Buddhism is a faith that commands over 100 million followers throughout the worl
d. Buddha stands with Christ, Confucius and Mohammed as someone who revolutioniz
ed the religious ideas of his time to advocate a new way of living. All that is
known about Buddha comes from a collection of ancient writings that fuse history
, biography and myth.
Karen Armstrong distils from these the key events of Bu
ddha's life: his birth as Siddhartha Gotama in the fifth century BC and his aban
donment of his wife and son; his attainment of enlightenment under the Banyan tr
ee (the moment he became a buddha, or enlightened one; his political influence;
the divisions among his followers; and his serene death. Armstrong also introduc
es the key tenets of Buddhism: she explains the doctrine of anatta (no-soul) and
the concepts of kamma (actions), samsara (keeping going), dhamma (a law or teac
hing that reflects the fundamental principles of existence) and the idealised st
ate of nibbana (literally the 'cooling of the ego'). Since it promotes no person
al god, Buddhism, writes Armstrong, 'is essentially a psychological faith'.
I
n our own age of secular anxiety, she shows that it has profound lessons to teac
h about selflessness and the simple life. Karen Armstrong's short book is a magn
ificent introduction to the life and thought of this most influential of spiritu
al thinkers.
