''The Gospel of Buddha'' is an 1894 book by Paul Carus. It is modeled on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

and tells the story of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

through

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

s. It was an important tool in introducing

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

to the west and is used as a teaching tool by some Asian sects. Carus believed that the modern world required a new Religion of Science. By the 1890s, inspired by the meetings and conversations at the

Parliament of the World's Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

in 1893, he had decided that Buddhism was the closest faith to his ideal and created ''The Gospel of Buddha'' to popularize the religion in the West. The work was assembled from existing English translations of Buddhists texts, with significant amendments and reworkings. His selection of texts favoured Buddhism as a philosophy without any supernatural elements. While criticized by contemporary scholars, this interpretation proved popular in the West, leading to a number of reprintings. It also influenced the development of Modern Buddhism in the 18th century in East Asia, notably in a Japanese translation of the book by D. T. Suzuki.

Online versions

archive.org

mountainman.com.au

its.brooklyn.cuny.edu
(archived)

References

External links

Buddhism studies books 1894 non-fiction books Books about Gautama Buddha {{Buddhism-book-stub