Go to contents

Book describes Buddha`s character as man

Posted June. 13, 2014 03:14,   

한국어

"Buddha was a true strategist. He is also the first man in the world to teach diet."

Ven. Ja Hyeon has recently published a Korean-language book titled "Buddha Pilgrimage" in which he provides new interpretations of the meanings of Buddha and people and things around him from the perspectives of humanities. As the chief administrator at Woljeong Temple, he teaches the religion at Dongguk University.

"There are numerous books on Buddha, but I always regretted that none of them introduce Buddha`s true self as strategic and practical man," he said on Thursday. "I wrote this book to convey the meanings of Buddha as a person to modern people," he said with a smile.

Those who want to know more about Buddha would find the book interesting. The author crosses philosophy, history and culture for an easy and interesting interpretation of Buddha.

Also an interesting part is where the author argues on the basis of Tripitaka keybo, known as Jabahamgyeong vol. 30, that Buddha emphasized the need of a diet to the obese king of Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient Indian state of Kośala.

The book also contains some 100 photographs taken by photographer Ha Ji-kwon who captured various Buddhist sites in India while traveling together with Ven. Woljeong for 21 days. It is also fun to go between the text and photos in the book.