The Chapter of the Eights

Gil Fronsdal, The Buddha Before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early Teachings, Shambhala, Boulder, 2016, paperback £15, 180 pages.

reviewed by Dhivan Thomas Jones

Gil Fronsdal’s new book is a translation of and commentary on ‘The Chapter of the Eights’ (Aṭṭhakavagga), the fourth chapter of the Sutta-nipāta, itself a miscellaneous collection of Pāli Buddhist verses (including such classics as the Karaṇīya-metta sutta and the Ratana sutta). I was excited when I heard about this new translation, because The Chapter of the Eights is a fascinating...

Winter meeting of Triratna's European Chairs' Assembly

This winter’s gathering of Triratna’s European Chairs’ Assembly ended last week at Adhisthana and was unusually large, with around 60 participants. This partly reflects a changeover in Chairs in around 15 centres and enterprises, the old and new Chairs attending together.

The topic this time was leadership, explored through a series of presentations and workshops. Listen to short interviews on this topic.

The Chairs also heard about the work done by the College, Bhante and Triratna’s communications...

What did the Buddha revere?

The tradition tells us that once The Buiddha became enlightened he had a question in his mind ‘Who or what should I now revere?’. In one sense, being the only enlightened being on the planet there was no-one to go to for higher teachings or instruction and so he decided he needed to go to the Dharma as something to give his reverence to; the principles and teachings that provided the means for anyone including himself to go to for...