The Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha (Oxford World's Classics)

I have six or more translations of the Dhammapada, including the much larger version by the same authors. This one is nice for carrying around, and it has some new details in it as well in the introduction and the notes. Other versions are worth consulting, but this one to me is the clearest. For example the phrase in this version "absence of enmity" is translated as the word "love" in other versions. Nothing against love, but the word love does not do much for me other than suggest the idea of trying to conjure up an emotion that doesn't last very long. I find "absence of enmity" to be much more specific, something I can relate to. And it is more congruent with the Buddha's overall teachings about calmness.Also, in the first verse we learn about the relation between our perceptions and our mental states. This is what mindfulness is all about. Other versions just simply did not get this point across to me. But, again, other versions are worth comparing, especially the translation by Glenn Walliis which is very close to the version above. Wallace has wonderful commentary in his "Guide To Reading The Text", which is the second half of his book.

A very clear and open book on many of the most pivotal and wise sayings of the Buddha. This is a great reference to have.

Kindle customers, please note that all the customer reviews are based on the printed editions, not the Kindle edition. The Kindle addition does not contain the Pali transcription. Also, the notes are marked by asterisks in the Kindle text, with no way to link to the corresponding numbered note at the end of the book. If you're just looking for an excellent translation, this is one of them.

Profound insight

This short English edition of the Dhammapada, written by two distinguished scholars in the field, and published under Oxford World's Classics series, contains a short introduction and explanatory notes aside from the main text. As such, it forms a handy English version of this very important Buddhist text, useful both as an introduction to it as well as a source of reference. Some previous acquaintance with the tenets of Buddhism is recommended, as this is not an introduction to the Buddha's teachings, and the short length of the text does not allow for thorough discussion of some important concepts. Brevity and succinctness are the name of the game here.The one major deficiency of this text which struck me as a Vipassana meditation practitioner, however, was that the explanations offered to quite a number of verses by the authors attest to a significant lack of understanding which can only be gained through the practice of insight meditation. I will mention a few examples. First, in their explanation of the very famous v. 113, the authors interpret "seeing the rise and demise" of phenomena as an intellectual understanding of the concept, while this verse is commonly known among Vipassana practitioners to refer to an advanced and defining stage of the practice where one sees clearly (and not conceptually) into the moment-to-moment rising and passing away of phenomena (the authors make no mention of this). A similar misinterpretation is given to v. 374, which alludes to the positive mental states which emerge in connection with witnessing the rising and passing away of phenomena during advanced meditation practice. In their explanation to v. 279 ("All dhammas are without self"), the authors point out that the characteristic sign of no-self "is not as wide-embracing as the first two" (impermanence and unsatisfactoriness), but "restricted to 'dhammas', that is, all aspects of consciousness." That is no small a deviation from the teachings of the Buddha, who taught that all conditioned phenomena are characterized by lack of an abiding self, as – again – one clearly perceives through intensive Vipassana practice. In their commentary to v. 295 ("Having slain the tiger's domain, as fifth"), the authors suggest a metaphorical representation of the "five hindrances", which "deflect virtuous qualities"; again, as any meditator knows, the precise function of the five hindrances is to hinder one from deepening their meditation practice, and thus their understanding of the dhamma and the resulting purification of mind. Here, again, there is no reference to the significance of the five hindrances in the context of meditation practice, a central pillar of the "Noble Eightfold Path".And so, perhaps what this book serves to teach us most of all, is how essential is the practice of insight meditation to gaining a full and true understanding of the Buddha's teachings, aside from the accumulation of textual knowledge.

Awesome format. Very beautifully written.

