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The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Complete Translation of the Anguttara Nikaya Annotated Edition
Author(s): Bhikkhu Bodhi (Author)
- Publisher: Wisdom Publications,U.S.
- Publication Date: 13 Nov. 2012
- Edition: Annotated
- Language: English
- Print length: 1936 pages
- ISBN-10: 1614290407
- ISBN-13: 9781614290407
Book Description
The present volume, which continues Wisdom s famous Teachings of the Buddha series, contains a full translation of the Anguttara Nikaya. The Anguttara arranges the Buddha s discourses in accordance with a numerical scheme intended to promote retention and easy comprehension. In an age when writing was still in its infancy, this proved to be the most effective way to ensure that the disciples could grasp and replicate the structure of a teaching. A broad survey of the Anguttara Nikaya shows that its primary focus is on practice, and it treats practice from a wide-angle perspective. The subjects of the discourses range from the basic ethical observances recommended to the busy layperson, through the pillars of mind training, to the highest meditative attainments. The Anguttara is also distinguished among the four Nikayas by its interest in types of persons, which it describes and classifies in detail, often with stunning similes. In such a work, it is fitting that the Buddha appears, not merely as a teacher, but as a real person with his own life story and achievements.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A priceless gift.” –Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma
“Bhikkhu Bodhi is a brilliant translator.” –Jack Kornfield, author of After the Ecstasy, the Laundry
About the Author
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk from New York City, born in 1944. He obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College and a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School. After completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received novice ordination in 1972 and full ordination in 1973, both under the leading Sri Lankan scholar-monk, Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya (1896-1998). From 1984 to 2002 he was the editor for the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, where he lived for ten years with the senior German monk, Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (1901-1994), at the Forest Hermitage. He returned to the U.S. in 2002. He currently lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, New York. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications to his credit, either as author, translator, or editor. These include The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikaya, 1995), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya, 2000), and The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Anguttara Nikaya, 2012). In 2008, together with several of his students, Ven. Bodhi founded Buddhist Global Relief, a nonprofit supporting hunger relief, sustainable agriculture, and education in countries suffering from chronic poverty and malnutrition.
