Grimm writes, ‘The Buddha, in fact, calls his teaching the dhamma anitiha, the truth that carries its confirmation within itself, stands in no need of external authorization.’ “ Among other things completely altered, the Buddha’s notion of the Sangha is not the same as today’s nor did the Buddha demand that one needed to go to a certified master in order to confirm their awakening. “What we have today which is called ‘Buddhism’ according to George Grimm ‘is as little the old Buddha-teaching as that any one of the present-day Christian sects represent the Christianity of Christ.’ I would go so far as to say that most Buddhist teachers (particularly in the West) are as far from the Buddha as Pat Robertson is from Jesus. In Grimm’s opinion, Abhidhamma (the scholastic analysis of the Buddha’s teachings which was compiled successively between 250 and 50 B.C.) has contributed much to making unnecessary problems for original Buddhism, making Buddhism almost incomprehensible for the average person.
“As many will agree, much of Buddhism has gone beyond the message of its founder.
Grimm reminds us in the preface to The Doctrine of the Buddha that the Buddha could cast the highest truth in a form ‘that even a robber chief along with his band, even a leper’ and ‘even a seven-year old boy’ could comprehend ‘without more being added.’ Well, this is certainly not the case today nor was it the case with Buddhism after the Buddha’s passing over into parinirvana. His main work, The Doctrine of the Buddha which is rife with references from the Nikayas, is quite an astonishing work but mainly for its simplicity. “In recent memory, the only person who, in my estimation excavated much of the essence of the Buddha’s teaching as found in Pali Buddhism (i.e., Buddhism from the Pali canon) systematically putting it together for the general public, was George Grimm. Essential reading for students of Buddhism and for all seekers after Truth. With abundant references to the Pali Nikayas, the oldest Buddhist scriptures, the author masterfully lays out the core of the Buddhist doctrine, showing how key ideas like Anatta or “not-self” have been misunderstood and misinterpreted by subsequent generations.
First published in German in 1915, we are pleased to offer this new printing of the 1st edition, completely re-typeset and re-edited. The Doctrine of the Buddha is the fruit of George Grimm’s intensive studies and practical realization of the Buddha’s teaching.
0 kommentar(er)
