Karen Armstrong
Josaphat Revealed
In Search of the Christian Buddha: How an Asian Sage Became a Medieval Saint
By Donald S Lopez Jr & Peggy McCracken
W W Norton 262pp £17.99 order from our bookshop
‘What’s so great about this guy?’ an enraged woman demanded while I was promoting my biography of the Buddha in the United States. ‘He’s just some other lousy skunk who left his wife and kids.’ It was a reasonable question and showed the importance of critical interpretation while reflecting on any narrative. In the earliest accounts of his decision to leave home and seek enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha, does not seem to have a wife. He simply dons the yellow robe of the renouncer and bids farewell to his distraught parents. It is only in a later version that the Buddha takes a last, lingering look at his sleeping wife and newborn son.
In this more elaborate tale, the Buddha’s father, a chieftain of the Himalayan town of Kapilavastu, invites the local priests to tell his son’s fortune. One predicts that the boy will see four disturbing sights that will impel him to renounce the world. His father, who has more mundane ambitions,
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Surveillance, facial recognition and control: my review of @jonfasman's "We See It All" https://literaryreview.co.uk/watching-the-watchers via @Lit_Review
I reviewed Diary of a Film by Niven Govinden for @Lit_Review https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-directors-cut
'Retired judges have usually had long careers on the bench, during which they have acquired an ingrained reticence when it comes to speaking on controversial topics. Not so Sumption.'
Dominic Grieve reviews Jonathan Sumption's 'Law in a Time of Crisis'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-case-for-the-citizen