Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism

by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

Originally published in 1916. Author: Ananda Coomaraswamy D.Sc. Language: English Keywords: Religion Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Philosophy, Spirituality, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West. In particular, he is described as "the groundbreaking theorist who was largely responsible for introducing ancient Indian art to the West." (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

During high school my friend Richard and I decided to read some books not in the curriculum and then discuss them. Coomaraswamy's 'Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism' was one of his suggestions. Beyond some brief treatment of Buddhism in our freshman History of Civilization classes this was the first time I'd studied the subject.

It was a good choice. Despite my ignorance, Coomaraswamy was easy to follow and, better still, made Buddhism seem quite reasonable. Indeed, ever since I've had a prejudice in favor of the tradition.

Beyond the treatment of the historical background Coomaraswamy goes into some great detail about Buddhist art. The portion about art at the juncture of the Greek and the Indian cultures in the Hellenistic period was of particular interest to me. I was very interested in ancient Greece at the time, but hadn't known there had been such cross-fertilization.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given me by a high school friend along with two others as part of a deal that we would read the same books for a while in order to discuss them. It was probably the first serious study I had made of Buddhism beyond the coverage given the subject in the freshman World Cultures course in high school.

As an introduction, Coomaraswamy is a fine communicator of Eastern traditions to the Western mind. Born in Sri Lanka to an Englishwoman and an Indian philosopher, he earned his degrees in the United Kingdom, married, in order, an Englishwoman, an American and an Argentine, and died in Massachusetts in 1947. Much of his work concerned itself with the arts of the East, so his book is also an expert introduction to Buddhist art.

Perhaps, however, Coomaraswamy was too cosmopolitan, too rational. Reading him and then the equally suave Suzuki led me shortly thereupon to start saying I agreed with Buddhism when, in fact, popular Buddhism is far from the idealized versions he and many others represent.

[David Pagnanelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Era proprio quello che cercavo: una visione d’insieme di una dottrina che attira la mia attenzione. Molto accurati sia i racconti della vita di Gautama che gli sviluppi. Tocca molti livelli, dalla predicazione alla letteratura all’arte.

[Walter Straus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas to learn about Buddhism, but there are lots of parts that have to be skimmed in order to get to the meat of the book.

[Salvatore Familia]

Ananda Kentish Kumaraswami, D.Sc. (Tamil: ஆனந்த குமாரசுவாமி, Ānanda Kentiś Kūmaraswāmī) (8/22/1877, Colombo, Sri Lanka 9/9/1947, Needham, MA) was a Ceylonese philosopher & metaphysician, as well as an historian & philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history & symbolism, & an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West. A groundbreaking theorist, he was largely responsible for introducing ancient Indian art to the West.