The Essential Buddhadhamma: The Teachings and Practice of Theravada Buddhism

An abridged translation of one of the most important books on Theravada Buddhism in recent history--authored by the esteemed Thai monk P. A. Payutto.

First published in Thailand in 1971 and since then expanded and revised multiple times, Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto’s Buddhadhamma is widely considered to be one of the most significant scholarly works on the Buddhism of the Pali canon produced in the last century. In this abridged translation, Bruce Evans presents the core of Ven. Payutto’s monumental scholarship, creating an ideal manual for anyone walking or studying the Theravada Buddhist path. Within are discussions of unparalleled sophistication on such foundational Buddhist teachings as the five khandhas, dependent arising, kamma, the noble eightfold path, spiritual friendship, wise attention, the four noble truths, the nature of enlightenment, and more.

Replete with passages from the ancient Pali suttas, Payutto frames Buddhist teachings in terms of broad existential questions that all of us face, such as ＂What is life?＂ and ＂How should life be lived?＂ Payutto’s illuminating expertise shows Theravada Buddhism to be a thorough explication of how reality unfolds according to natural processes--as well as a way of life that can yield the highest form of happiness.

A Theravada Buddhist monk since 1961, BHIKKHU P. A. PAYUTTO is widely acknowledged as one of Thailand’s foremost Buddhist scholars. He is a prolific writer whose works in Thai span the gamut of social issues such as Buddhist approaches to economics, administration, education, and science, as well as more traditional Buddhist works, including Buddhist dictionaries and commentaries. He was awarded the 1994 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education and is the abbot of a monastery called Wat Nyanavesakavan in Thailand.

BRUCE EVANS is a translator and Theravada Buddhist practitioner. He took bhikkhu ordination under Ajahn Chah in the 1970s and lived for seventeen years as a monk in Thailand. From 1985 to 1992, he served as abbot of a remote monastery on the Thailand-Laos border, during which period he translated several works by Ajahn Chah. Since returning to lay life in 1992, Evans has continued to translate Thai Buddhist works.