits from the oldest fabrics he can find, and creates from them a simple quilt, stunning in the geometrical honesty of its design and beautiful in the precision with which it is crafted. The ancient fabrics from which Nanamoli snips out the elements of this biography are selected exclusively from works encompassed by the Pali Tipitika. By imposing this limit on his sources Nanamoli does not compromise the completeness of the work nor diminish the elegance of the story; in a remarkable way, he actually enhances both. Nanamoli brings to life a flesh-and-blood Buddha, and convinces the reader than anxient India and its people are more like the world today than different from it. The evolution of the Buddha's doctrine is allowed to remain an epic, but on a human scale. Nanamoli preserves the grandeur of the great Teacher's achievements without aggrandizing him as a person. By the book's end the reader will surely concede that fanciful myth and axaggerated exploits about the Buddha are not needed to enhance our admiration of him. As this stimple story gains momentum, we are allowed to experience first-hand how one of the world's most compelling leaders created himself through the sheer power of his intellect and the wonder of his spiritual perfection. For the serious student, Nanamoli's book selects, organizes and reproduces all the basic facts of the Buddha's life and most of his essential ideas. (One entire chapter uses selections from the Tipitika just to summarize the major components of his teaching or dhamma). Through its other footnotes and indices, the book also equips the reader to turn to and review the original Tipitika sources any times he wishes. In effect Nanamoli creates a historical road-map, starting with specific events, ideas and people, and leading straight back to the original texts themselves. The index is very complete, and the lengthy list of sources neatly summarizes each fragment taken from a given scripture, then locates it by title and page. A real map helps to find most of the places the Buddha frequented, and documents the scope of all the world he knew and wandered. If one proposes to confine himself only to a single book about Buddhism, this would not be a bad choice. However if one is committed to read all he can about the Buddha, Nanamoli's biography should be within reach at all times. More than just another ancient legend retold, this unpretentious book gives great coherence and meaning to the intricate web of Buddhist teaching and doctrine. In my view it sheds far more light on this web than do a great many of the other highly elaborate books written with the ambitious aim of explaining or expounding upon that doctrine. Nanamoli's work is devoted to the Buddha's life. However the reader may find that the book has the power to deal with other lives as well. It will certainly inform and stimulate. But I predict that it might actually reach into the very lives of all those who read and study it, and could dramatically change those lives forever.
Rating:
Summary: MORE THAN AN ANCIENT LEGEND RETOLD...
Review: One of the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Digha Nikaya, summarizes the Buddha's teaching this way: "To do no evil deeds, to give effect to good, to purify the heart." The essense of this teaching can be conveyed no more powerfully than by a carefully told account of the Buddha's life, and no account of his life can be told more carefully than the one by Bikkhu Nanamoli. Nanamoli, a scholar-monk, deliberately chooses not to glorify the tale by weaving it into yet another overly rich, silk-and-gold tapestry of the sort which the oriental world has loved to make of it. Instead he patiently pieces together dozens of bits from the oldest fabrics he can find, and creates from them a simple quilt, stunning in the geometrical honesty of its design and beautiful in the precision with which it is crafted. The ancient fabrics from which Nanamoli snips out the elements of this biography are selected exclusively from works encompassed by the Pali Tipitika. By imposing this limit on his sources Nanamoli does not compromise the completeness of the work nor diminish the elegance of the story; in a remarkable way, he actually enhances both. Nanamoli brings to life a flesh-and-blood Buddha, and convinces the reader than anxient India and its people are more like the world today than different from it. The evolution of the Buddha's doctrine is allowed to remain an epic, but on a human scale. Nanamoli preserves the grandeur of the great Teacher's achievements without aggrandizing him as a person. By the book's end the reader will surely concede that fanciful myth and axaggerated exploits about the Buddha are not needed to enhance our admiration of him. As this stimple story gains momentum, we are allowed to experience first-hand how one of the world's most compelling leaders created himself through the sheer power of his intellect and the wonder of his spiritual perfection. For the serious student, Nanamoli's book selects, organizes and reproduces all the basic facts of the Buddha's life and most of his essential ideas. (One entire chapter uses selections from the Tipitika just to summarize the major components of his teaching or dhamma). Through its other footnotes and indices, the book also equips the reader to turn to and review the original Tipitika sources any times he wishes. In effect Nanamoli creates a historical road-map, starting with specific events, ideas and people, and leading straight back to the original texts themselves. The index is very complete, and the lengthy list of sources neatly summarizes each fragment taken from a given scripture, then locates it by title and page. A real map helps to find most of the places the Buddha frequented, and documents the scope of all the world he knew and wandered. If one proposes to confine himself only to a single book about Buddhism, this would not be a bad choice. However if one is committed to read all he can about the Buddha, Nanamoli's biography should be within reach at all times. More than just another ancient legend retold, this unpretentious book gives great coherence and meaning to the intricate web of Buddhist teaching and doctrine. In my view it sheds far more light on this web than do a great many of the other highly elaborate books written with the ambitious aim of explaining or expounding upon that doctrine. Nanamoli's work is devoted to the Buddha's life. However the reader may find that the book has the power to deal with other lives as well. It will certainly inform and stimulate. But I predict that it might actually reach into the very lives of all those who read and study it, and could dramatically change those lives forever.
Rating: 
Summary: A great antology from the Vinaya Pitaka
Review: The book presents a selection of the suttas with an historical underpinning and without ever extending beyond the limited borders of the Pali Canon.
This Biblic-like account, given the basically atemporal nature and catechism of the Buddha's teachings, results in a quite sketchy approach to Buddhism that might contrast in method with the Dhamma teaching and that might thus suggest against using the text as an introducion to the practice.
Still the book has the great merit of providing translations from the Vinaya Pitaka, the basket presently most neglected by Western translators, as well as giving a handy reference to specific episodes difficulty retrieved in the original texts.
Rating:
Summary: Buddhism Changes Too.
Review: This is an excellent book using only material from the earliest accounts provided from the time of the Buddha. You can make your own mind up about this enigmatic human being rather than relying on hearsay. It includes biographical material by observers, autobiographical accounts from the Buddha and also includes a section on the teaching. All sections are prefaced with opening remarks like the acts of a play in more or less chronological sequence of the Buddha's life. Nanamoli was one of the best Pali translators and tries to produce as authentic and as lucid an account based on the Pali sources used.
Rating:
Summary: Straight from the horse's mouth
Review: This is an excellent book using only material from the earliest accounts provided from the time of the Buddha. You can make your own mind up about this enigmatic human being rather than relying on hearsay. It includes biographical material by observers, autobiographical accounts from the Buddha and also includes a section on the teaching. All sections are prefaced with opening remarks like the acts of a play in more or less chronological sequence of the Buddha's life. Nanamoli was one of the best Pali translators and tries to produce as authentic and as lucid an account based on the Pali sources used.
Rating:
Summary: Buddhism Changes Too.
Review: This is my humble opinion on the importance and place of this book. The Changes of Buddhism: 1. Theravada Buddhism = techniques of making art
2. Mahayana Buddhims = the skillful and creative artist
3. Western (existential) Buddhism = modern artist Theravad: "The Life of the Buddha"
is filled with the actual teachings and words of the Buddha. Mahayana: "A Guide To The Bodhisattva's Way of Life" by Santideva
is filled with relevant insights in everyday life that were first inspired
by the original words of the Buddha Western: "Buddhism Without Belief" by Stephen Batchelor
asks do we really know? What is relevant?
Instead of accepting or rejecting,
we can admit that we don't really know,
but still be open minded and have the resolve
to continue to question and explore.
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