A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom: The Path of the Mahāmaṅgala Sutta

The Great Sutta on Good Fortune describes a thirty-eight step practice we can take to better our lives. Two and a half millennia ago the Buddha outlined a path of practice leading to freedom and happiness. While he mostly taught monastics, the lessons of this Sutta are aimed at the rest of us: describing steps each of us can take that lead towards wisdom. The poem is one of the first learned and memorized by school children in South Asia, but it is little known in the West. This book guides you through all thirty-eight steps with an eye to how to bring them into your life, while providing historical context. The book includes a foreword by eminent translator and scholar Bhikkhu Bodhi.

“[Doug’s] accounts of his efforts to apply the Buddha’s guidelines will resonate with modern lay readers, and are likely to draw forth many soft smiles of shared recognition.” — Bhikkhu Bodhi

“The Buddha’s teaching on “Great Blessings” (the Mahamangala Sutta) provides a comprehensive but dense list of 38 spiritually beneficial qualities and circumstances. These are what we must seek out or cultivate if we are to live a life free (or at least freer) from suffering. Doug Smith does us a great service in helping to unpack the Buddha’s terse advice, showing us in a very practical, kind, and authentic way how we can live happier, more meaningful lives.” — Bodhipaksa, meditation teacher, author of “This Difficult Thing of Being Human.”

“Doug Smith’s Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom is also a handbook about life. As he explores this major teaching of the Buddha in the context of his practice and life the subtleties of the Buddha’s words shine through for us to integrate into our own lives.” — Jon Aaron, meditation teacher at New York Insight and Space2Meditate.