Buddhaghosa, Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar.

Scholars have long been intrigued by the Buddha's defining action (karma) as intention. This book explores systematically how intention, agency, and moral psychology were interpreted in all branches of early Theravada thought, paying special attention to the thought of the 5th-century commentator Buddhaghosa.

Among the numerous lives of the Buddha, this volume may well claim a place of its own. Composed entirely from texts of the Pali Canon, the oldest authentic record, it portrays an image of the Buddha which is vivid, warm, and moving. Chapters on the Buddha's personality and doctrine are especially illuminating, and the translation is marked by lucidity and dignity throughout.

What would a Buddhist theory of texts look like through the lens of the 5th-century thinker Buddhaghosa? In Voice of the Buddha, Maria Heim reads from the principal commentator, editor, and translator of the Theravada intellectual tradition, yielding fresh insight into all three collections of the early Pali texts: Vinaya, the Suttas, and the Abhidhamma. Buddhaghosa considered the Buddha to be omniscient, the Buddha's words to be "oceanic." Every word, passage, book--indeed the corpus as a whole--is taken to be "endless and immeasurable" in Buddhaghosa's view. Commentarial practice thus requires disciplined methods of expansion, drawing out the endless possibilities for meaning and application. Heim considers Buddhaghosa's theories of texts, and follows his practices of exegesis to discover how he explored scripture's infinity. By examining the significance of the immeasurability of scripture in commentarial practice and as a general principle, this book offers new tools to understand the huge scriptural and commentarial literature of the Pali tradition. And by taking seriously a traditional commentator's theory of texts, it beckons us to learn from commentaries themselves how we might read and interpret them and the texts on which they comment.

Composed entirely of texts from the Pali canon, this unique biography presents the oldest authentic record of the Buddha’s life and revolutionary philosophy. The ancient texts are rendered here in a language marked by lucidity and dignity, and a framework of narrators and voices connect the canonical texts. Vivid recollections of his personal attendant Ananda and other disciples bring the reader into the Buddha’s presence, where his example offers profound inspiration and guidance on the path to freedom.

The text gives us an outline of Buddha's life and briefly deals with the three Buddist Councils held during the reigns of the three Indian kings, Ajatasattu, Kalasoka and Asoka. After the third Council was over, Buddhist missionaries were sent to different countries by Moggaliputta Tissa for the propagation of the Buddhist faith. Of the nine regions visited by the missionaries as mentioned by the author, five are placed in Indo-China. Moggaliputta Tissa sent two separate missionaries to neighbouring regions in the valley of the Irawaddy, besides three others who visited Laos and Pegu. It seems that he took special care for the religions future of Maramma (Burma proper). During the reign of the Sinhalese king Devanampiyatissa who was a contemporary of king Asoka, the Elder Mahinda was sent to Ceylon for the same purpose. So¸a and Uttara visited Suvannabhumi (Sudhammapura,* i.e., Thaton at the month of the Sittaung River). The author holds that even before the missionaries were sent to Suvannahhumi Buddha came there personally to preach his doctrine. Maharakkhita Thera spread Buddism in the country extending along the valleys of the Me-nam and Me-ping rivers and including the Shan States to the north of them. The country of Vanavasior the region around Prome was visited by the Elder Yonakarakkhita who propagated Buddhism there. Kasmira and Gandhara were visited by Majjhantika, and the whole country became a Buddhist stronghold. Buddhism found its way into Mahimsakama¸·ala through Maharevata thera. Mahadhammarakkhita thera and Majjhima thera spread the Buddhistic faith in Maharattha (Mahanagararattha or Siam) and Cinarattha (the Himavantapadesa of the Ceylon books). Similarly Buddhism was propagated in Aparantarattha which is no other than the Sunaparanta of the Burmese, i.e., the region lying west of the upper Irawaddy. The author's horizon seems to be limited, first by an orthodox desire to claim most of the early teachers for the southern countries and hence to prove the purest possible sources for the southern doctrines and secondly by a certain feeling of national pride. The Sasananavamsa has not yet been translated. An English translation of this important text is a great necessity, and I am glad that I have now removed this long-felt want. I had to experience great difficulty in translating it as the text is so very corrupt. I am confident that this translation will be of some use to students and scholars interested in Pali Buddhism current in Burma

"This landmark collection is the definitive introduction to the Buddha's teachings in his own words. The American scholar monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, whose voluminous translations have won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught. Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha's Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha's discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight. A concise informative introduction precedes each chapter, guiding the reader toward a deeper understanding of the texts that follow." "In the Buddha's Words allows even readers unacquainted with Buddhism to grasp the significance of the Buddha's contributions to our world heritage. Taken as a whole, these texts bear eloquent testimony to the breadth and intelligence of the Buddha's teachings, and point the way to an ancient yet ever vital path. Students and seekers alike will find this systematic presentation indispensable."--BOOK JACKET.