Buddha (Penguin Lives)

by Karen Armstrong

Hardcover, 2001

Call number

299 B16

Collection

Publication

Viking (2001), Edition: 1st, 240 pages

Description

A world-renouned religious thinker contemplates one of the world's most sacred figures. In a profound blend of biography, religion, history, and philosophy, Armstrong's highly original portrait of the Buddha explores both the archetypal religious icon and Buddha the man.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Ogmin
An excellent introduction to the life of the prince of the Sakyas. To be brief, I was especially moved by the last chapter, where the Buddha is travelling alone with his cousin Ananda and sensing the end, he chooses to die in a small, quiet, dusty, out of the way village. The exchange between the
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teacher and his attendant is very touching and beautifully presented. Although I have been a Buddhist for many years, Ms. Armstrong provided unexpected insight into the humble humanity of this great teacher.
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LibraryThing member Atomicmutant
OK, so I'm a Westerner with a Christian background, who would now be considered a rationalist. That makes a lot of the hows and whys of Buddhism difficult to approach. A lot of people steer away from this sort of Buddhist book, because "it's not the point". But I found this lucid, entertaining,
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informative, and, yes, spiritually enlightening. While it is impossible to cut through the myth and get to "the man", in the course of this "biography", it is certainly instructive to see the cultural and religious traditions from which the Buddha sprang. In the course of covering his life, Armstrong does, I think, a great job introducing the core concepts of the four noble truths and the eightfold path. I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it. It's a short 200 or so pages, and an easy read (if you can call any writing about no-self, emptiness, and corporeal embodiments of universal compassion easy reading).
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LibraryThing member Gary10
Nonfiction account of the Buddah and Buddahism. I found it difficult to keep involved with--in part because so few records exist on the life of the man.
LibraryThing member petescisco
A solid, accessible biography of the Buddha, this book follows him from his days as a wealthy child to his doubt and then enlightenment. For anyone interested not just in the spiritual practice, but also in its origins and historical context, this is a good place to start.
LibraryThing member neurodrew
The Buddha, initially Siddhatta Gotama, is depicted in good prose, exploring his life and as much as is possible of his teachings without learning the disciplines of yoga. The interesting idea is that the teachings of the Buddha are intended to be a path to happiness and contentment, and are judged
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effective only if they achieve this goal in the individual. The 5th or 6th century BC Ganges plain was in turmoil, and Armstrong presents the Buddha’s teachings as a response to the dwindling belief in old agrarian Gods in response to increasing urbanization of life in the region. She also talks about the Axial Religions: the great changes in religion in India, Zoroaster in Iran, middle prophets in Jewish scripture, and Confucius in China, all emphasizing personal morality and individual ethics rather than roles inherited from castes. This appears to be a concept from Karl Jaspers and others looking back at these times.
Not much is known for sure about the Buddha’s life, but enough to suggest he was a historical figure, not a myth.

Read during a trip to Oakland.
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LibraryThing member Sandydog1
short, dense, concise and well worth a second reading.
LibraryThing member bruce.montador
Not easy to follow; may reflect sources
LibraryThing member Tullius22
A decent sketch of the guy's life.

(8/10)
LibraryThing member SLuce
Read during my trip to New Orleans. Understood more about Buddhism than all my other reading on this subject.
LibraryThing member dvf1976
Audio

Hah!

Siddhattha Gotama became the Buddha when he was 29 years old.

That's my age!

I'd love to be remembered for finding a 'middle way'.

(Although unlike the Buddha, I'd like to avoid ditching my wife and child to do it)
LibraryThing member gulley
Karen Armstrong doesn't have much to go on when it comes to telling a story about a person in the conventional sense. The Buddha seems so remote and impossibly unhuman. But Armstrong does lay a good historical foundation, and it's easy enough to see how the many centuries between here and there
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would have scrubbed the humanity out of just about anyone.
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LibraryThing member tgraettinger
Not so much a biography than a primer. A better description of Buddhism and where it came from than anything else I've read.
LibraryThing member beabatllori
I picked this up expecting it would help me gather, organize and extend what little I knew about Buddhism. This book turned out to be rather helpful for that purpose, and as objective as can be expected (considering it's the biography of a man on whom we have very little "biographical" material).
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I'm not feeling particularly enthralled or "enlightened", but I'm glad I read it.
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LibraryThing member Anagarika
A short, concise story of the Buddha.
LibraryThing member BenKline
A good informative biography of the Buddha (Gotami). A very interesting read. A bit dry, but Karen Armstrong is a very skilled narrator and biographer and historian that it sucks you in and it's easy enough for the "layman" to read. Her "The History of God" was exceptional and this was no
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different. Though this was far shorter; but still very educational while being concise (definitely a plus). Just reminds me of how one of my 'bucket list' items is to walk and re-trace the steps of the Buddha some-day.
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
Karen Armstrong has written a marvelous book investigating the life of Sidhatta Gotama, the Buddha. She writes from many different perspectives, including biography, history, mythology, and philosophy. She has delved into the sacred writings of Buddhism and put the life of the Buddha into the
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historical context of his time. Her writing style flows gracefully from one event and subject to another, and is quite pleasant to read. This is a wonderful book to start with if you're interested in the "historical" Buddha, or simply want to learn more about the Buddha or Buddhism.

Experiments in Reading
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LibraryThing member alexgieg
A short and well written, although somewhat too materialistic, biography of the Buddha.
LibraryThing member madepercy
This book was given to me by a friend in Shanghai who, like me, is interested in theology and philosophy. It is a rare person who can see the value in both ways of trying to live a good life, and my return gift was Ryan Holiday's The Daily Stoic. Little did I know how similar Buddhism and Stoicism
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are in their sense of logic, and, most importantly, managing our impressions or perceptions. Self-reliance is achieved by "meditation, concentration, mindfulness and a disciplined detachment from the world", through which each of us (p. 175):...must make himself his island, make himself and no one else his refuge.The sense of peace that can be achieved in this "world of pain" is not, however, the lonely ascetic existence of the proverbial hermit on the mountaintop. Rather, it is through
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Pages

240

ISBN

0670891932 / 9780670891931
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