Jinananda has narrated 5 audiobooks on Listento.it by 7 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 9 ratings. The most-rated is The Life of the Buddha.
The Life of the Buddha
Summary
This unique biography, told in a lively manner through six 'voices', presents the Buddha's revolutionary solution for humanity that lends to the end of ill will, craving and delusion. It goes back to the earliest sources of the Buddha's life and teachings, drawing as it does from the Pali Canon which was said to record the words that the Buddha spoke, the events that happened, and his specific teachings on which the world-wide religion was based. It is an absorbing, edifying and even entertaining collection of reportage, myths, wisdom, kindness, human insight - and decisiveness. For 45 years after his enlightenment he walked around North-Eastern India, encountering and teaching kings, courtesans, matted-hair ascetics, murderers, men and women on spiritual quests - and many ordinary people living ordinary lives in 5th century BCE, but who were grateful for his compassion and advice. Sometimes he teaches through rich metaphors. Sometimes he teaches through scientific analyses of mental states. In one tender moment, he helps his own son, Rahula, to gain enlightenment. The Buddha was not only clear about life, and how, and why, it should be lived, but endeavoured to create a practical framework that monks, nuns and laymen and laywomen could follow to 'disentangle the tangle' and reach enlightenment. Not a god or a divine, but a truly remarkable and fulfilled human being. Bhikkhu Ñanamoli's remarkable work - an innovative biography that has become a classic treasured by Buddhists of all traditions - speaks directly, giving us a flavour of what it was like to be around Siddhattha Gotama, the Buddha. Bhikkhu Ñanamoli (Osbert Moore) was born in England in 1905 and graduated from Exeter College, Oxford. In 1948 he came to Sri Lanka to be ordained as a monk. During his 11 years as a monk, he translated some of the most difficult texts of Theravada Buddhism. In The Life of the Buddha, however, he made the teachings accessible to all.
©1972 Buddhist Publication Society (P)2016 Ukemi Productions Ltd
What is the Dharma?
Summary
What is the Dharma? To walk in the footsteps of the Buddha, we need a clear and thorough guide to the essential principles of Buddhism. Whether we have just begun our journey or are a practitioner with more experience, What is the Dharma? is an indispensable exploration of the Buddha's teachings as found in the main Buddhist traditions. Constantly returning to the question "how can this help me?", Sangharakshita examines a variety of fundamental principles, including karma and rebirth, nirvana and shunyata, conditioned coproduction, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, insubstantiality, ethics, meditation and wisdom. The result is an informative, refreshing and inspiring book that lays before us the essential Dharma, timeless and universal, in a clear and practical manner. Urgyen Sangharakshita, the English-born Buddhist teacher, is one of the most influential and respected figures in Western Buddhism. Ordained initially into the Theravadin tradition, he broadened his scope to involve all the Buddhist traditions. After 20 years in India, he returned to the West and founded the Western Buddhist Order, later renamed the Triratna Buddhist Order. With centres all over the world, it has played a major role in adapting the Buddhist traditions to the contemporary world, making Dharma practice its central pillar.
©1998 Sangharakshita (P)2015 Ukemi Productions Ltd
The Dhammapada, The Udana, The Itivuttaka
Summary
The Dhammapada, a collection of 423 verses in 26 chapters, is perhaps the most famous of all Buddhist texts. It presents the Buddha’s teachings in a clear and highly accessible form and has been used for personal instruction and teaching for centuries throughout the Buddhist world. It comes from the Khuddaka Nikaya section of the Pali Canon and is here collected with two other key texts from the same source. The Udana (‘inspired utterance’) contains stories from the Buddha’s life, each of which conclude with a verse. Among these are Bahiya of the bark-cloth and Meghiya, who wanted to meditate but had, perhaps, chosen an inappropriate time. The Itivuttaka (‘it was said’) was reputedly recited to a queen at court by a lay female disciple of the Buddha who had listened to him teach. It is a collection of 112 short discourses and is, again, very clear in form.
©1997 Buddhist Publication Society (P)2015 Ukemi Productions Ltd
A Concise History of Buddhism
Summary
An ideal introduction to the history of Buddhism. Andrew Skilton - Senior Research Fellow in Buddhist Studies, Kings College, London - explains the development of the basic concepts of Buddhism and its spread across the continents during its 2,500 years of history. He begins with a close look at Buddhism in India, where it flourished until the 12th/13th century CE, charting the growth of different schools and practices. By the time it disappeared from its homeland midway through the millennium, it had become established in Central Asia and the Far East in a variety of forms. Skilton looks at Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Burma and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet and Mongolia and in countries where there are now only archeological remains, such as Iran. This is a fascinating and useful insight into the historical progress of one of the world's great religions. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©1994 Andrew Skilton (P)2016 Ukemi Productions Ltd
Sutta Nipata
Summary
It is widely accepted that the Sutta Nipata contains the earliest recorded version of the Buddha's teaching. It is an anthology of poetry and prose - 70 titled suttas of varied instruction and temperament arranged in five chapters. At the start are two of its most famous suttas: The Snake, in which the actions of the practising bhikkhu approaching liberation is likened to a snake that 'leaves its old, worn-out skin'; and The Rhinoceros Horn, which expounds the virtue of solitude for those with serious spiritual intent. But this anthology is full of character and characters: the Buddha condemns caste (which still blights Indian society); he engages with a varied host of questioners, from householders and brahmins to spiritual seekers, clarifying their confusions and exhorting them to pursue a path of wisdom and compassion. Uncompromising and ancient in tone, it offers a flavour of the very early days of the Buddha's teaching and the India of his time. K. R. Norman's authoritative translation ensures clarity and immediacy of comprehension.
©1984 The Pali Text Society (P)2015 Ukemi Productions Ltd