-
A Concise History of Buddhism
- From 500 BCE-1900 CE
- Narrated by: Jinananda
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
An ideal introduction to the history of Buddhism.
Andrew Skilton - Senior Research Fellow in Buddhist Studies, Kings College, London - explains the development of the basic concepts of Buddhism and its spread across the continents during its 2,500 years of history.
He begins with a close look at Buddhism in India, where it flourished until the 12th/13th century CE, charting the growth of different schools and practices. By the time it disappeared from its homeland midway through the millennium, it had become established in Central Asia and the Far East in a variety of forms.
Skilton looks at Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Burma and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet and Mongolia and in countries where there are now only archeological remains, such as Iran. This is a fascinating and useful insight into the historical progress of one of the world's great religions.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Long Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya
- By: Bhikkhu Sujato
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Dīgha Nikāya) is the first of the five Nikāyas (Collections) in the Sutta Pitaka and has its own particular character. Unlike the others which contain thousands of shorter discourses (suttas), it comprises just 34 but of much longer length - as the name indicates! This makes it in some ways a more focused collection of teachings of the Buddha and especially accessible in audio.
-
-
Good in the beginning, good in the middle...
- By Boguslaw on 05-28-21
By: Bhikkhu Sujato
-
The Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Gary A. Rendsburg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary A. Rendsburg
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether complete or only fragmentary, the 930 extant Dead Sea Scrolls irrevocably altered how we look at and understand the foundations of faith and religious practice. Now you can get a comprehensive introduction to this unique series of archaeological documents, and to scholars' evolving understanding of their authorship and significance, with these 24 lectures. Learn what the scrolls are, what they contain, and how the insights they offered into religious and ancient history came into focus.
-
-
A comprehensive overview of the Qumran Scrolls
- By Jacobus on 09-25-13
By: Gary A. Rendsburg, and others
-
The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way
- Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika
- By: Nāgārjuna, Jay L. Garfield - translator
- Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Buddhist saint Nāgārjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher. His greatest philosophical work, the Mūlamadhyamikakārikā - read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea - is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy. Now, in The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Jay L. Garfield provides a clear translation of Nāgārjuna's seminal work.
-
-
Wish i could get a refund.
- By CKW on 04-02-22
By: Nāgārjuna, and others
-
The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
- Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
- By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, now revised with added material and new insights, Nhat Hanh introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha’s teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives.
-
-
Great overview of Buddhism
- By Nick on 06-24-16
By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
-
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya
- By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 47 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pāli Canon, the authorised scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection - among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original teachings - consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections.
-
-
I can't believe it's FINALLY an audible book!
- By Yetanotherguy on 12-08-19
By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, and others
-
The Life of the Buddha
- By: Bhikkhu Ñanamoli
- Narrated by: Hayward Morse, Leighton Pugh, Nicolette McKenzie, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This unique biography, told in a lively manner through six 'voices', presents the Buddha's revolutionary solution for humanity that lends to the end of ill will, craving and delusion. It goes back to the earliest sources of the Buddha's life and teachings, drawing as it does from the Pali Canon which was said to record the words that the Buddha spoke, the events that happened, and his specific teachings on which the world-wide religion was based.
-
-
Too many narrators
- By CrimsonArrow on 12-30-17
By: Bhikkhu Ñanamoli
-
The Long Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya
- By: Bhikkhu Sujato
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Dīgha Nikāya) is the first of the five Nikāyas (Collections) in the Sutta Pitaka and has its own particular character. Unlike the others which contain thousands of shorter discourses (suttas), it comprises just 34 but of much longer length - as the name indicates! This makes it in some ways a more focused collection of teachings of the Buddha and especially accessible in audio.
-
-
Good in the beginning, good in the middle...
- By Boguslaw on 05-28-21
By: Bhikkhu Sujato
-
The Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Gary A. Rendsburg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary A. Rendsburg
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether complete or only fragmentary, the 930 extant Dead Sea Scrolls irrevocably altered how we look at and understand the foundations of faith and religious practice. Now you can get a comprehensive introduction to this unique series of archaeological documents, and to scholars' evolving understanding of their authorship and significance, with these 24 lectures. Learn what the scrolls are, what they contain, and how the insights they offered into religious and ancient history came into focus.
