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by
Thomas Moore MD (Foreword),
The Buddha and the Terrorist addresses the urgent questions we face today:
Satish Kumar (Author),
Allan Hunt Badiner (Afterword)
4.4 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
Kindle
$13.45
Hardcover
from $20.68
3 Used from $20.68
Paperback
$153.00
2 Used from $46.212 New from $22.61
"A challenging story, beautifully written, most pertinent and relevant to our time." --Deepak Chopra
Not every book will change your life, but any book can. Not every discussion will make a difference, but a conversation can change the world.
In this timely retelling of an ancient Buddhist parable, peace activist Satish Kumar has created a small book with a powerful spiritual message about ending violence.
4.4 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
Kindle
$13.45
Hardcover
from $20.68
3 Used from $20.68
Paperback
$153.00
2 Used from $46.212 New from $22.61
"A challenging story, beautifully written, most pertinent and relevant to our time." --Deepak Chopra
Not every book will change your life, but any book can. Not every discussion will make a difference, but a conversation can change the world.
In this timely retelling of an ancient Buddhist parable, peace activist Satish Kumar has created a small book with a powerful spiritual message about ending violence.
It is a tale of a fearsome outcast named Angulimala ("Necklace of Fingers"), who is terrorizing towns and villages in order to gain control of the state, murdering people and adding their fingers to his gruesome necklace.
One day he comes face to face with the Buddha and is persuaded, through a series of compelling conversations, to renounce violence and take responsibility for his actions.
The Buddha and the Terrorist addresses the urgent questions we face today:
- Should we talk to terrorists?
- Can we reason with religious fundamentalists?
- Is nonviolence practical?
The story ends with a dramatic trial that speaks to the victims of terrorism--the families whose mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters Angulimala has murdered. It asks whether it is possible for them to forgive. Or whether it is even desirable.
No one can read The Buddha and the Terrorist without thinking about the root causes of terrorism, about good and evil, about justice and forgiveness, about the kind of place we want the world to be, and, most important, about the most productive and practical way to get there.
121 pages
Algonquin Books
Publication date
1 September 2006
--
Product description
Review
"This kind of parable has a calming effect on the mind. The change in outlook from anger to compassion is also contagious, also powerful."
--The Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A challenging story, beautifully written, most pertinent and relevant to our time." --Deepak Chopra
"A profound message of hope in the midst of seemingly hopeless terrors." --Robert Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University
From the Inside Flap
Not every book will change your life, but any book can. Not every discussion will make a difference, but a conversation can change the world.
In this timely retelling of an ancient Buddhist parable, peace activist Satish Kumar has created a small book with a powerful spiritual message about ending violence. It is a tale of a fearsome outcast named Angulimala (" Necklace of Fingers" ), who is terrorizing towns and villages in order to gain control of the state, murdering people and adding their fingers to his gruesome necklace. One day he comes face to face with the Buddha and is persuaded, through a series of compelling conversations, to renounce violence and take responsibility for his actions.
The Buddha and the Terrorist addresses the urgent questions we face today: Should we talk to terrorists? Can we reason with religious fundamentalists? Is nonviolence practical? The story ends with a dramatic trial that speaks to the victims of terrorism-- the families whose mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters Angulimala has murdered. It asks whether it is possible for them to forgive. Or whether it is even desirable.
No one can read The Buddha and the Terrorist without thinking about the root causes of terrorism, about good and evil, about justice and forgiveness, about the kind of place we want the world to be, and, most important, about the most productive and practical way to get there.
From the Back Cover
Every once in a while a profound and beautiful book comes along that speaks for all time and also to our specific time. The Buddha and the Terrorist is such a book.
"There is a virus buried deep in all violence that is contagious, that inspires an equally brutal and mindless response. You can choose not to be part of the destructive cycle, and that choice not to participate is the first step toward peace. We can begin to cultivate small acts of compassion right now."
--from the foreword by Thomas Moore
About the Author
Thomas Moore is the author of Care of the Soul.
=====
Satish Kumar was born in India. He was a monk for nine years and then founded the London School for Nonviolence. He is the editor of the international magazine Resurgence and the director of programs at Schumacher College, and he has written two previous books, No Destination and You Are, Therefore I Am.
