Book Review

Gautama Buddha by Iqbal Singh, Oxford University Press

book review by Sevan Sensei

Singh wrote this book in the early 1990’s; at least the introduction says 1993. There have been countless biographies of the Buddha, and not a few have been pretty good. I have other favorites, the latest by Karen Armstrong, simply called Buddha. But I really love Singh’s book. It is readable, knowledgeable, treats the myths with respect while calling them myths, and possibly because Singh himself is an Indian and a scholar, this book dares to go where I have wanted to go for many years. Here’s what I mean: Just about every biography of the Buddha either resides well within the myth, or centers on breaking entirely with the myth. But even within both these camps few authors have dared to really speculate about the social and political realities that the Buddha must have faced.

Oh sure, they’ll make some general statements about caste, conditions, war, the state of the proto-Hindu society, but they will rarely attempt a full fabric wrapping of the life, times, sights, and smells of the age which the Buddha had to deal with directly. Let’s look at an example. When elaborating on how the Buddha’s father, Suddhodana, could not have been a king since they resided in a republic which was of the older and threatened social order (threatened by kingdoms!), Singh writes:

The decay of the old social order based on the twin principles of tribal autonomy and the inviolable sanctity of the family group had set in long before Gautama’s days. Irresistible economic pressure and a whole complex of psycho-political forces which those had brought into play, had rendered the tribal-cum-patriarchal republics in India more or less obsolete; their simple economy and social organization belonged to the past rather than to the future. The early tribal institutions and self-governing townships were in advanced stages of disintegration; already, when Gautama was born, several kingdoms had sprung up, and were steadily acquiring power through every conceivable means at their disposal, the methods of expansion ranging from actual wars of conquest to the nobler diplomacy of multiple matrimonial alliances. . . . Buddhist texts reveal that there still survived a number of independent or semi-independent aristocratic republics akin to the city-states flourishing in Greece roughly about the same time. Kapilavastu was one of them.

Finally, context. We have been wanting a biography that is willing to give us enough background to relate, to connect, the world of our founder to that world which produced us. Singh does this all through the book. But more, he is willing to speculate as to the mind state that is behind the actions of the major players of the Buddha’s story. By setting up enough historical backdrop to give us a feel of the fabric, he can speculate as to what makes the people move, and he is believable in most of his speculation. It brings the story of that time from black and white to Technicolor.

In other areas, Singh is unafraid to tackle the harder questions of the doctrine of Buddha’s teaching itself. Here is what he says about Karma and the transmigration of souls.

In view of Gautama’s categorical denial of the permanent nature of the soul, it is difficult to understand how anybody could justifiably credit him with belief in transmigration. . . .
Belief in transmigration without a corresponding belief in an immortal soul is an illusion which is at once illogical and inconsistent. . . . In all other respects Gautama’s world-view is so transparently sound and reasonable, that it is hard to believe, in this particular case, he should suddenly have abandoned his rational outlook, thus annihilating the whole purpose of his philosophy. On the other hand, it seems much more credible, and is indeed highly probable, that the references to the doctrine of transmigration which are to be found in the Buddhist Canon – and they are legion – have been introduced by the compilers.

And then off he goes to look at specific instances. His arguments are logical, sensible, and simple. I found myself all through the book having many of my own suspicions affirmed. This is more that a biography – it is a fearless examination of the whole tradition which is clothed as a biography. It is a fascinating and believable read. I couldn’t put it down.