-
-
A comprehensive overview of the Qumran Scrolls
- By Jacobus on 09-25-13
By: Gary A. Rendsburg, and others
-
The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way
- Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika
- By: Nāgārjuna, Jay L. Garfield - translator
- Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Buddhist saint Nāgārjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher. His greatest philosophical work, the Mūlamadhyamikakārikā - read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea - is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy. Now, in The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Jay L. Garfield provides a clear translation of Nāgārjuna's seminal work.
-
-
Wish i could get a refund.
- By CKW on 04-02-22
By: Nāgārjuna, and others
-
The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
- Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
- By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, now revised with added material and new insights, Nhat Hanh introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha’s teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives.
-
-
Great overview of Buddhism
- By Nick on 06-24-16
By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
-
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya
- By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 47 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pāli Canon, the authorised scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection - among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original teachings - consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections.
-
-
I can't believe it's FINALLY an audible book!
- By Yetanotherguy on 12-08-19
By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, and others
-
The Life of the Buddha
- By: Bhikkhu Ñanamoli
- Narrated by: Hayward Morse, Leighton Pugh, Nicolette McKenzie, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This unique biography, told in a lively manner through six 'voices', presents the Buddha's revolutionary solution for humanity that lends to the end of ill will, craving and delusion. It goes back to the earliest sources of the Buddha's life and teachings, drawing as it does from the Pali Canon which was said to record the words that the Buddha spoke, the events that happened, and his specific teachings on which the world-wide religion was based.
-
-
Too many narrators
- By CrimsonArrow on 12-30-17
By: Bhikkhu Ñanamoli
-
An Introduction to Buddhism
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Narrated by: Roger Allam
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Speaking to an audience of Western students, the Dalai Lama shows us how to apply basic Buddhist principles to our day-to-day lives. Starting with the very foundation of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, he provides the framework for understanding the Buddha’s first teachings on suffering, happiness, and peace. He follows with commentary on two of Buddhism’s most profound texts: The Eight Verses on Training the Mind and Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, often referring to the former as one of his main sources of inspiration for the practice of compassion.
-
-
A Struggle
- By Cornelius on 08-05-21
-
The Way of the Bodhisattva
- Shambhala
- By: Shantideva, Padmakara Translation Group, the Dalai Lama - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Wulstan Fletcher
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Treasured by Buddhists of all traditions, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. This text has been studied, practiced, and expounded upon in an unbroken tradition for centuries, first in India, and later in Tibet. Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the Bodhisattvas - those who renounce the peace of individual enlightenment and vow to work for the liberation of all beings.
-
-
To hear again and again
- By Dirk on 07-09-18
By: Shantideva, and others
-
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikaya
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 57 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This volume offers a complete translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, the third of the four great collections in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pāli Canon. The Saṃyutta Nikāya consists of 56 chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha's suttas or discourses.
-
-
Easy to understand...
- By Munair on 04-09-21
By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
-
The Noble Eightfold Path
- Way to the End of Suffering
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Neha Shroff
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook offers a clear, concise account of the Eightfold Path prescribed to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying cause of suffering—ignorance. Each step of the path is believed to cultivate wisdom through mental training, and includes an enlightened and peaceful middle path that avoids extremes. The theoretical as well as practical angles of each of the paths—right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration—are illustrated through examples from contemporary life.
-
-
Simplified Version of Do's and Don'ts for Path
- By St. Paul on 12-23-22
By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
-
Old Path White Clouds
- Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha
- By: Thich Nhat Hanh
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Old Path White Clouds presents the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. Drawn directly from 24 Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources, and retold by Thich Nhat Hanh in his inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha's life slowly and gently over the course of 80 years, partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy, and partly through the eyes of the Buddha himself. Old Path White Clouds is destined to become a classic of religious literature.
-
-
Breathtaking accomplishment!
