The Questions of King Milinda, Part 1

by T.W. Rhys Davids (Translator), F. Max Müller (Editor)

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Genres: Philosophy, Religion

Hardcover

First published January 1, 50

About the author

Thomas William Rhys Davids was a British scholar of the Pāli language, founder of the Pali Text Society, and Chair of Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester. He took an active part in founding the British Academy and London School for Oriental Studies.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are basically two types of books about Buddhism: One uses few words to open up panoramic vistas, and the other uses a lot of words to shove you into a doctrinal or dogmatic rat hole. Unfortunately, The Questions of King Milinda Volume 1 by ed. and tr 1843-1922 T. W. Rhys Davids is of the second variety. This reminds me of these lines in a Zen poem written in the 9th century AD by Bai Juyi:

When there are no Scriptures, then Doctrine is sound.
Even should one zealously strive to learn the Way,
That very striving will make one’s error more.

This work starts as a series of questions put by King Milinda to the Buddhist sage Nagaseña, then progresses to what I can only think of a series of kvetches about things the Buddha said or did that appear to be contradictory. Even after Nagaseña “resolved” them, I still think they need to be resolved.

[Rakeela Windrider · Rating 2 out of 5]

The inconsistency of believing in transmigration, but not the soul, is inexcusable. The desperate effort to reconcile the contradictions in the teaching of the Buddha would not be needed but for the ridiculous insistence that the Buddha was not merely profoundly wise (believable) but actually omniscient (abusive). The display of ancient prejudices is made. The credulousness towards the countless stories is bizarre; was there truly a time when people did not understand fiction? The insistence on explaining away the ways in which the legendary enlightened ones didn't always behave according to the perfect supernatural qualities that enlightenment was supposed to grant them was noxious. The general anti-life attitude of Buddhism is also appalling to me. I am more in the tradition of being grateful for existence.

If I tried quite hard, I could extract wisdom from this book. That earns it a second star. On like account, I will not file it in my classifications as 'evil'. Still, it was not fun to read, nor was it enlightening.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Davids edition is a challenging read. It's constructed so much like Christian canonical texts that the material can be lost behind the form. However, it's more complete than another edition I was reading alongside, by Mendis.

[Philip Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great incite into Buddhism, Religion, & Existence. I Highly Recommend to those who are searching...