The Dhammapada : Verses on the Way (Modern Library)

Rating:
Summary: A profoundly moving series of lessons
Review: After enjoying Bangkok 8 so much, I picked this book up thinking it would provide good background material on Sonchai's character of which his Buddhism is a central tenet. What I found was a profoundly moving series of lessons on the nature of self, the mind, relationships, the world's beauty and other dilemmas that are as relevant today as they were nearly 2,500 years ago when the Budda wrote these "poems." There are shocking moments of clarity, of realization in the short verse lessons. The verses are organized by subject, each chapter with a corresponding guide written by the author of this new translation, Glenn Wallis. It is easy to see why Buddhists worldwide value the Dhammapada (translated by Wallis as "verses on the way") for its vibrant and immediate teachings.