Tag Archives: Christopher Beckwith

The MWS Podcast 77: Christopher Beckwith on his book Greek Buddha

History, Philosophy, Religion,

The historian Christopher Beckwith discusses his latest book Greek Buddha with the chair of the society Robert M Ellis. The book attempts to show how show how Early Buddhism shaped the philosophy of Pyrrho, the famous founder of Pyrrhonian scepticism in ancient Greece. In Robert’s recent review of the book he talks about Christopher turning Buddhism on its head using rigorous historical scholarship, arguing that the Buddha taught the Middle Way, not the other elements that have become associated with Buddhism such as the 4 Noble Truths, karma or nirvana etc.


MWS Podcast 77: Christopher Beckwith as audio only:
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MWS Podcast 77: Christopher Beckwith full version as audio only:
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New review of ‘Greek Buddha’

Books, Buddhism, History

A new review is now up on this page of an extraordinary new book that turns Buddhism on its head using rigorous historical scholarship.Greek Buddha Beckwith argues that the Buddha taught the Middle Way, not the other elements that have become associated with Buddhism such as the 4 Noble Truths, karma or nirvana. He argues that the Pali Canon is not a reliable source on early Buddhism, but bases his account on a variety of other sources: Greek, Chinese and Persian texts and Indian rock edicts. Though the Middle Way does not depend for its helpfulness on any historical source, this book will nevertheless be of much interest to anyone who is approaching the Middle Way via Buddhism.