12.19.05
Book Review - Buddha by Karen Armstrong
I loved this book! Meant to be a biography about the Buddha based on what Armstrong admits is sketchy information from Buddhist texts, she gathers enough to give a full idea of who the Buddha was before he became the Buddha and what the Ganges plain was like during his lifetime.
She skillfully tells the story of the Buddha’s enlightenment and his lifetime of teaching others to reach enlightenment. Explaining what makes Buddhism different from other teachings and religions, Armstrong makes sense of the politics, the upheavals as society moved from agrarian to urban and the yearning we all feel for peace and tranquility within ourselves.
The best lesson for me is that everything is transitory. Emotions, physical discomfort (and comfort), other people’s stuff, memory, everything is transitory. Nothing is permanent, it all comes and goes. Once we learn this, nothing seems so important that we cannot be more compassionate and loving to those around us. Something I have come to realize (and continue to forget and relearn) over the past few years. Above all, Buddha taught compassion toward everyone.
Armstrong’s tale of Buddha does not paint him as the saint many would have him be. She shows his blind spots as his life goes along, especially toward the women who wish to become disciples. Buddha struggles mightily with the role of women in his teachings and learns from one of his male disciples that the Buddha’s training is meant for everyone, it’s an equal opportunity road to Enlightenment which means it should be for women too. Whether a product of his time, or he truly has a blind spot, Buddha’s attitude toward women reflects history’s attitude toward women.
Buddha is short (187 pages), easy to read and absolutely fascinating.