The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (450 page)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Buddhacarita
.

‘The Acts of the Buddha’, a biography of the Buddha in the style of Sanskrit epic poetry (
mah
k
vya
) written by
A
vagho
a
about the 2nd cent. CE.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Skt; Thai, Putat
t). Thailand's most influential Buddhist scholar and reformist monk. Born in 1905, Buddhad
sa (i.e. ‘servant of the Buddha’) was ordained at the age of 20, but soon afterwards became disenchanted with conventional monastic life. He decided to embark on a career of
vipassan
(insight meditation), and established a centre for this purpose at Suan Mokkhabal
r
ma (The Grove of the Power of Liberation) near Chaiya in S. Thailand in 1932. He remained there, paying occasional visits to Bangkok and abroad. He gave a lecture at the Sixth Great Buddhist Council held in Rangoon, 1954–6.
Following King Mongkut's disregard for the literal understanding of Buddhist cosmology, Buddhad
sa
demythologizes
many traditional beliefs. Thus gods and demons become states of mind, rebirth a moment-to-moment experience, and the doctrine of
anatman
(no-self) a statement of the need to move away from an existence characterized by ‘ego’ or ‘self-ness’ to
nirv
na
(P
li), here and now.