- By Karamelfun on 05-14-16
By: Thich Nhat Hanh
-
Being-Time
- A Practitioner's Guide to Dogen's Shobogenzo Uji
- By: Shinshu Roberts, Norman Fischer - foreword
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being-Time thoroughly explores Dogen's teaching on how we practice as Buddhas by understanding the relationship between being and time as it is—and as we perceive it to be. Using Dogen's Shobogenzo Uji (The True Dharma Eye, Being-Time), Shinshu Roberts offers a twofold analysis of this teaching: the meaning of the text and practice with the text, giving examples how we apply Dogen's complex teaching to our daily lives.
-
-
Worst narration
- By 円相 on 04-27-24
By: Shinshu Roberts, and others
-
Approaching the Buddhist Path
- The Library of Wisdom and Compassion
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thubten Chodron
- Narrated by: Peter Aronson
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Library of Wisdom and Compassion collects the Dalai Lama’s decades of presentations of every step of the path to enlightenment. It has been compiled and coauthored by one of his chief Western disciples, the American nun Thubten Chodron. This first volume provides a wealth of reflections on Buddhist history and fundamentals, contemporary issues, and the Dalai Lama’s own personal experiences.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Matthew Davis on 01-08-20
By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and others
-
Buddhism for Beginners [Jack Kornfield]
- By: Jack Kornfield
- Narrated by: Jack Kornfield
- Length: 9 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Created specifically to address the questions and needs of first-time students, here is Buddhism's vast spiritual legacy, presented by one of America's leading meditation teachers.
-
-
Might be difficult for true beginners...
- By Anna on 07-13-09
By: Jack Kornfield
-
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
- Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
- By: Shunryu Suzuki
- Narrated by: Peter Coyote
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few. So begins this most beloved of all American Zen works....
-
-
terrific book. Horrible recording.
- By Matthew Wash on 06-29-18
By: Shunryu Suzuki
-
Principal Texts of the Khuddaka Nikāya, Volume 1
- By: anonymous, various translators
- Narrated by: Elizabeth English, Jinananda, Ratnadhya, and others
- Length: 25 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Khuddaka Nikāya is different in character from the other four Nikāyas of the Sutta Pitaka in the Theravada Pāli Canon in that rather than being a single work it is, as its customary translation ‘Minor Anthologies’ suggests, a collection of independent works.
-
-
Disappoint narration
- By benlawraus on 11-04-24
By: anonymous, and others
-
Buddhism
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Damien Keown
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This very short introduction offers listeners a superb overview of the teachings of the Buddha, as well as a succinct guide to the integration of Buddhism into daily life.
-
-
Engage the services of a Very Short boatman
- By Darwin8u on 10-22-18
By: Damien Keown
-
What the Buddha Taught
- By: Walpola Sri Rahula
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long regarded as one of the best introductions to Buddhism, What the Buddha Taught draws on the actual words spoken by the Buddha to give a lucid and accurate account of the fundamental principles of Buddhist doctrine. Richly supported by extracts from the ancient texts, Walpola Rahula gives clear and direct explanations of Buddhism's essential teachings.
-
-
I thought I understood the Buddha’s teaching until I read this book!
- By victoria breeden on 05-28-19
Related to this topic
-
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
- A Biography
- By: David Gordon White
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Consisting of fewer than 200 verses written in an obscure if not impenetrable language and style, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is today extolled by the yoga establishment as a perennial classic and guide to yoga practice. As David Gordon White demonstrates in this groundbreaking study, both of these assumptions are incorrect. Virtually forgotten in India for hundreds of years and maligned when it was first discovered in the West, the Yoga Sutra has been elevated to its present iconic status.
-
-
Academic Hubris
- By John on 10-31-14
-
Hidden Wisdom
- A Guide to Western Inner Traditions
- By: Richard Smoley, Jay Kinney
- Narrated by: Ethan Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The co-editors of Gnosis magazine explore the many esoteric traditions that Western culture has to offer. While terms from Eastern spiritual practices such as Zen, mantra, and karma have become part of our daily lexicon, the traditions of Western spirituality have been largely unexplored by people searching for non-mainstream routes to spiritual experience. But for those who identify with Western culture, Western religious traditions have their own wisdom teachings that are more suitable to their needs and expectations.
