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The Dhammapada  By  cover art

The Dhammapada

By: Eknath Easwaran
Narrated by: Paul Bazely
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Publisher's summary

Dhammapada means "the path of dharma", the path of harmony and righteousness that anyone can follow to reach the highest good. This classic Buddhist scripture is a collection of vivid, practical verses gathered from direct disciples who wanted to preserve what they had heard from the Buddha himself. Easwaran's translation of this classic Buddhist text is the best-selling translation in the US. In the comprehensive introduction, he brings the story of the young Prince Siddhartha and his heroic spiritual quest vividly to life. His overview of the Buddha's teachings is reliable, penetrating, and accessible. The Buddha rejected superstition on the one hand and philosophical speculation on the other. He taught the path to the end of suffering and showed how we can achieve lasting joy. In The Dhammapada he spells out our choices with a refreshing realism and frankness.

This audiobook is a complete narration of Eknath Easwaran's introduction and translation, but omits the short chapter introductions by other writers.

©2007 Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (P)2016 Blue Mountain Center of Meditation

What listeners say about The Dhammapada

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Audio doesn’t include full book

The audio doesn’t include the full book. It only includes the book introduction, and the verses. Each chapter has an introduction that is not included in the audio, but required to read in order to undertake the book’s teachings. Therefore this was a disappointment.

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69 people found this helpful

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Hindu spin Buddhadharma

I was impressed with Eknath's commentary and translation of the Bhagavad-Gita and anticipated a similar experience with this commentary and translation of the Dharmapada. I was disappointed. The long introduction is incorrect on many points and distorts the Buddha's teachings seemingly to make it conform with his understanding of Hinduism. For example, he stated that the third jhana (dhyana) is nirvana and failed to mention the higher forth jhana or the four formless bases that may be attained beyond the fourth jhana. Apart from the flawed introduction, the translation of the Dharmapada itself is ok. I suggest people choose an alternate book.

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17 people found this helpful

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GREAT audiobook! Listen again & again..

FACT (like it or not)...
Audiobooks are only 50% about the CONTENT...
The other 50% is about the DELIVERY; that is, it's the VOICE - the "Performer" is most descriptive term here - that makes or breaks the "audio" incarnation of a book...

This book's "Performer" is superb: good tone, timber, WELL-suited to the material.

As with any MOVIE, the Performer must be "cast" well for each part. Whoever "cast" this performer to play these roles made an EXCELLENT choice. That this performer can be heard easily whether at night listening-while-sleeping (which I HIGHLY recommend) or in the car while driving a solo road trip (another top recommend for this book), the Performer's voice absolutely "ADDS" to what is already an outstanding text...
... and all this coming from a middle-aged WASP who's long-since found it impossible to reject the notion that all later religions have a common origin (or at least influence) in Buddhism & Hinduism...
DEFINITELY buying the other (more ancient) texts in this series!...

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6 people found this helpful

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No Hindu spin

The two religions are similar and since some of this book focuses on the spiritual side of Buddhism the similarities are there.
If you are from the west you will love having Paul Bazely as the reader.

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6 people found this helpful

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Great Translation of Dhammapada

I haven't read the other translations, but you can't go wrong with Paul Bazely's narration of Easwaran's work.

For anyone interested in Buddha's teaching, this is a great start.

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5 people found this helpful

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Perfect for sitting meditating in absorbing oral tradition passed down is one of the most ancient ways of learning knowledge

Focus on your breath set straight the information passed during this function reach you on a universal paths.

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Tao te Ching of Buddhism

Although I agree with Eknath's comparison of the Dhammapada with Jesus' sermon on the mount, to me it felt more akin to the Tao te Ching for Buddhists. It's broken up into bitesize chapters that are very easy to take in, and are extremely quotable. It's almost as if Buddhists got a hold of the Tao te Ching, and felt they needed to make their own for Buddhists. At any rate, The Dhammapada is an excellent example of a Buddhist text; it never gets too philosophical, and never gets too repetitive like you see in the rest of the Pali texts. I think anyone from any back round can take something away from this. It is dense with wisdom in every line.

I have a few minor critiques that didn't effect my overall score, but I feel that I need to let people who aren't new to Buddhism know. First of all, Eknath opens on the book with a very lengthy intro to Buddhism (and the Buddha); It takes up at least the first half of this recording. This is great for people who are new to Buddhism, but not for someone who just wants to listen to The Dhammapada; you would have to go in and find when the actual text starts. Another very minor annoyance was the music intro, and outro to each chapter. The chapters are too short to have these breaks constantly. If anything I would have preferred a light bell sound once in between chapters.

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2 people found this helpful

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An extremely powerful and useful book!

A clear and hearty rendition of a classic text on Sidhartha Gautama's life and teaching.

Short and pithy portions are offered for full assimilation of a truly awesome life. The translator and reader 'bring it home'.

Anyone can take advantage of this to create a better life.

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2 people found this helpful

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Excellent study tool.

Great way for beginners to learn the essence of Buddhism. Don't forget to go to your local temple.

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top notch and have read many times

As i you probably know the Dhammapada is very short and a good deal of the book is commentary in the beginning by Eknath Easwaran. The commentary is clear and insightful. This is one of those life changing books that I reread over again every now and then. There really is no greater praise then that.

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1 person found this helpful