"An original, rare work of literature... a great spiritual testimony, one of the very few religious masterpieces in the world... It is, in short, a clear call to .that greatest of conquests, the conquest of self" -- LIN YUTANG The Dhammapada is stamped with the power and practicality of one of the world's most appealing spiritual figures. From the first line -- "Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think" -- the Buddha explains what leads to joy and what to sorrow, and tells how to take our lives into our own hands. Without metaphysics, without appeal to anything superhuman, he encourages us to remake ourselves, "As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives." Eknath Easwaran's clear, contemporary translation is one in a series presenting the classics of India's spiritual tradition, His introduction focuses on what is universal in the Buddha's life, background, and teachings, including a particularly penetrating account of the Buddha's "four stages of meditation." Gautama the Buddha... is one of those rare spirits who bring to men a realization of their own divinity and make the spiritual life seem adventurous and attractive, so that they may go forth into the world with a new interest and a new joy at heart." -- S RADHAKRISHNAN