The Living Thoughts of Gotama the Buddha

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This volume by Coomaraswamy and Horner is dedicated to the greatest teacher in the entire history of humankind, Gotama, famously known as Buddha. It commences with the life sketch of the greatest sage who formed the fourth largest religion in the world, i.e. Buddhism. The vol­ume covers the hagiography of Buddha – his birth, attainment of en­lightenment, ministry, and death. Buddha’s sermons, initiation into dis­cipleship and training, rules and regulations, moralism, and faith are all covered in this edition. Major teachings, philosophies, and metaphysical knowledge associated with Buddhism such as causality, the issue of dhamma, the meaning and the philosophy of life and death, and awareness of the inner self are discussed in this volume. Similarly, both Coomaraswamy and Horner also discuss the issues of heresiology, dhamma for the common folk, sacrifices, treatment of animals, and familial and societal responsibilities from Buddha’s perspective. The work will greatly benefit scholars, researchers, and enthusiasts of Bud­dhist?studies,?religious?studies,?and?ancient?Indian?history. About the Author Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (22 August 1877–9 September 1947) is a Ceylon-based metaphysician, historian, theorist, and philosopher of Indian art. He brought the Indian tradition of art into the western world. He was also seen as the bridge-maker between western and Indian art and phil­osophy, as he was much inspired by Hindu and Greco-Roman trad­itions. His works were influenced by the Traditionalist and Perennial Schools of Philosophy. He authored several books which were based on the traditional arts, metaphysics, and social criticism. He was also the curator?of?Indian?art?at?the?Boston?Museum?of?Fine?Arts. I.B. Horner (3 March 1896–25 April 1981) was an English Indologist. A renowned scholar of Pali literature, she was the president of the Pali Text Society (1959-1981).

ANANDA K. COOMARASWAMY was born in 1877, of Anglo-Ceylonese parents. After completing studies in Geology he soon became interested in the arts and crafts of his native Ceylon and India. In 1917 he relocated to the USA where he became Keeper of Indian and Islamic Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, establishing a large collection of Oriental artifacts and presenting lectures on their symbolic and metaphysical meaning. An encounter with the seminal writings of perennialist author Ren? Gu?non served to confirm and strengthen his view of the Perennial Philosophy. From this period onwards Dr. Coomaraswamy began to compose his mature--and undoubtedly most profound--works, adeptly expounding the philosophia perennis by drawing on his unparalleled knowledge of the arts, crafts, mythologies, cultures, folklores, symbolisms, and religions of the Orient and the Occident. In 1947 his plans to retire to India and take on sannyasa (renunciation of the world) were cut short by his sudden and untimely death. A representative collection of his extensive writings, entitled The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, was edited by his son Rama P. Coomaraswamy and published by World Wisdom.

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and I.B. Horner

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