Handbook for Mankind

Category: Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

• By Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, translated from Thai by Ariyananda Bhikkhu

Chapter 1: Looking at Buddhism

Chapter 2: The True Nature of Things

Chapter 3: Three Universal Characteristics

Chapter 4: Grasping and Clinging

Chapter 5: The Threefold Training

Chapter 6: The Things We Cling To

Chapter 7: Insight, by The Nature Method

Chapter 8: Insight, by Organized Training

Chapter 9: Emancipation from the World

In 1956, the Ven. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu gave a series of lectures to a group of prospective judges, which were subsequently edited and arranged into what became the Handbook for Mankind.

Since then, the success of this small book has been astounding. Well over 100,000 copies have been printed in Thai, and the book still enjoys widespread popularity, more than three decades after the original talks. The reason for the "Handbook's" duration is clear: that the Venerable Buddhadasa offers fresh insights into a timeless Truth, in the direct and simple manner that characterizes all his teaching. The clarity of his insight brings the Dharma to life, so that today, a new generation of readers, not yet born at the time of these talks, can find meaning in his words.

As a guide for newcomers to the Buddha-Dharma (the Truth which the Buddha awakened to and subsequently taught), this book is an invaluable guide. In it are contained the essential teachings of Buddhism. The "Handbook" is especially useful for those who approach the Buddha's teaching, not as a subject for scholarly study, buy as a means to understand and ennoble their lives.