In this companion to his best-selling translation of The Dhammapada, Eknath Easwaran explains how The Dhammapada is a perfect map for the spiritual journey.
Said to be the text closest to the Buddha’s actual words, The Dhammapada is a collection of short teachings that his disciples memorized during his lifetime. Easwaran presents The Dhammapada as a guide to spiritual perseverance, progress, and ultimately enlightenment — a heroic confrontation with life as it really is, with straight answers to our deepest questions. We witness the heartbreak of death, for instance — what does that mean for us? What is love? How does karma work? How do we follow the spiritual life in the midst of work and family? Does nirvana really exist, and if so, what is it like to be illumined?
In his interpretation of Buddhist themes, illustrated with stories from the Buddha’s life, Easwaran offers a view of the concept of Right Understanding that is both exhilarating and instructive. He shares his experiences on the spiritual path, giving the advice that only an experienced teacher and practitioner can offer, and urges us to answer for ourselves the Buddha’s call to nirvana — that mysterious, enduring state of wisdom, joy, and peace.
The Dhammapada is practical, free from speculation and theory. It’s suitable for people living in the world, with a family, a career, and all the problems of daily life. Most of the Buddhist scriptures are addressed to monks and nuns, but The Dhammapada is addressed to all, and if we look at the Buddha’s life, we see that those attracted to him were often ordinary men and women like you and me. In later centuries the body of Buddhist scripture grew to be more voluminous than the Bible, but I would say that we need nothing more than The Dhammapada to answer the Buddha’s call to nirvana. It is the perfect map for the spiritual journey.
– Eknath Easwaran
“Our favorite translation is Eknath Easwaran’s The Dhammapada. His Indian heritage, literary gifts, and spiritual sensibilities here produce a sublime rendering of the words of the Buddha. Verse after verse shimmers with quiet, confident authority.”
– Huston Smith & Philip Novak,
[Reviewing Easwaran’s translation, The Dhammapada, in Buddhism]