Product details
Publisher : Algonquin Books (1 September 2006)
Language : English
No one can read The Buddha and the Terrorist without thinking about the root causes of terrorism, about good and evil, about justice and forgiveness, about the kind of place we want the world to be, and, most important, about the most productive and practical way to get there.
121 pages
Algonquin Books
Publication date
1 September 2006
--
Product description
Review
"This kind of parable has a calming effect on the mind. The change in outlook from anger to compassion is also contagious, also powerful."
--The Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A challenging story, beautifully written, most pertinent and relevant to our time." --Deepak Chopra
"A profound message of hope in the midst of seemingly hopeless terrors." --Robert Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University
From the Inside Flap
Not every book will change your life, but any book can. Not every discussion will make a difference, but a conversation can change the world.
In this timely retelling of an ancient Buddhist parable, peace activist Satish Kumar has created a small book with a powerful spiritual message about ending violence. It is a tale of a fearsome outcast named Angulimala (" Necklace of Fingers" ), who is terrorizing towns and villages in order to gain control of the state, murdering people and adding their fingers to his gruesome necklace. One day he comes face to face with the Buddha and is persuaded, through a series of compelling conversations, to renounce violence and take responsibility for his actions.
The Buddha and the Terrorist addresses the urgent questions we face today: Should we talk to terrorists? Can we reason with religious fundamentalists? Is nonviolence practical? The story ends with a dramatic trial that speaks to the victims of terrorism-- the families whose mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters Angulimala has murdered. It asks whether it is possible for them to forgive. Or whether it is even desirable.
No one can read The Buddha and the Terrorist without thinking about the root causes of terrorism, about good and evil, about justice and forgiveness, about the kind of place we want the world to be, and, most important, about the most productive and practical way to get there.
From the Back Cover
Every once in a while a profound and beautiful book comes along that speaks for all time and also to our specific time. The Buddha and the Terrorist is such a book.
"There is a virus buried deep in all violence that is contagious, that inspires an equally brutal and mindless response. You can choose not to be part of the destructive cycle, and that choice not to participate is the first step toward peace. We can begin to cultivate small acts of compassion right now."
--from the foreword by Thomas Moore
About the Author
Thomas Moore is the author of Care of the Soul.
=====
Satish Kumar was born in India. He was a monk for nine years and then founded the London School for Nonviolence. He is the editor of the international magazine Resurgence and the director of programs at Schumacher College, and he has written two previous books, No Destination and You Are, Therefore I Am.
Product details
Publisher : Algonquin Books (1 September 2006)
Language : English
===
From other countries
Monkview
5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for Buddhists
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 July 2010
Verified Purchase
This book tells just one of the stories of the Buddha's life following his enlightenment. It is of the Buddha's encounter with a man terrorising local communities, committed to the gaining of personal power and revenge through murder. A familiar story in any age and certainly for our own . . Following Angulimala's encounter with the Buddha he reforms and the rest of the story is of his own illumuination and redemption and how the anger and grief of the community he has devastated handle the unexpected outcome.
Satish Kumar dramatises this tale with care and understanding and in the forward it is made clear that we need to find another way in our own times to deal with the issues of terrorism and the associated anger and sense of revenge that is so prevalent today. The Buddha's example, through this story, is seen as one such solution which, it is not just admitted but laid plain for us, demands courage. But what choices do we have in our times other than to spin on the never-ending wheel of action and reaction which produces more and more violence and destruction? This is clearly no answer despite the so-called enlightened times in which we live. We have truly come no distance at all since savagery in this respect; we have not learned.
The story, as Satish Kumar shows, is not just about outer situations, though.
Within all of us we need to address the terrorist within, that part of us that breeds anger and hatred which is then projected into the world and causes such havoc. Also, the way we treat ourselves and our own consciousness is shown as central to the whole question of violence in the world, in our society and culture.
The message is clear that we need to start with ourselves and co-incidental with this will be a lessening in those manifestations of anger and violence in the world.
This is the message that Gandhi, Christ and others also gave. With the clarity and poise of the Buddha's teaching as shown through Satish Kumar's writing, we can see that not only is this a powerful answer, it is a practical one on which we can make a start right now.
This is not a book just for Buddhists, but for everyone whatever our cultural and religious/Spiritual background.
