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I got this book last night:

In The Buddha's Words

There is a quiet controversy over what, if any, of the Buddha's sayings were accurately recorded. Some works in the Pali Canon ( a body of ancient Buddhist writings many thousands of pages total) seem to have a strong indication of early transmission, whether anecdotal or literal teachings, from the Buddha to his disciples and finally into writing.

If there was a historical Buddha over 5000 years ago (and history seems to point to such a real person), I have my personal doubts that much if anything was recorded of his "true" or literal sayings. I do think his basic ideas got through though. I cannot say that I agree in total with all that classic Buddhism teaches, but I do believe that as a religious philosophy much of it is Universal and speaks about some prime realities of life or whatever one would call this existence smile

There are Buddhist sutras (scriptures) with tales about the magnificence and the awe-inspiring cosmic totality that is the Buddha that leaves one stunned for eons and then there are tales such as this:

WHAT IS BUDDHA?
A monk asked Master Chao-chou (778-897): “What is the Buddha?” The master replied: “The one in the hall.” The monk said, “But the one in the hall is an image, a mere statue, a lump of mud.” Chao-chou agreed, “That’s true.” “So,” persisted the monk, “what is the Buddha?” Chao-chou responded: “The one in the hall!”

That tale makes apparent that if one has any attachment, even attachment to the Buddha, they are missing the picture of just what Buddhism is and is not.

In some ways it does not matter if we have even one word recorded that the Buddha spoke... whatever the message of the Buddha was, it will be apparent despite ourselves and the passage of time. smile

To look for the Buddha in the hall or on paper is to miss the Buddha that may be right before your eyes... or even looking through your eyes!




This book looked really good. I think I am going to enjoy it.

Peace