Tao Te Ching,
translated to english by “James Legge”
(Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 39, 1891)

Legge, James, The Texts of Taoism, 2 Vols, The Sacred Books of the East Vols. 39 & 40, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1891; reissued New York: Dover, 1962), pb. Contains, in a rather archaic English and with a distinct transliteration scheme: the Tao Te Ching; the writings of Zhuangzi; and shorter works: the T’ai Shang [Tractate of Actions and Their Retributions]; the Ch’ing Chang Ching [Classic of Purity]; the Yin Fu Ching [or Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and Unseen]; the Yu Shu Ching [Classic of the Pivot of Jade]; and the Hsia Yung Ching [Classic of the Directory for the Day].

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Why post yet another translation of the Tao te Ching? This one is by Dwight Goddard, the author of A Buddhist Bible, and it is a very transparent and readable version. This translation was the predecessor of one which Goddard slipped into later editions of the Buddhist Bible, one of the few explicitly non-Buddhist texts in that collection. The versions of the Tao te Ching already online are by 19th century scholars who, although very capable, tend to be a bit pedantic. The concepts of Taoism are very lucid, and wrapping them in too much verbiage, as Legge et al did, add an unneeded layer of obscurity. Goddard, who was a Zen Buddhist and studied eastern philosophy extensively, comes much closer to the essence of the text, even if he occasionally moves portions of it around. This book also includes a translation of an extended essay by Henri Borel on Taoist philosophy and aesthetics.

Lao Tzu’s Tao and Wu Wei
Translation by “Dwight Goddard”

Wu Wei
An Interpretation by “Henri Borel”
Translated by M. E. Reynolds

1st Edition, New York; BRENTANO’s PUBLISHERS – [1919]
Copyright, 1919, by BRENTANO’s

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The Bhagavad Gita, the greatest devotional book of Hinduism, has long been recognized as one of the world’s spiritual classics and a guide to all on the path of Truth. It is sometimes known as the Song of the Lord or the Gospel of the Lord Shri Krishna. According to Western scholarship, it was composed later than the Vedas and the Upanishads – probably between the fifth and second centuries before Christ. It is a fragment, part of the sixth book of the epic poem The Mahabaratha.

This Edition is generously provided and made public by TheBigView.com website.

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The Dhammapada
translated from Pâli by “F. Max Muller”

The Sutta Nipâta
translated from Pâli by “Michael Viggo Fausböll”

Oxford, the Clarendon Press, [1881]
Vol. X of “The Sacred Books of the East”

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This Book is Laid upon the Altar of Masters’ Cause, and is Dedicated to Their Servant H. P. Blavatsky. All concern for its Fruits or Results is Abandoned: They are left in Charge of Karma and the Members of the Theosophical Society.

Originally published in 1889.
Theosophical University Press electronic version ISBN 1-55700-122-7
Due to current limitations in the ASCII character set, and for ease of searching, no diacritical marks appear in this electronic version of the text.

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A Buddhist BIBLE
Edited, Interpreted & Published by
“DWIGHT GODDARD” [1932, Copyright not renewed]
MDMXXXII; THETFORD, VERMONT
1932, FIRST EDITION

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The Favorite Scriptures of the Zen Sect:
History of Early Zen Buddhism
Self-Realisation of Noble Wisdom
The Diamond Sutra
The Prajna Paramita Sutra
The Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

BUDDHA, The Gospel
Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Company, [1894]

By “Paul Carus”

The “Gospel of Buddha” is a 19th century (1894) compilation from a variety of Buddhist texts by Paul Carus, it was modeled on the New Testament and told the story of Buddha through parables and was very widely read. It was an important tool in introducing Buddhism to the west and is used as a teaching tool by some Asian sects.

H.G. Wells in his Outline of History draws strong parallels between the essential message of both Buddha and Jesus main: love thy neighbor, and how that message was distorted by followers and the priesthood. Durant in his The Story of Philosophy suggests that Jesus-Buddha is the feminine ideology, Nietzsche the masculine and Plato-Socrates somewhere in between. It was even recommended by Ceylonese Buddhist leaders as a teaching tool for Buddhist children.

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BUDDHA, THE WORD
(The Eightfold Path) By “Paul Carus“ – (1852 – 1919)

In his Buddha, The Word, Paul Carus (1852-1919) compiled some of the fundamental teachings of the Buddhist Canon. The selection here, “The Four Noble Truths” is briefly abridged and composes an excellent introduction to Buddhist thought. At the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, Carus became deeply influenced by Eastern philosophies and published a number of works seeking to bridge Western and Eastern thought.

“A Little About the book…”
After his enlightenment, Buddha elucidated the “Four Noble Truths” in his first instruction to his disciples; briefly stated, these truths explain how: (1) all who live suffer, (2) suffering is a result of self, (3) suffering can be avoided, and (4) suffering can be extinguished by the “Eightfold Path.” The reading selection after this one continues Carus’ compilation of Buddha’s teaching with the “Eightfold Path.”

From the reading…
“Inconceivable is the beginning of this Samsara; not to be discovered is any first beginning of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance, and ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths.”

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The Creed of the Buddha
by “Edmond Holmes”

New York – j. Jane
Second Edition – 1919

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A gathered work of the english translations of “Holy Dhammapada“,
by “Acharya Buddharakkhita” and “F. Max Muller”

This edition of the Sacred Book “The Dhammapada” is a gathered work of the two different free editions of the book available on the Internet, a modern translation by Acharya Buddharakkhita and an old tranlation by F. Max Muller. Except some page formatting editing, no other changes have been made to the original works and the original text has been conformingly copied here.

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