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What the Buddha Thought
This book argues that the Buddha was one of the most brilliant and original thinkers of all time. While the book is intended to serve as an introduction to the Buddha's thought, and hence even to Buddhism itself, it also has larger it argues that we can know far more about the Buddha than it is fashionable among scholars to admit, and that his thought has a greater coherence than is usually recognised. It contains much new material. Interpreters both ancient and modern have taken little account of the historical context of the Buddha's teachings; but relating them to early brahminical texts, and also to ancient Jainism, gives a much richer picture of his meaning, especially when his satire and irony are appreciated. Incidentally, since many of the Buddha's allusions can only be traced in the Pali versions of surviving texts, the book establishes the importance of the Pali Canon as evidence. Though the Buddha used metaphor extensively, he did not found his arguments upon it like earlier his capacity for abstraction was a breakthrough. His ethicising older ideas of rebirth and human action (karma) was also a breakthrough for civilisation. His theory of karma is logically central to his thought. Karma is a process, not a thing; moreover, it is neither random nor wholly determined. These ideas about karma he generalised to every component of conscious experience except nirvana, the liberation from that chain of experience. Morally, karma both provided a principle of individuation and asserted the individuals responsiblity for his own destiny.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 18, 2023
081211: this is very interesting, certainly makes a good try at uncovering the buddha’s original insights, placing it in context, reconciling contradictions, by returning to the pali canon- the oldest texts from the first council. in many cases it is later additions that introduce confusion, in some cases it is the usual corruption that religious thought suffers in becoming institutionalized religion...
the key of this work is it argues well that the buddha created a logical, pragmatic, universal metaphysics that intertwined the influences of jains, brahmins, ethicized the doctrine of karma, and reveals persistence and consistency of his thought. yet i do not know if this is best text to start learning about buddhism, as it unfortunately does not address the schism or separation into therevada and mahayana buddhism. so he does not answer all my interests. he does end by offering probably the best way to learn: learn pali, read, judge for yourself...
more
What the Buddha Taught
Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach
Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings
Nietzsche and Buddhist Philosophy
Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis
Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation
Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction
The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
Ethics Embodied: Rethinking Selfhood Through Continental, Japanese, and Feminist Philosophies
Self, No Self?: Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions
After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age
the key of this work is it argues well that the buddha created a logical, pragmatic, universal metaphysics that intertwined the influences of jains, brahmins, ethicized the doctrine of karma, and reveals persistence and consistency of his thought. yet i do not know if this is best text to start learning about buddhism, as it unfortunately does not address the schism or separation into therevada and mahayana buddhism. so he does not answer all my interests. he does end by offering probably the best way to learn: learn pali, read, judge for yourself...
more
What the Buddha Taught
Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach
Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings
Nietzsche and Buddhist Philosophy
Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis
Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation
Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction
The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
Ethics Embodied: Rethinking Selfhood Through Continental, Japanese, and Feminist Philosophies
Self, No Self?: Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions
After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age
October 25, 2012
Richard Gombrich is an eminent buddhist scholar, specializing in the Pali tradition of early buddhism and the Theravada tradition in particular. He's also the founder and president of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. The man has written over 200 publications, and several of his books are truly deserving of "must read" status, including his Theravada Buddhism: A Social History and How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings.
In this book, Gombrich does what you would have thought would have been done long ago: situate the buddha in the social and cultural context of his life in order to get a deeper and more contextual understanding of his teachings. Primarily, as Gombrich makes clear, the buddha used metaphor and analogy, emphasized pragmatics and ethics, and discounted metaphysical speculation.
He also was more 'subversive' of the brahman status quo than we may have initially understood, using parody, sarcasm and a radical re-valuation of brahmanical concepts and terms. As Gombrich makes clear, from the forceful criticism of brahmanical culture, it is clear the buddha certainly must have had some powerful support or he could never have gotten away with what he taught! If he were alive today, and criticized the monotheistic religions of the west in similar ways (and have no doubt, he most certainly would as he rejected the notions of creation and a creator god, the soul, and textual authority). There'd probably be an Islamic fatwa against him!
Besides clarifying the buddha's critical engagement with brahmanism, Gombrich makes clear his debt to, as well as his critique of, Jainism. The centrality of his conception of karma owes much to Jainism, even as he criticizes the unsophisticated, physicalist conception the Jains held.
Contemporary western "buddhists" may be surprised to find that the buddha denied the common notion that "we are all one," and that the buddha taught any form of idealism! As Gombrich points out:
"He would have agreed with modern psychologists in declining to accept idealism: there really is a world out there, even if we cannot know it precisely." Gombrich goes on to emphasize:
"...for were there no distinction between a person and the world, including other people, his entire soteriology would make no sense at all.... That these distinctions were blurred in Mahayana thought has misled many students of earlier Buddhism."
If you've any interest in how buddhism originated, and what social and cultural conditions led to its arising, this and the other two above-mentioned books by Gombrich should definitely be on your reading list!
In this book, Gombrich does what you would have thought would have been done long ago: situate the buddha in the social and cultural context of his life in order to get a deeper and more contextual understanding of his teachings. Primarily, as Gombrich makes clear, the buddha used metaphor and analogy, emphasized pragmatics and ethics, and discounted metaphysical speculation.
