Basic Teachings of the Buddha: A New Translation and Compilation, with a Guide to Reading the Texts

If a better book of introductory readings from the Buddha's teaching exists in English, I'm not aware of it. This is an outstanding achievement. The organization of the texts is as first rate as the translations. I give it my highest accolade. It's a book everyone should read.

Since someone wrote a wildly inaccurate review and gave the book only two starts, as a way of setting the record straight, I felt compelled to write a more nuanced review. First of all, a word about "original" or "basic" Buddhism. Some scholars (I'm thinking of Donald S. Lopez in particular) would argue that the idea of an "original" or "basic" Buddhism is a by-product of colonialism. When Westerners discovered Buddhism, it had for the most part died out in India. Rather than looking at how Buddhism was actually practiced by followers in, say, Sri Lanka, Western scholars created a supposed "original" Buddhism based solely on texts that they exhumed. These texts were shipped back to Britain, and most scholars never visited the countries where Buddhism was practiced. In fact, Henry Steel Olcott, a leading early Western proponent/expositor of Buddhism, went to Sri Lanka, basically telling the locals that they had adulterated the original religion, himself believing that Buddhism had no ritual or dogma. I could go on and on, but briefly, an example of a dogmatic belief in Buddhism would be Mount Mehru. In Buddhist cosmology, at the center of the universe is a huge mountain, Mt. Mehru, which is surrounded by four islands, our world being the southern island. In an 1873 debate in Sri Lanka between Gunananda (a monk) and Rev. da Silva, Rev. da Silva stated that science had never discovered such a mountain, and so Buddhism could not be true. Gunananda cited a book by Richard James Morrison (now obscure) which "refuted" Newton's view of the universe. In a similar vein, Tibetan Buddhists refused to believe that the world was round (until the 20th century), because the Buddha said that the world was flat. Wallis states in his introduction that the Buddha was an "ordinary human being," but Tibetan Buddhists, and certainly early Therevadans, believed (still believe?) that the Buddha was omniscient and had supernatural powers. My impression is that most modern Buddhists have jettisoned belief in Mt. Mehru, and no doubt you yourself might consider it non-essential, but it's importance to Buddhist belief was, up until the 20th century, almost equivalent to the Christian/Jewish creation account in Genesis. You personally may or may not believe that the Buddha was omniscient or had supernatural powers. My point is, there's perhaps nothing wrong with changing the religion to make it relevant to your own life, but you should definitely be aware that that is what you are doing. Later "accretions," such as a belief in Bodhisattvas (savior Buddhas) are just as legitimate as any supposed "original" Buddhism. Read "The Bodhicaryavatara" (a.k.a. "The Way of the Bodhisattva") written by the Indian monk Santideva in the 8th century, and you'll find that Buddhism *can* lean more towards the supernatural than Wallis's book suggests. And yet, I should say that I really do love "Basic Teachings". Okay, so I probably went on too long about that. Given that the Pali canon is

Wallis strikes the perfect pitch for those of us who are weary of the overly sentimental and facile presentations of Buddhism these days. If you want a commonsensical introduction to the Buddha's teachings, one that refuses to offend your intelligence, then do yourself a favor and read this book. Wallis's selection of suttas clears away the clutter of extraneous Buddhist teachings that have proliferated over the centuries. His lucid and luminous translations are the best I have ever read. His commentary on the texts is a masterpiece of communication -- scholarly and "popular" at the same time. Altogether, Basic Teachings of the Buddha marks a major development in the dissemination of Buddhism in America.

This book provides an excellent introduction to the writings of Buddha. Mr. Wallis has selected 16 passages that provide insight into the core teachings of Buddhism. I purchased this book because I simply wanted to learn more about Buddhism, and found that it has had a positive impact on my life. Wallis writes carefully, and his notes are full of discussions about the terminology used in the book, and the origins of the words themselves. He has the linguistic care of a well trained philosopher, and the insight and heart of a person who seems to truly love his subject. His writing is warm and well crafted. A word of warning: This is not a `For Dummies' cartoon book. Wallis's writing dives deeply into the meaning of the passages, and the analysis gets heady at times. I found myself reading some of the notes twice to grasp what he was getting at. But that's what makes the book so good! I highly recommend this book if you would like to learn about Buddhism. It makes a great starting point.