-
-
Interesting, enjoyable, not too deep
- By DBruno1987 on 03-03-15
By: Richard Smoley, and others
-
The Heart Sutra
- A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism
- By: Kazuaki Tanahashi
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra is among the best known of all the Buddhist scriptures. Chanted daily by many Zen students, it is also studied extensively in the Tibetan tradition, and it has been regarded with interest more recently in the West in various fields of study - from philosophy to quantum physics. In just 35 lines, it expresses the truth of impermanence and the release from suffering that results from the understanding of that truth with a breathtaking economy of language.
-
-
Awful
- By Anonymous User on 08-21-17
-
Secular Buddhism
- Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism, and the practice occurs within secular contexts such as hospitals, schools, and the workplace. Is it possible to recover from the Buddhist teachings a vision of human flourishing that is secular rather than religious without compromising the integrity of the tradition?
-
-
Good, but repetition of old material
- By Ludwig on 02-25-18
-
Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion
- By: Benjamin E. Zeller
- Narrated by: Eric Burns
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In March 1997, 39 people in Rancho Santa Fe, California, ritually terminated their lives. To outsiders, it was a mass suicide. To insiders, it was a graduation. Benjamin Zeller not only explores the question of why the members of Heaven's Gate committed ritual suicides, but interrogates the origin and evolution of the religion, its appeal, and its practices. By tracking the development of the history, social structure, and worldview of Heaven's Gate, Zeller shows that the movement was both a reflection and a microcosm of larger American culture.
-
-
cult apologia.
- By Avery on 06-01-20
-
Hinduism
- A Comprehensive Guide to the Hindu Religion, Hindu Gods, Hindu Beliefs, Hindu Rituals, and Hinduism History
- By: Cassie Coleman
- Narrated by: Dryw McArthur
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Explore the Hindu religion with its fascinating rituals and history! This audiobook has eye-opening information about Hinduism that will help you to understand the religion, gods, beliefs, and rituals and how the religion has evolved over time. You will discover more than you ever imagined exists in Hinduism, and by the end of this audiobook, you’ll know a lot about a religion that has over one billion followers worldwide.
-
-
Avoid this overly simplified view of Hinduism
- By Peter on 03-24-23
By: Cassie Coleman
-
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
- A Biography
- By: David Gordon White
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Consisting of fewer than 200 verses written in an obscure if not impenetrable language and style, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is today extolled by the yoga establishment as a perennial classic and guide to yoga practice. As David Gordon White demonstrates in this groundbreaking study, both of these assumptions are incorrect. Virtually forgotten in India for hundreds of years and maligned when it was first discovered in the West, the Yoga Sutra has been elevated to its present iconic status.
-
-
Academic Hubris
- By John on 10-31-14
-
Hidden Wisdom
- A Guide to Western Inner Traditions
- By: Richard Smoley, Jay Kinney
- Narrated by: Ethan Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The co-editors of Gnosis magazine explore the many esoteric traditions that Western culture has to offer. While terms from Eastern spiritual practices such as Zen, mantra, and karma have become part of our daily lexicon, the traditions of Western spirituality have been largely unexplored by people searching for non-mainstream routes to spiritual experience. But for those who identify with Western culture, Western religious traditions have their own wisdom teachings that are more suitable to their needs and expectations.
-
-
Interesting, enjoyable, not too deep
- By DBruno1987 on 03-03-15
By: Richard Smoley, and others
-
The Heart Sutra
- A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism
- By: Kazuaki Tanahashi
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra is among the best known of all the Buddhist scriptures. Chanted daily by many Zen students, it is also studied extensively in the Tibetan tradition, and it has been regarded with interest more recently in the West in various fields of study - from philosophy to quantum physics. In just 35 lines, it expresses the truth of impermanence and the release from suffering that results from the understanding of that truth with a breathtaking economy of language.
-
-
Awful
- By Anonymous User on 08-21-17
-
Secular Buddhism
- Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism, and the practice occurs within secular contexts such as hospitals, schools, and the workplace. Is it possible to recover from the Buddhist teachings a vision of human flourishing that is secular rather than religious without compromising the integrity of the tradition?