He also was more 'subversive' of the brahman status quo than we may have initially understood, using parody, sarcasm and a radical re-valuation of brahmanical concepts and terms. As Gombrich makes clear, from the forceful criticism of brahmanical culture, it is clear the buddha certainly must have had some powerful support or he could never have gotten away with what he taught! If he were alive today, and criticized the monotheistic religions of the west in similar ways (and have no doubt, he most certainly would as he rejected the notions of creation and a creator god, the soul, and textual authority). There'd probably be an Islamic fatwa against him!
Besides clarifying the buddha's critical engagement with brahmanism, Gombrich makes clear his debt to, as well as his critique of, Jainism. The centrality of his conception of karma owes much to Jainism, even as he criticizes the unsophisticated, physicalist conception the Jains held.
Contemporary western "buddhists" may be surprised to find that the buddha denied the common notion that "we are all one," and that the buddha taught any form of idealism! As Gombrich points out:
"He would have agreed with modern psychologists in declining to accept idealism: there really is a world out there, even if we cannot know it precisely." Gombrich goes on to emphasize:
"...for were there no distinction between a person and the world, including other people, his entire soteriology would make no sense at all.... That these distinctions were blurred in Mahayana thought has misled many students of earlier Buddhism."
If you've any interest in how buddhism originated, and what social and cultural conditions led to its arising, this and the other two above-mentioned books by Gombrich should definitely be on your reading list!
February 28, 2019
Written in a style that is somehow both academic and avuncular. I found it irritating at first but by the half way point it became enjoyable. He often seems to go around the block to get next door but he is writing about the neighborhood and the architecture of the times not just about the Buddha’s house.
It deepened my understanding of the concept of karma and its central role in Buddhism:
‘For the Buddha, the most important thing about living beings was their moral aspect, their karma. Though he says that by karma he means volition, in fact karma is both a process and the result of that process’
‘The Buddha’s theory of karma not only substituted ethics for ritual, but made intention, a private matter, the final criterion for ethical value. Furthermore, the Buddha took the extremely bold step of claiming that we are the masters of our own destinies, each responsible for our fates. I have suggested that the social conditions of his time must have been unusual for this to carry any plausibility with his audiences.'
It deepened my understanding of the concept of karma and its central role in Buddhism:
‘For the Buddha, the most important thing about living beings was their moral aspect, their karma. Though he says that by karma he means volition, in fact karma is both a process and the result of that process’
‘The Buddha’s theory of karma not only substituted ethics for ritual, but made intention, a private matter, the final criterion for ethical value. Furthermore, the Buddha took the extremely bold step of claiming that we are the masters of our own destinies, each responsible for our fates. I have suggested that the social conditions of his time must have been unusual for this to carry any plausibility with his audiences.'
July 17, 2023
This is a challenging book that often gets bogged down in meta-details, has something of an incoherent or anthological structure, and somewhat loses sight of the wood for the trees. I was left scratching my head in looking for a central thesis here about what the Buddha thought beyond Gombrich's desire to give historical context to Buddhism and to correct misinterpretations that plague mainstream views of some of its concepts, like karma and anatta. However, with all this in mind, the book still provides a myriad of valuable insights and contextualisations that will enrich anyone interested in Buddhism (though with some prior knowledge on the subject).
March 15, 2011
This book is revolutionary, it changed many of my preconceived notions about the teachings of the Buddha. In particular, Gombrich is adept at putting the Buddha's teachings into perspective: with particular emphasis on the Brahmanical-Vedic influence on the Buddha's thinking and His usage of the extant terminology of these philosophies to create his own soteriology.
Highly recommended, particularly if you consider yourself to be well-versed and knowledgeable about the Buddha's teachings; you may just learn something new!
Highly recommended, particularly if you consider yourself to be well-versed and knowledgeable about the Buddha's teachings; you may just learn something new!
January 29, 2012
Ambitious and expertly-argued look at the Buddha in, and out of, his historical context.
http://www.genjipress.com/2012/01/wha...
http://www.genjipress.com/2012/01/wha...
September 17, 2020
Exactly the kind of book I wanted to find!
This exactly the kind of book I wanted to find.
The material helps me understand the context of the Buddha and his teachings and seems to confirm my uninforned suspicion that much of Buddhism must have been influenced by the mindset of people in India at that time.
Gombrich helps one see both the context of the Buddha's time and place, as well as the novel ideas he taught - and how they related to the thinking of his day. It's interesting to learn of the play on words, the metaphors, and the humor the Buddha employed.
As Gombrich says, we should read the Pali text ourselves, preferably in the Pali language, though not necessarily, and thereby come to our own conclusions about that which is claimed in this book. Whether I ever get to do that or not, much of what I've read in this book will help me with my future readings on the subject of Buddhism. It's really been a refreshing read.
The book requires concentration to follow the reasoning behind Gombrich's opinions. In that sense, it's a Buddhist practice of a kind. It's a little academic but not so specialized that I couldn't follow the main thrust of each point being made.
