The Dhammapada (Large Print 16pt)

Book excerpt: The Dhammapada: one of three new editions of the books in Eknath Easwaran's Classics of Indian Spirituality series ''As irrigators guide water to their fields, as archers aim arrows, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their lives.'' - Dhammapada (145).... Dhammapada means ''the path of dharma,'' the path of truth, harmony, and righteousness. Capturing the living words of the Buddha, this much-loved scripture consists of verses organized by theme: thought, joy, anger, pleasure, and others. The Dhammapada is permeated with the power and practicality of one of the world's most appealing spiritual teachers. Rejecting superstition on the one hand and philosophical speculation on the other, the Buddha taught the path to the end of suffering and showed how we can achieve lasting joy. He spells out our choices with a refreshing realism and frankness. And he insists that we be spiritually self-reliant: ''All the effort must be made by you. Buddhas only point the way.'' Easwaran believed that we need nothing more than the Dhammapada to follow the way of the Buddha. His main qualification for interpreting the Dhammapada, he said, was that he knew from his own experience that these verses can transform our lives.