The Message of the Buddha

Perhaps one of the best beginner’s books ever written on the Buddha’s teaching, Jayatilleke’s marvelous book, The Message of the Buddha, gives the dedicated beginner a concise and panoramic view of Buddhist principles. Starting with the historical context of Buddhism, Jayatilleke then proceeds to touch on such important Buddhist topics as the Buddhist conception of truth, the Buddhist attitude to God and the Buddhist doctrine of karma.

With such a dazzling overview of Buddhism, one wonders why this book is no longer in print and why it is almost impossible to obtain used copies. I guess only the publisher knows the answer. It is a shame, for both in scope and depth, The Message of the Buddha far exceeds the current front runner, Walpola Rahula’s book, What the Buddha Taught which is regrettably little more than an in depth overview of the Four Noble Truths. We can think of no other beginner’s Buddhist book on the market today which holds a candle to Jayatilleke’s work. It is a must for the serious beginner and others who require a fair minded in substantive overview of Buddhism.

Considering the difficulty and expense of acquiring a good used copy of Message of the Buddha, or even a dog-eared copy, this CD copy on an Adobe Acrobat PDF format is a bargain for the price. Both PC users and Mac users will appreciate the humble efforts of the Buddhists who made it possible to bring this wonderful book to the public on CD. — The Zennist

Buy the CD-ROM through PayPal for $15. Shipping and Postage included in the price.