It's a great book for someone who, like me, has read a dozen or so books on Buddhism but wants something meaty (considering my lack of academic background in the subject), with academic rigor.
I also have to say that for much of the book Gombrich maintains a style of writing which is engaging and makes the book a pleasure to read. I suppose only occasionally it got a little technical or assumed knowledge I did not have. This is not the authors fault. I take it as my responsibility to learn more.
A final point: the Kindle version comes as pictures of the physical book version, which means you can't highlight, use the Kindle dictionary function, or adjust the text size (other than by zooming in on each page). This wasn't a big problem and gave me the feel of actually reading a printed copy.
This exactly the kind of book I wanted to find.
The material helps me understand the context of the Buddha and his teachings and seems to confirm my uninforned suspicion that much of Buddhism must have been influenced by the mindset of people in India at that time.
Gombrich helps one see both the context of the Buddha's time and place, as well as the novel ideas he taught - and how they related to the thinking of his day. It's interesting to learn of the play on words, the metaphors, and the humor the Buddha employed.
As Gombrich says, we should read the Pali text ourselves, preferably in the Pali language, though not necessarily, and thereby come to our own conclusions about that which is claimed in this book. Whether I ever get to do that or not, much of what I've read in this book will help me with my future readings on the subject of Buddhism. It's really been a refreshing read.
The book requires concentration to follow the reasoning behind Gombrich's opinions. In that sense, it's a Buddhist practice of a kind. It's a little academic but not so specialized that I couldn't follow the main thrust of each point being made.
It's a great book for someone who, like me, has read a dozen or so books on Buddhism but wants something meaty (considering my lack of academic background in the subject), with academic rigor.
I also have to say that for much of the book Gombrich maintains a style of writing which is engaging and makes the book a pleasure to read. I suppose only occasionally it got a little technical or assumed knowledge I did not have. This is not the authors fault. I take it as my responsibility to learn more.
A final point: the Kindle version comes as pictures of the physical book version, which means you can't highlight, use the Kindle dictionary function, or adjust the text size (other than by zooming in on each page). This wasn't a big problem and gave me the feel of actually reading a printed copy.
April 29, 2020
'The Buddha said that just as the ocean has only one flavour, that of salt, his teaching had only one flavour, that of liberation. While the comparison strikes as a natural one to make, the Buddha and his audiences lived very far from the ocean.'
An intriguing book as to why the Buddha was one of the greatest thinkers. Sometimes I found the language difficult to fully comprehend, however the information and detail included was wonderful. It was also really refreshing to read a book about Buddhism which wasn't written by a Buddhist, for once!!!
An intriguing book as to why the Buddha was one of the greatest thinkers. Sometimes I found the language difficult to fully comprehend, however the information and detail included was wonderful. It was also really refreshing to read a book about Buddhism which wasn't written by a Buddhist, for once!!!
September 29, 2017
Simply the best! I've never known the Buddha as a satirist! But he is! Read this book then you'll know why.
April 15, 2024
Wonderful.
July 31, 2024
Another interesting and critical look at the teachings of the Buddha with comparison to appropriate Brahmanical literature.
October 12, 2024
everything goes against archaeological evidences.
May 6, 2015
Richard Gombrichs's insight into how the original Buddhist texts should be translated is precious. He uses his deep knowledge of life in ancient India, together with mastery of both Pali and Sanskrit, to give insights that are unique and rewarding. He uncovers the wit in the Buddha's teachings, and some valuable links between key concepts that are not available in other sources. In researching my own book on the Buddha's teachings, I referred to this book, and indeed contacted Richrd and found him generous enough to get in touch and offer to review my book! Thank you Richard for this wonderful book.
July 21, 2024
kimsenin karması bir değil bu yüzden kendi kurtuluşunuz için çalışınız
dahi fertlerin kendi bulundukları zamanın ötesinde fikirler üretebilme güçü var fakat jainizmin ve brahminizmin altyapısı olmadan socrates ve david hume'la eşdeğer bir düşünürün böylesine nokta atışı bir doktrin geliştirebilmesi mümkün değildi.
sorumluluğa ve bireyselliğe dair zamanın ötesinden bir çağrı ve herkesin sonunda kendi bacağından asılacağına dair onlarca asır geçmişten gelen bir uyarı...
mürekkep olan her şey zevale mahkumdur
dahi fertlerin kendi bulundukları zamanın ötesinde fikirler üretebilme güçü var fakat jainizmin ve brahminizmin altyapısı olmadan socrates ve david hume'la eşdeğer bir düşünürün böylesine nokta atışı bir doktrin geliştirebilmesi mümkün değildi.
sorumluluğa ve bireyselliğe dair zamanın ötesinden bir çağrı ve herkesin sonunda kendi bacağından asılacağına dair onlarca asır geçmişten gelen bir uyarı...
mürekkep olan her şey zevale mahkumdur
November 11, 2010
Interesting but a bit too academic and detailed for my requirements!
November 4, 2021
Not at all what I thought this book would be like. It was a bit to technical and not what I had wanted at the time. There are some solid references and areas that were useful.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews