The Gospel Of Buddha Compiled From Ancient Records

'The Gospel of Buddha' is an 1894 book by Paul Carus. It is modeled on the New Testament and tells the story of Buddha through parables. It was an important tool in introducing Buddhism to the west and is used as a teaching tool by some Asian sects. The work was assembled from existing English translations of Buddhists texts, with significant amendments and reworkings. His selection of texts favored Buddhism as a philosophy without any supernatural elements.

The Gospel of Buddha, the classic text on Buddhism that first introduced many Westerners to Buddha and his teachings, was first published in 1894 and immediately became a worldwide bestseller. Author Paul Carus (1852-1919) collected many accounts of Buddha's life, teachings, and death, and fashioned a coherent and gripping narrative. It was easily understood and popular with Americans because it resembled a Christian gospel. Martin Verhoeven's detailed introduction describes the circumstances surrounding Carus's achievement, and the book's relation to other strands of Buddhist teaching. This edition also includes 25 newly rediscovered paintings by the renowned Buddhist artist Yamada.

"The Gospel of Buddha: Compiled from Ancient Records" book has a beautiful glossy cover and a blank page for the dedication. "Buddhism, like Christianity, is split up into innumerable sects, and these sects not infrequently cling to their sectarian tenets as being the main and most indispensable features of their religion. The present book follows none of the sectarian doctrines, but takes an ideal position upon which all true Buddhists may stand as upon common ground. Thus the arrangement into a harmonious and systematic form is the main original feature of this Gospel of Buddha. Considering the bulk of the various details of the Buddhist canon, however, it must be regarded as a mere compilation, and the aim of the compiler has been to treat his material in about the same way as he thinks that the author of the Fourth Gospel of the New Testament utilized the accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He has ventured to present the data of the Buddha's life in the light of their religio-philosophical importance; he has cut out most of their apocryphal adornments, especially those in which the Northern traditions abound, yet he did not deem it wise to shrink from preserving the marvellous that appears in the old records, whenever its moral seemed to justify its mention; he only pruned away the exuberance of wonder which delights in relating the most incredible things, apparently put on to impress while in fact they can only tire. Miracles have ceased to be a religious test; yet the belief in the miraculous powers of the Master still bears witness to the holy awe of the first disciples and reflects their religious enthusiasm."

This is the extended and annotated edition including * an extensive annotation of more than 10.000 words about the history and basics of Buddhism * many illustrations * an interactive table-of-contents * perfect formatting for electronic reading devices The best evidence that this book characterizes the spirit of Buddhism correctly can be found in the welcome it has received throughout the entire Buddhist world. It has even been officially introduced in Buddhist schools and temples of Japan and Ceylon. The eminent feature of the work is its grasp of the difficult subject and the clear enunciation of the doctrine of the most puzzling problem of ātman, as taught in Buddhism. So far as we have examined the question of ātman ourselves from the works of the Southern canon, the view taken by Dr. Paul Cams is accurate, and we venture to think that it is not opposed to the doctrine of Northern Buddhism. Contents: Buddhism Rejoice! Samsāra And Nirvāna. Truth The Saviour. Prince Siddhattha Becomes Buddha The Bodhisatta's Birth The Ties Of Life. The Three Woes. The Bodhisatta's Renunciation. King Bimbisāra. The Bodhisatta's Search. Uruvelā, The Place Of Mortification. Māra The Evil One. Enlightenment. The First Converts. Brahmās Request. The Foundation Of The Kingdom Of Righteousness. Upaka. The Sermon At Benares. The Sangha. Yasa, The Youth Of Benares. Kassapa. The Sermon At Rājagaha. The King's Gift. Sāriputta And Moggallāna. Anāthapindika. The Sermon On Charity. Jetavana. The Three Characteristics And The Uncreate. The Buddha's Father. Yasodharā. Rāhula. Consolidation Of The Buddha's Religion. Jīvaka, The Physician. The Buddha's Parents Attain Nirvāna. Women Admitted To The Sangha. The Bhikkhus' Conduct Toward Women. Visākhā. The Uposatha And Pātimokkha. The Schism. The Re-Establishment Of Concord. The Bhikkhus Rebuked. Devadatta. Name And Form. The Goal. Miracles Forbidden. The Vanity Of Worldliness. Secrecy And Publicity. The Annihilation Of Suffering. Avoiding The Ten Evils. The Preacher's Mission. The Teacher. The Dhammapada. The Two Brahmans. Guard The Six Quarters. Simha's Question Concerning Annihilation. All Existence Is Spiritual. Identity And Non-Identity. The Buddha Omnipresent. One Essence, One Law, One Aim. The Lesson Given To Rāhula. The Sermon On Abuse. The Buddha Replies To The Deva. Words Of Instruction. Amitābha. The Teacher Unknown. Parables And Stories. Parables. The Widow's Two Mites And The Parable Of The Three Merchants. The Man Born Blind. The Lost Son. The Giddy Fish. The Cruel Crane Outwitted. Four Kinds Of Merit. The Light Of The World. Luxurious Living. The Communication Of Bliss. The Listless Fool. Rescue In The Desert. The Sower. The Outcast. The Woman At The Well. The Peacemaker. The Hungry Dog. The Despot. Vāsavadattā. The Marriage-Feast In Jambūnada. A Party In Search Of A Thief. In The Realm Of Yamarāja. The Mustard Seed. Following The Master Over The Stream. The Sick Bhikkhu. The Patient Elephant. The Last Days. The Conditions Of Welfare. Sāriputta's Faith. Pātaliputta. The Mirror Of Truth. Ambapālī. The Buddha's Farewell Address. The Buddha Announces His Death. Chunda, The Smith. Metteyya. The Buddha's Final Entering Into Nirvāna. Conclusion. The Three Personalities Of The Buddha. The Purpose Of Being. The Praise Of All The Buddhas.

The Gospel of Buddha was first published in 1894. It soon became a worldwide bestseller, completely eclipsing the one previous attempt to popularize Buddhism in the West, Sir Edwin Arnold's The Light of Asia. Carus collected accounts of the life and teaching of the Buddha from many sources and fashioned a coherent and gripping narative which would be understood by Americans as very much like a Christian "gospel". The Gospel of Buddha was quickly translated into Japanese and other Eastern languages, and was taken up by teachers in the Buddhist world.This Gospel tells the story of the Prince Siddhattha, raised by his parents to be ignorant of all evil and suffering, and then was traumatically confronted by the spectacle of old age, sickness, and death. Giving up his family and his kingdom to seek Enlightenment, Siddhattha became a holy man, asking questions of religious authorities and practicing abstention. Then he found Enlightenment and became the Buddha when he understood the Four Noble Truths, and became a travelling preacher, spreading the word of the new religion, based on freedom from suffering by renunciation of the ego.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.