Excellent

a wonderful little book. inspiring. it is clear in these verses that perception... which exists even without the i is the root of all mental/physical processes. loving kindness is advocated though attachment discouraged. an interesting and no doubt attainable goal. i myself value attachment, but without clinging. another paradox/conflict. to me caring reqires a degree of attachment.the wisdom in this book 'is' profound. awareness, the ability to see and to hear, is something we all have. this seeing is normal and yet when practiced in the humdrum of modern life it is unusual, this is since most of us are thinking so much that we never have time to see, hear, smell or taste anything deeply. and yet all of this is about engaging the heart through the mind. since it is the heart that is touched by perception and not the mind (recepticle of thought). the grass is green in shepherds bush, the busses are bussy driving the roads, the pigeons are happy. they are well fed. when it snows it snows, even in the spring, when the sunshines it is warm. all of this is real, it is thouroughly real, and yet it defies existence. full and yet empty. what is is what is, even what isnt... this is perception.ive been giving perception a look at this past couple of weeks, and break it down like this:perception/awareness = understanding, without understanding there can be no perception, since perception is understanding.understanding = thought + process + speed.thought = mental cognition + time + effort.process = time + function + action.speed = certainty + time + function.function = understanding + speech + listening.time = clarity + vision + express.express = form + function + action.the above is a way of breaking down perception. but after all this it teaches us only that through the effort of looking into things we see them more clearly... my favourite tools here are action and function, both very important in developing understanding/perception. it is through action and the elements in function that we give and it is through giving that we receive. there is wisdom in both speaking and listening, and these two are intimately linked to understanding. with action it is our physical prescense and active participation in the world that engenders understanding."preceded by perception are mental states" and yet mental states engender perception, it works both ways, a circle, one side giving to the other.what isnt is what isnt, except what is and this too is what isnt. whatever you seek for you find. perception writes what it 'wants' to write when it 'wants' to write. in other words it is what we want that deifnes or filters what we percieve. if we wish to be an optimist we filter everything through the lense of optimism. if we wish to be a pessimist we filter everything through the lense of pessimism. and therefore i say that what we want defines our perception. if we did not want to see the world as 'not such a bad place' then we would not seek to see it as such, and not seeking such we dont find such.infact what he wants can make a man happy in a cell, or miserable in a palace. we must become aware of what we want, knowing such we will filter reality seeking for this thing we want and as such we shall end up perceiving (finding) it.perception is 'truth'(understanding). if one seeks emptiness then one finds emptiness, if one seeks form then one finds form. if one seeks both as one 'empty form' then that is what one finds, but these are things and are not 'truth' itself. so in order to find truth one must want truth... not emptiness nor form. wanting truth one will seek truth, seeking truth, one will find it. truth is 'understanding'. do you understand truth or do you understand a thing? you may think that a thing is true, therefore this is an aspect of understanding truth, if you can understand how you are understanding!take time to disengage the thought process, stop thinking for a while and start feeling (this too requires understanding). start sensing, seeing, feeling... how do all things affect your emotions. a painting. the radiant green of the grass. but you will see if you practice that throughout this emotional engagement thoughts play an integral part within the feeling process, ie judgements are involved..are you awake? yes... and no. when you know that you are awake... really awake this truth will come to you. for many years i was not awake... but when you know that the only thing you do know about yourself is that you are awake and that this is. then you are awake... there is a process that leads to this point. it cannot be without a process of searching... seek and ye shall find.oh well, enough of my patronising nonsense, see things as they are, as they are not.love, snow-flake. xxxps. "he who delights in awareness goes burning like a fire the fetters subtle and gross". the first thing is to be 'aware' of a blemish - negative feeling or thought. secondly one praises the negative thought for its subtlety and cleverness, its craft and for the goodness it will become, then one talks to it -first listening to what it has to say. then you project feelings of love at the blemish, then you bless it for the goodness it will be and bless it with blessings of loving kindness, happiness and permanence by the power of ones own present, past and future virtue and if you want... the love of the one true God, who is loving kindness himself. the final stage is to bless the person or thing against which the negative thought or feeling has arisen.by this process one sweeps and cleans away blemishes "the one who has arrived at the destination, free from fright, craving and 'blemish', has broken the knives of existence". love. tc.

The reviews of these authors' version of the Dhammapada on Amazon have got very jumbled up.The Amazon review provided under 'Product Information' at the beginning of the page about the short Oxford World's Classics edition is very misleading. It states:"Carter and Palihawadana have not only proivde [sic] a fresh English translation of the Pali but a transliteration of the Dhammapada"This is NOT true - there is no transliteration of the Pali text in that particular edition. The fuller edition, of over 500 pages, does have a transliteration of the Pali text.To add to the confusion, my review, which you are reading now, has been attached by Amazon to the shorter OUP edition AND the full edition with transliteration.

I bought the Dhammapada, having encountered passages from it as aphorisms, and wanting to read it as a whole.I do not like this translation: the beauty of the Dhammapada (to me) is its extreme simplicity and clarity of expression, and I think that this translation obscures these characteristics, and sometimes also obscures the meaning of the text.I am not qualified to comment on the 'authenticity' of the various translations of the Pali original, or whether this is somehow more true to the Pali, but my preferred versions are the Penguin Classics version and (my favorite) Gil Fronsdal's translation, published by Shambhala Publicatons.I recommend using the Amazon 'look inside' feature to read some of the text and see which best speaks to you; if you are particularly keen to explore the finer nuances of meaning, reading more than one translation highlights how different translators translate different Pali words/meanings into English.