A lyrical translation of an inspired selection of verses from the earliest Buddhist monks and nuns.
More than two thousand years ago, the earliest disciples of the Buddha put into verse their experiences on the spiritual journey--from their daily struggles to their spiritual realizations. Over time the verses were collected to form the Theragatha and Therigatha, the "Verses of Elder Monks" and "Verses of Elder Nuns" respectively. In Songs of the Sons and Daughters of the Buddha, renowned poets Andrew Schelling and Anne Waldman have translated the most poignant poems in these collections, bringing forth the visceral, immediate qualities that are often lost in more scholarly renditions. These selections reveal the fears, loves, mishaps, expectations, and joys of the early monks and nuns, when, struck by wild insight, they cried out the anguish or solace they knew in their lives.
Songs of the Sons and Daughters of Buddha: Enlightenment Poems from the Theragatha and Therigatha, Andrew Schelling and Anne Waldman (Translators), Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 176 pages, $16.95
Andrew Schelling is a poet, translator from the poetry of India, essay writer, and editor of anthologies. Before arriving at Naropa University he was active in the Bay Area with a community of experimental writers, Zen practitioners, and wilderness advocates. He came to the Jack Kerouac School in 1990, and began teaching Sanskrit language for the Department of Religious Studies shortly after. He has been active in land use & ecological issues in the American West, is a student of natural history, and has taught for many years at Deer Park Institute in India. Among his twenty-five published titles are, most recently, a poetry collection The Facts at Dog Tank Spring; a folkloric volume regarding language, bohemian poets, and wilderness, Tracks Along the Left Coast; and three volumes of translated poetry from Shambhala Publications. His anthologies include Love and the Turning Seasons: India�s Poetry of Spiritual & Erotic Longing.
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