A Buddhist Bible - Dwight Goddard

[Dokan]

Hi All,

Anyone else use this as a resource to the sutras? Language is a bit dated but so far I've enjoyed the bit I've read...just curious if there are other resources for the sutras in the paperback/hardback form?

Thanks,

s

[Dosho]

As I remembered, Jundo wasn't a particular fan of Goddard's book, or at least insofar that he chose not put it on the recommended reading list:

Well, Dwight Goddard's "Buddhist Bible" is a beautiful book, and perhaps the first large-scale attempt to translate a variety of Sutra into English. However, I believe that most of those translations were done in the 1920's, can be pretty rough or just plain off meaning at times (Mr. Goddard was an engineer who had lived for years in China, but with rather limited in his knowledge of the source languages), and were by a translator who was making a conscious effort to use the style of the Old Testament Bible in his presentation. So, it should be approached with some understanding of that, and there are much more artful translations of most of the Sutras it contains that were done later. However, it is still a very lovely book.

Here's the thread link:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2874&p=41276

Gassho,
Dosho