-
-
Good, but repetition of old material
- By Ludwig on 02-25-18
-
Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion
- By: Benjamin E. Zeller
- Narrated by: Eric Burns
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In March 1997, 39 people in Rancho Santa Fe, California, ritually terminated their lives. To outsiders, it was a mass suicide. To insiders, it was a graduation. Benjamin Zeller not only explores the question of why the members of Heaven's Gate committed ritual suicides, but interrogates the origin and evolution of the religion, its appeal, and its practices. By tracking the development of the history, social structure, and worldview of Heaven's Gate, Zeller shows that the movement was both a reflection and a microcosm of larger American culture.
-
-
cult apologia.
- By Avery on 06-01-20
-
Hinduism
- A Comprehensive Guide to the Hindu Religion, Hindu Gods, Hindu Beliefs, Hindu Rituals, and Hinduism History
- By: Cassie Coleman
- Narrated by: Dryw McArthur
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Explore the Hindu religion with its fascinating rituals and history! This audiobook has eye-opening information about Hinduism that will help you to understand the religion, gods, beliefs, and rituals and how the religion has evolved over time. You will discover more than you ever imagined exists in Hinduism, and by the end of this audiobook, you’ll know a lot about a religion that has over one billion followers worldwide.
-
-
Avoid this overly simplified view of Hinduism
- By Peter on 03-24-23
By: Cassie Coleman
-
Orientalism
- By: Edward Said
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This landmark book, first published in 1978, remains one of the most influential books in the Social Sciences, particularly Ethnic Studies and Postcolonialism. Said is best known for describing and critiquing "Orientalism", which he perceived as a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. In Orientalism Said claimed a "subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture."
-
-
We're lucky to have this on audio
- By Delano on 02-27-13
By: Edward Said
-
The Case for God
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable?
-
-
Great recasting of how God should be interpreted
- By John Doyle on 02-18-11
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Ibn Khaldun
- An Intellectual Biography
- By: Robert Irwin
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is generally regarded as the greatest intellectual ever to have appeared in the Arab world - a genius who ranks as one of the world's great minds. Yet the author of the Muqaddima, the most important study of history ever produced in the Islamic world, is not as well known as he should be, and his ideas are widely misunderstood. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Robert Irwin provides an engaging and authoritative account of Ibn Khaldun's extraordinary life, times, writings, and ideas.
-
-
Issues with accuracy, pronounciation
- By Moh 3aly on 01-02-19
By: Robert Irwin
-
Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
- By: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
- Narrated by: Aze Fellner
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for History. This book discusses the troubling and possibly irreconcilable split between Jewish memory and Jewish historiography.
-
-
Best book of history of Judaism written in centuries
- By Bicigodo on 07-19-15
-
Forbidden Faith
- The Secret History of Gnosticism
- By: Richard Smoley
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity - truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia. In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries AD, but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.
-
-
An absolute must for understanding Gnosticism.
- By Patriot RN - Doc on 05-12-21
By: Richard Smoley
-
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
- By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted.
-
-
Fascinating and informative
- By Michael Kellogg on 09-29-05
-
Battling the Gods
- Atheism in the Ancient World
- By: Tim Whitmarsh
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long before the European Enlightenment and the Darwinian revolution, which we often take to mark the birth of the modern revolt against religious explanations of the world, brave people doubted the power of the gods. Religion provoked skepticism in ancient Greece, and heretics argued that history must be understood as a result of human action rather than divine intervention. They devised theories of the cosmos based on matter and notions of matter based on atoms.
-
-
We have a history as long and as rich as any relig
- By Glencannnon on 08-13-19
By: Tim Whitmarsh
-
A Secular Age
- By: Charles Taylor
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 42 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to say that we live in a secular age? Almost everyone would agree that we - in the West, at least - largely do. And clearly the place of religion in our societies has changed profoundly in the last few centuries. In what will be a defining book for our time, Charles Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean - of what, precisely, happens when a society in which it is virtually impossible not to believe in God becomes one in which faith, even for the staunchest believer, is only one human possibility among others.