3 people found this helpful
Nancy Devlin
5.0 out of 5 stars Very profound!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 28 August 2019
Verified Purchase
Such truth in this simple book! I believe everyone who reads it can connect with the message. How badly we need this wisdom and practice in our world! So much violence exists. What this challenges me to do is to personally choice the path laid out in all of my interactions in life. Perhaps by living this way, an example will be set so others follow suit. Then as we all walk the path, we can certainly change the world. I believe.
PBcreek
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book that you wish never ended
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 4 April 2011
Verified Purchase
This is a beautiful book of a story that I had heard in my childhood.
Although the basic story hasn't changed, this renarration and the fact that I am reading it again as an adult make me see things so much differently. It made me think about world conflicts differently as well as revisit personal experiences from a new perspective.
A simple story but a profound book to read, gift and spread around. Don't expect many words of wisdom or a profound teaching from the author. I think its kind of like an instrument that helps you question and find your own truth. I believe this book should be beyond the bounds of any regious or phillosophical beliefs. I am sure there is a story this for every faith which may or may not have been retold for the modern practical audience.
One person found this helpful
Maxie
1.0 out of 5 stars couldn't get past the prologue
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 3 August 2005
Verified Purchase
I got this new edition, not yet available in the U.S., from a friend who recently returned from Europe. In the book's prologue, Kumar makes two disturbing statements that give away his personal bias. First, he mentions a number of historical figures who represented men & women of peace, and he's careful to hit on several religions, except for the conspicuous absence of Judaism (unless you count Jesus Christ, which technically one should...). Surely Kumar can think of at least one Jewish man or woman of peace who lived during the past 5,000 years - Hillel comes to mind, for one. This omission, however, might not have done more than raised an eyebrow, had Kumar not made the following statement:
"Jews have persecuted Christians, and Christians Jews."
What bothered me was the emphasis, which seems backwards and misleading. Historically, Christians have, as both individuals and in formal groups, persecuted Jews far more than the other way around. If Kumar is thinking of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he should specify "Israelis and Palestinians," not "Jews and Christians." (Most Palestinians are not Christian anyway.) The government of Israel does not reflect the behavior or beliefs of Jews worldwide (or even, necessarily, in Israel) any more than the Weimar Republic reflected Christians worldwide or the Bush Administration reflects all Americans. If Kumar wants to write a book about peace, it seems to me he should be more even-handed and less disingenuous about his own biases.
12 people found this helpful
Asha
5.0 out of 5 stars Ageless
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 March 2013
Verified Purchase
An inspiring illustration of the power of compassion and wisdom. Highly relevant in our modern world. You don't need to be Buddhist to enjoy it - the author himself is a former Jain monk with a flair for bringing stories alive from various spiritual traditions. I gave a copy to a friend who told me that his 10 year old daughter loves him to read it to her; it really is good for all people of all ages.
One person found this helpful
Dennis J. Norman
5.0 out of 5 stars becoming enlightened
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 24 September 2009
Verified Purchase
This is a simple story simply told, and it is so relevant for those of us in the Western world at this time. Christians may preach understanding and forgiveness, but we fail miserably in the practice. Here is a tale of the Buddha showing how evil must be faced. There is much of the miracles of Jesus in this tale, but I suspect many will read the title and give it a pass. They will be making a major mistake by doing so.
4 people found this helpful
Kent S. Larsen
3.0 out of 5 stars A little disappointing
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 23 February 2020
Verified Purchase
This story certainly shows the wisdom of Buddhist teachings, it comes off as simplistic, as merely telling a mythic story. I hoped for more substance.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 4 October 2016
Verified Purchase
I read this book as a requirement for a class on nonviolence. Did not think it would be such an interesting book. However, after a couple of chapters in I realized that the problem directly relates to the problems we face today in society. Check it out. You might like it.
One person found this helpful
Kris Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars A Lesson in Peace and Responsibility
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 21 October 2012
Verified Purchase
The Buddha and the Terrorist is the journey of a group of people to their own personal peace and the witnessing of each of them taking responsibility of their past to own their own present time. It is a deep read that takes a short amount of time.
Frank Nieto
5.0 out of 5 stars Ability to Forgive
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 23 October 2009
Verified Purchase
Excellent and easy to read about the spiritual need to forgive others, including forgiving the rapist. Yes, my client was raped and was so filled with hatred but she was only destroying herself. This book helped her to let go, although it wasn't easy.
Frank
LCSW
2 people found this helpful
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