The Dhammapada
Annotated and Explained by Jack Maguire
Reviewed by John Gilbert

The "Dhammapada" annotated and explained by Jack Maguire using the Max Muller translation (ISBN 1-893361-42-X) is one of the best translations and annotations of this most important Buddhist book.  The Dhammapada is to Buddhism what the Bhagavad-Gita is to Hinduism and the Koran is to Islam.  It is the book that best explains the teachings of the Buddha and is considered by most Buddhist scholars to be the closest thing to the actual Word of Buddha we have with us today.

The book dates from the time of the modern era though it was passed from mouth to ear for several centuries prior to being written down.   The poetical nature of the book corresponds to this oral tradition.  The use of meter and rhyme in the parent language supports this contention as well.

The book is divided into twenty-six short chapters each containing from ten to forty stanzas.  The translation by Max Muller appears on the right-hand pages and the notes by Jack Maguire and others on the left-hand page in each chapter.  This makes the book very easy to read and study.

A six-month program for studying the Dhammadapa can be started at any time.  The introductory notes and first chapter can be read in a few minutes each day for the first week.  Reading can be followed by a short period of contemplation, meditation and prayer.  Week by week new chapters can be explored in the same manner.

"Look upon the World as you would a bubble.  Look upon it as a mirage..."  Thus says the 4th stanza of the 13th chapter.  Here is meat for several days of meditation.  But in the 8th stanza of the same chapter it says: "This world is shrouded in darkness.  Few can see here..."  Here is meat for yet another several days of study.

So it goes, chapter after chapter, great pearls of wisdom worthy of our study, contemplation, meditation and prayer.

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