-
-
Needs Guest Narrators for French and German
- By Norman on 06-13-15
By: Charles Taylor
-
The Yugas
- Keys to Understanding Our Hidden Past, Emerging Energy Age and Enlightened Future
- By: Joseph Selbie, David Steinmetz, Swami Kriyananda - foreword
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today's view of history cannot account for ancient anomalies, such as the Pyramids and advanced knowledge contained in India's Vedas. But in 1894, an Indian sage gave us an explanation not only for our hidden past but for the trends of today and for our future enlightenment - the 24,000-year yuga cycle.
-
-
Excellent book but one slight problem
- By Z on 02-19-19
By: Joseph Selbie, and others
-
God and the Evolving Universe
- The Next Step in Personal Evolution
- By: James Redfield, Michael Murphy, Sylvia Timbers
- Narrated by: Chris Ryan
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In God and the Evolving Universe, James Redfield and Michael Murphy present an important message of hope and a vision for the future. The authors contend that thousands of years of human striving have delivered us to this very moment, in which each act of self-development is creating a new stage in planetary evolution and the emergence of a human species possessed of vastly expanded spiritual experience.
-
-
higher is better
- By Tommie on 04-20-07
By: James Redfield, and others
-
The Monk and the Philosopher
- A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life
- By: Jean-Francois Revel
- Narrated by: David Shaw-Parker
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-seven years ago, Matthieu Ricard gave up a promising career as a scientist to study Tibetan Buddhism - not as a detached observer but by immersing himself in its practice under the guidance of its greatest living masters. Years later, this project was born, and Richard met with his father, Jean-Francois Revel - a French philosopher who became world famous for his challenges to both Communism and Christianity. At an inn, these two profoundly thoughtful men explored questions that have occupied humankind throughout its history.
-
-
The dialogues themselves proved tranquility is attainable.
- By Mingster on 05-16-19
-
The History of Philosophy
- By: A. C. Grayling
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 28 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of philosophy is an epic tale, spanning civilizations and continents. It explores some of the most creative minds in history. But not since the long-popular classic by Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, published in 1945, has there been a comprehensive and entertaining single-volume history of this great, intellectual, world-shaping journey.
-
-
A much needed update to Bertrand Russell's classic
- By Michael on 06-27-20
By: A. C. Grayling
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Dhammapada
- A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations
- By: Gil Fronsdal
- Narrated by: Gil Fronsdal
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this renowned translation of Buddhism’s most widely read scripture, freshly updated for a new generation of listeners, Gil Fronsdal provides extensive explanatory notes and easy-to-understand insight for practice. Whether a practicing Buddhist of any tradition or simply a listener of the world’s literary classics, all will be enriched by this centuries-old wisdom.
By: Gil Fronsdal
-
What the Buddha Taught
- By: Walpola Sri Rahula
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long regarded as one of the best introductions to Buddhism, What the Buddha Taught draws on the actual words spoken by the Buddha to give a lucid and accurate account of the fundamental principles of Buddhist doctrine. Richly supported by extracts from the ancient texts, Walpola Rahula gives clear and direct explanations of Buddhism's essential teachings.
-
-
I thought I understood the Buddha’s teaching until I read this book!
- By victoria breeden on 05-28-19
-
The Noble Eightfold Path
- Way to the End of Suffering
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Neha Shroff
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook offers a clear, concise account of the Eightfold Path prescribed to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying cause of suffering—ignorance. Each step of the path is believed to cultivate wisdom through mental training, and includes an enlightened and peaceful middle path that avoids extremes. The theoretical as well as practical angles of each of the paths—right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration—are illustrated through examples from contemporary life.
-
-
Simplified Version of Do's and Don'ts for Path
- By St. Paul on 12-23-22
By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
-
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya
- By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 47 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pāli Canon, the authorised scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection - among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original teachings - consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections.
-
-
I can't believe it's FINALLY an audible book!
