I Have This Book

ThailandTom

When my mother came to visit me recently she brought over a couple of books I had left at home when I left a few years ago. I had totally forgotten about them. One of them is 'Handbook For Mankind' and has the name Buddhadasa Bhikkhu on it. Does anybody know much about this book?

Sorry that was not the book I referred to as my main point, but we can make this about 2 books I guess I also have another book I had bought ages ago when I was first moving away from atheism called 'The Science of Self-realization' and it is clearly a Hindu based book. It looks really beautiful and is hardback, I looked at the chapter contents and there are things about the soul, God and things of that nature. Would it be worth reading this book at all? I really do not have any interest in following the Hindu path so what should I do with it do you think?

Nirvana

For myself, when unread books reappear before me I pick them up and get acquainted (or reacquainted) with them. I dunno if maybe these "Leaves" falling into my hands again might not be just what the doctor ordered, as it were. It never hurts to be somewhat aware of other cultures and their religions. Just as you learn English better by knowing some French, you'd get further insight into some facets of Buddhist thought/practice by gaining knowledge of the Hindu.

Just as language groups have differing paradigms and symbols with nuanced meanings, religions also have a "linguistic/conceptual baggage" of their own. The fact that different religious groups "see" things differently is often tied up in the way their "language" codes them to think.

Dakini

Did your mom enjoy her stay?

Wow, Buddhadasa sounds absolutely fascinating! And very apt for you, being in Thailand, and all. Here's what wiki has to say about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhadasa The book sounds like a great read! It's available free on the internet, at this link: http://www.buddhanet.net/budasa.htm

More info: http://www.thaibuddhism.net/Buddhadasa.htm "He was one of the first monks to express clear notions of ecological laws found in the Buddhist texts." He gave up on trying to be part of the monastic community at the main monastery in Bangkok, and went on to found his own temples. Sounds like a fascinating guy.

ThailandTom

@Dakini yes she did thanks. At first she didn't as she came after haivng the flu, not accustom to the heat and a long journey. After a couple of days she started to look and sound better. When she left she cried a lot though, like when I left England some years ago. Since then she said it was more of a life changing experience to her than a holiday, and she has seen those around her who do really care for her and help her when she needs it. She is planning on coming back with my sister some time so that will be cool.

Thanks for the wiki links, I will read that book when I get around to it. I must have bought it 4-5 years ago now I guess. I may read the Hinduism book but I may give it away or sell it. It is a really nice book though physically speaking, hardback, mint condition with glossy images on a few pages. I may keep it for it's artistic qualities.

Dakini

ThailandTom said:

Thanks for the wiki links, I will read that book when I get around to it. I must have bought it 4-5 years ago now I guess. I may read the Hinduism book but I may give it away or sell it. It is a really nice book though physically speaking, hardback, mint condition with glossy images on a few pages. I may keep it for it's artistic qualities.

Sounds like you might be able to sell it on EBay or through Amazon for a decent price.

ThailandTom

Dakini said:

ThailandTom said:

Thanks for the wiki links, I will read that book when I get around to it. I must have bought it 4-5 years ago now I guess. I may read the Hinduism book but I may give it away or sell it. It is a really nice book though physically speaking, hardback, mint condition with glossy images on a few pages. I may keep it for it's artistic qualities.

Sounds like you might be able to sell it on EBay or through Amazon for a decent price.

I never knew you could sell as a person and not a company/business on Amazon. I may do, how much do you think it would be worth? I am really bad at gauging prices of things. Pic related.

Cinorjer

My gosh, I haven't seen one of those Hare Krishna books for many years. Boy does that take me back to my college days, when these were handed out by the thousands around the campus and the local Krishna recruiting office had free coffee and free stale donuts and stacks of their various publications. Nice bunch of young people and they always sent the pretty young girls to hand out the donuts to the lonely college boys.

The Swami who wrote this (I'm not going to attempt to remember his name) was a cofounder of the Hare Krishna movement and was highly educated and did most of the writing and translating for the movement including their famous "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" version of the Hindu scriptures.

As for what it's worth, not much. The movement handed these out for just about any donation and for free to potential recruits. It's filled with the usual Guru-speak of oneness and Godhood and such.

Jeffrey

You can read anything it doesn't have to be Buddhist. I still am intrigued by the Kaballah tree of life, though I haven't read anything recently. There is some merit in reading only Buddhist things. But the wider dharma is the commonality of all beings and Hinduism is interesting in itself.

Regarding the other one the others have said.

Nirvana

Don't mean to steal any thunder, @ThailandTom, but although I have books a couple hundred years old, my favorite book is the one we used in American Literature in the ninth grade. I found it at the Strand in New York some fifteen years ago. It's an amazing book with Jonathan Edwards as I first encountered him and the "Flowering of New England" literature, Whitman, etc. It's such a treat to revisit some of my earliest acquaintances. My Kindle —as wildly wonderful as it is— will never touch it.

As for the BhaktiVedanta stuff, WOW! That and the Bahai faith were quite an eye-opener for me in my teens.

I got rid of a lot of those glossy books myself some years back, but not before scanning over them again!

Jeffrey

The only thing scary about Budhasa is that DD (dhamma dhatu) was very fond of him iirc. I miss you DD :pirate:

Dakini

ThailandTom said:

how much do you think it would be worth?

oh, oops. Cinorjer just gave you its worth: nil, I guess. They used to hand them out for free. Still, you could put it up for auction on EBay and see if anyone offers something for it. Maybe they're out of print. You might want to research that, first. If they're in print and are still being handed out for free, well.... it was a nice dream, for as long as it lasted.

I'd thought you were describing an antique book.