Author: Karen Armstrong
Translator: Young-mok Jeong
Publisher: Prun Soop
Hardcover | 302 pages | 188*128mm
| Important! Please read before you order! |
| >>>This book is written in Korean. |
About This Book
Books on Buddhism may overflow the shelves, but the life story of the
Buddha himself has remained obscure despite over 2,500 years of
influence on millions of people around the world. In an attempt to
rectify this, and to make the Buddha and Buddhism accessible to
Westerners, the beloved scholar and author of such sweeping religious
studies as A History of God has written a readable, sophisticated, and
somewhat unconventional biography of one of the most influential people
of all time. Buddha himself fought against the cult of personality, and
the Buddhist scriptures were faithful, giving few details of his life
and personality. Karen Armstrong mines these early scriptures, as well
as later biographies, then fleshes the story out with an explanation of
the cultural landscape of the 6th century B.C., creating a deft blend of
biography, history, philosophy, and mythology.
At the age of 29, Siddhartha Gautama walked away from the insulated
pleasure palace that had been his home and joined a growing force of
wandering monks searching for spiritual enlightenment during an age of
upheaval. Armstrong traces Gautama's journey through yoga and asceticism
and grounds it in the varied religious teachings of the time. In many
parts of the world during this so-called axial age, new religions were
developing as a response to growing urbanization and market forces. Yet
each shared a common impulse--they placed faith increasingly on the
individual who was to seek inner depth rather than magical control.
Taoism and Confucianism, Hinduism, monotheism in the Middle East and
Iran, and Greek rationalism were all emerging as Gautama made his
determined way towards enlightenment under the boddhi tree and during
the next 45 years that he spent teaching along the banks of the Ganges.
Armstrong, in her intelligent and clarifying style, is quick to point
out the Buddha's relevance to our own time of transition, struggle, and
spiritual void in both his approach--which was based on skepticism and
empiricism--and his teachings.
Despite the lack of typical historical documentation, Armstrong has
written a rich and revealing description of both a unique time in
history and an unusual man. Buddha is a terrific primer for those
interested in the origins and fundamentals of Buddhism. --Lesley Reed
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