- By Yetanotherguy on 12-08-19
By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, and others
-
Great Disciples of the Buddha
- Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacies
- By: Hellmuth Hecker, Nyanaponika Thera, Bikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: William Hope, Nicolette McKenzie, Ratnadhya
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-four of the Buddha's most distinguished disciples are brought to life in ten chapters of rich narration. They include monks who were very close to him throughout his life, including Sariputta and Mahamoggallana; his cousin and companion Ananda; his principal women disciples, including the nun Isidasi and his lay disciple, the courtesan Ambapali; and the serial killer Angulimala, whose character was transformed after meeting the Buddha.
-
-
Beautiful stories of Buddhism's earliest heroes
- By Blake Rampy on 01-05-17
By: Hellmuth Hecker, and others
-
India
- A History
- By: John Keay
- Narrated by: Mike Fraser
- Length: 32 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fully revised with forty thousand new words that take the listener up to present-day India, John Keay’s India: A History spans five millennia in a sweeping narrative that tells the story of the peoples of the subcontinent, from their ancient beginnings in the valley of the Indus to the events in the region today.
-
-
The Best book on India I've ever read or listened to
- By djay on 10-03-24
By: John Keay
-
The Dhammapada
- A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations
- By: Gil Fronsdal
- Narrated by: Gil Fronsdal
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this renowned translation of Buddhism’s most widely read scripture, freshly updated for a new generation of listeners, Gil Fronsdal provides extensive explanatory notes and easy-to-understand insight for practice. Whether a practicing Buddhist of any tradition or simply a listener of the world’s literary classics, all will be enriched by this centuries-old wisdom.
By: Gil Fronsdal
-
What the Buddha Taught
- By: Walpola Sri Rahula
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long regarded as one of the best introductions to Buddhism, What the Buddha Taught draws on the actual words spoken by the Buddha to give a lucid and accurate account of the fundamental principles of Buddhist doctrine. Richly supported by extracts from the ancient texts, Walpola Rahula gives clear and direct explanations of Buddhism's essential teachings.
-
-
I thought I understood the Buddha’s teaching until I read this book!
- By victoria breeden on 05-28-19
-
The Noble Eightfold Path
- Way to the End of Suffering
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Neha Shroff
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook offers a clear, concise account of the Eightfold Path prescribed to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying cause of suffering—ignorance. Each step of the path is believed to cultivate wisdom through mental training, and includes an enlightened and peaceful middle path that avoids extremes. The theoretical as well as practical angles of each of the paths—right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration—are illustrated through examples from contemporary life.
-
-
Simplified Version of Do's and Don'ts for Path
- By St. Paul on 12-23-22
By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
-
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya
- By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 47 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pāli Canon, the authorised scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection - among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original teachings - consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections.
-
-
I can't believe it's FINALLY an audible book!
- By Yetanotherguy on 12-08-19
By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, and others
-
Great Disciples of the Buddha
- Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacies
- By: Hellmuth Hecker, Nyanaponika Thera, Bikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: William Hope, Nicolette McKenzie, Ratnadhya
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-four of the Buddha's most distinguished disciples are brought to life in ten chapters of rich narration. They include monks who were very close to him throughout his life, including Sariputta and Mahamoggallana; his cousin and companion Ananda; his principal women disciples, including the nun Isidasi and his lay disciple, the courtesan Ambapali; and the serial killer Angulimala, whose character was transformed after meeting the Buddha.
-
-
Beautiful stories of Buddhism's earliest heroes
- By Blake Rampy on 01-05-17
By: Hellmuth Hecker, and others
-
India
- A History
- By: John Keay
- Narrated by: Mike Fraser
- Length: 32 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fully revised with forty thousand new words that take the listener up to present-day India, John Keay’s India: A History spans five millennia in a sweeping narrative that tells the story of the peoples of the subcontinent, from their ancient beginnings in the valley of the Indus to the events in the region today.
-
-
The Best book on India I've ever read or listened to
- By djay on 10-03-24
By: John Keay
-
Buddhism Plain and Simple
- By: Steve Hagen
- Narrated by: William Hope
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The observations and insights of the Buddha are practical and eminently down to earth, dealing exclusively with awareness in the here and now. Buddhism Plain and Simple offers listeners these fundamental teachings, stripped of cultural trappings that have accumulated around Buddhism over the past 25 centuries.
