Buddhism: Its Doctrines and its Methods by Alexandra David-Neel is a comprehensive introduction to the philosophy, teachings, and practices of Buddhism. Drawing from her extensive travels and studies in Asia, David-Neel provides a lucid and accessible explanation of Buddhist doctrines, ranging from the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to more advanced teachings on meditation, karma, and enlightenment.
The book explores both Theravāda and Mahayana traditions, offering readers a balanced perspective on the diversity within Buddhism. David-Neel delves into key concepts such as the nature of suffering, the impermanence of all phenomena, and the ultimate goal of Nirvana, while highlighting the psychological and practical aspects of Buddhist methods.
Her writing is enriched by firsthand experiences with Buddhist monks, yogis, and scholars, making the text both scholarly and deeply personal. This work serves as a valuable resource for anyone seeking to understand Buddhism's profound influence on spirituality and human thought.
Alexandra David-Neel was a pioneering French explorer, writer, and scholar, best known for her extensive travels in Tibet and her contributions to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. She was one of the first western women to visit Tibet, where she spent time in Lhasa. gaining firsthand knowledge of Tibetan culture and spirituality. Also published by us are David-Neel's other books, including Magic and Mystery in Tibet, Buddhism: its Doctrines and its Methods, Tibetan Tale of Love and Magic, Initiations and Initiates in Tibet. My Journey to Lhasa, The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Buddhist Sects, The Superhuman Life of Gesar of Ling, and Tibetan Journey, sharing her insights into Tibetan rituals, mysticism, and philosophy. Her groundbreaking work bridged Eastern and Western thought. making her a key figure in the study of Buddhism and Himalayan cultures.
Is the study of Oriental philosophies of importance to us today? Is it reasonable, in the twentieth century, to give our attention to the theories held by our distant forerunners in this world, while so many pressing problems demand our attention? Some will doubt it, holding that to expound once again the doctrines of the ancient philosophers of India or China is to waste precious time, or at least to spend it on a dilettante inquiry of no practical interest. I see the question otherwise.
When failure menaces a commercial undertaking, it is usual to make a careful inventory of its resources, so as to utilize them in order to prevent the threatened disaster. Is it not possible that a similar line of conduct will give equally useful results in another sphere, and does not the present situation of the world justify an inventory of the capital of ideas possessed by humanity?
Each philosophy, each religion which has arisen in the world, constitutes, in respect of its applications in the material order, an experience which we can turn to profit, either avoiding the errors into which our predecessors fell, and the harmful consequences resulting there from, or extracting from the teachings which they received some conclusions which had escaped them.
It is not a question of seeking precise directions from masters who lived many centuries ago, and under conditions very different from ours. Any attempt to copy them would result only in grotesque caricatures. On the other hand, to recall certain fundamental precepts, certain mental disciplines laid down by these masters, may be profitable. The contrast existing between our habitual opinions and those expressed by philosophers belonging to other ages and to other countries than ours, ought to help us to see more clearly whatever is worth preserving and confirming in our stock of ideas and principles, and what we should do well to reject. This, it would seem, is an excellent object in itself, and even if the popularized study of the philosophies which arose in India and in China were to lead us no farther, we should have gained something appreciable.
The present volume is the fruit of a collaboration of many years, during which the help of Lama Yongden has been invaluable to me, especially in collecting documents relating to Tibetan Buddhism, and in making inquiries in the Tibetan monasteries.
The short description which we have given of the doctrines and methods of Buddhism is, of course, very far from including all of them. The immense Buddhist literature, which, over and above the many canonical works, includes thousands of commentaries and original philosophic treatises, cannot be summed up in a book of less than three hundred pages. My collaborator and I have aimed only at showing the reader the more essential or more striking points of the Buddhist theories and the methods of mental training which derive from them. Familiarized with these, readers will be able, if the subject interests them, to study with advantage the more technical works which learned Orientalists have devoted to the separate examination of the various doctrines of Buddhism, or to certain phases of its philosophic development.
"
Art (289)
Biography (239)
Buddha (1969)
Children (95)
Deities (48)
Healing (35)
Hinduism (56)
History (544)
Language & Literature (464)
Mahayana (413)
Mythology (91)
Philosophy (456)
Sacred Sites (115)
Tantric Buddhism (90)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist