Original Buddhism through a Swami's Eyes

THE COMMENTARY ON THE DHAMMAPADA, by Swami Nirmalananda Giri, has recently been completed, and has been posted in full at the Atma Jyoti website, and is also available as a free PDF download. This is the completion of a years-long project, and students of practical spiritual life will find it an invaluable aid to their practice.

The Dhammapada is not a transcription of a single talk by Gautama the Buddha. Rather, it is a collection of his words on the most important subjects for those seeking Nirvana. It was compiled only three months after his passing away by his enlightened disciples (arhats), who gave it the name Dhammapada, which means “Portions of the Dharma” or “The Way of Dharma.” The Dhammapada consists of four hundred twenty- three Pali verses that were gleaned from about three hundred discourses of the Buddha. It is a distillation of forty-five years of teaching. The translation mostly used in this commentary is that of John Richards.

This commentary is unique in that the author, Swami Nirmalananda Giri, writes from the point of view of Sanatana Dharma, but also has insights from the perspective of original Christianity and original Buddhism, as well as other traditions.

Visit http://www.atmajyoti.org/spirwrit-buddhism.asp to read individual chapters or download the full ebook in PDF format.