-
-
Thrilled this Is Finally an Audiobook
- By Asha Ember on 01-28-17
By: Steve Hagen
-
Buddhism Is Not What You Think
- Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs
- By: Steve Hagen
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and renowned Zen teacher Steve Hagen penetrates the most essential and enduring questions at the heart of the Buddha's teachings: How can we see the world in each moment, rather than merely as what we think, hope, or fear it is? How can we base our actions on reality, rather than on the longing and loathing of our hearts and minds? How can we live lives that are wise, compassionate, and in tune with reality? And how can we separate the wisdom of Buddhism from the cultural trappings and misconceptions that have come to be associated with it?
-
-
great message, annoying narrator
- By Pamela Radtke on 11-28-19
By: Steve Hagen
-
Buddhism
- One Teacher, Many Traditions
- By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thubten Chodron
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Buddhism is practiced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, from Tibetan caves to Tokyo temples to redwood retreats. To an outside viewer, it might be hard to see what they all have in common. In Buddhism, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and American Buddhist nun Thubten Chodron map out with clarity the convergences and the divergences between the two major strains of Buddhism - the Sanskrit traditions of Tibet and East Asia and the Pali traditions of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
-
-
Very complete instructions on Buddhism.
- By Ricardo on 07-07-19
By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and others
-
Ashoka
- Portrait of a Philosopher King
- By: Patrick Olivelle
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this deeply researched book, Patrick Olivelle draws on Ashoka's inscriptions and on the art and architecture he pioneered to craft a detailed picture of Ashoka as a ruler, a Buddhist, a moral philosopher, and an ecumenist who governed a vast multiethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-religious empire.
-
-
brilliant
- By Bill Drayton on 08-24-24
By: Patrick Olivelle
-
Buddhism Without Beliefs
- A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before it was a religion, a culture, or even a system of meditation, what was Buddhism? On Buddhism Without Beliefs, celebrated teacher, translator, and former Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor takes us back to the first years after the Buddha's awakening to reveal the root insights of Buddhism hidden beneath centuries of history and interpretation.
-
-
Disingenuous.
- By Zoltan on 04-15-16
-
Buddhism
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Damien Keown
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This very short introduction offers listeners a superb overview of the teachings of the Buddha, as well as a succinct guide to the integration of Buddhism into daily life.
-
-
Engage the services of a Very Short boatman
- By Darwin8u on 10-22-18
By: Damien Keown
What listeners say about A Concise History of Buddhism
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 10-25-19
read buy ?
My store in more words or another. Was my favorite to begin with still lessoning from time to time
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heavypen
- 04-18-18
Difficult for the indoctrinated
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I have some experience with Buddhism - introduced as a child - and there were a few places in this work that helped clarify key points of Buddhism philosophy. However, the historical narrative is so slow and muddled to the point where listening is extremely difficult. In my opinion, this work needs prior experience with Buddhism. It is not for the rank beginner - although that's the marketing position. Minus one star for not being honest. Minus another star for muddling pronunciation of various words to the point where the narrative slows down to a crawl.
Would you be willing to try another book from Andrew Skilton? Why or why not?
I may. Depends on the topic.
What three words best describe Jinananda’s voice?
Unexciting.
Did A Concise History of Buddhism inspire you to do anything?
This book inspired me to look for another book to read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jan
- 12-19-20
Great overview of the development of Buddhism!
The book gives a concise and systematized overview of Buddhism in India (primarily) and the rest of Asia (secondarily). Narration is also brilliant!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- g. hull
- 09-01-22
Good book w ok narration
A great fairly concise history of Buddhism. It feels quite a bit more focused on the earlier stage of Buddhism within India and then a bit rushed when covering the later history within different Buddhist nations. The narrator overall is fine but there are some pronunciation mistakes, which can be somewhat annoying because the author tends to explain technical Buddhist terms in English once and then uses the Sanskrit/Pāli/etc throughout
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 04-10-20
Good book, weirdly edited.
Kinda confused at the end, seems to have cut off at random, then foreword again?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!