Voice of the Buddha: Buddhaghosa on the Immeasurable Words. By Maria Heim. : Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xi + 274. Hardback $99.00, ISBN 978-1909-0665-8
摘要
Despite more than two hundred years of modern academic study of the Pali literature, Pali commentaries still remain understudied. We know very little about the reading practices of the traditional Pali commentators and philosophers themselves. Maria Heim is one of the very few scholars invested in filling this major lacuna in Buddhist studies. Heim’s 2014 publication, The Forerunner of All Things: Buddhaghosa on Mind, Intention, and Agency, already illuminated the philosophical acumen of Buddhaghosa, the foremost Pali commentator of the fifth century CE, whose name is intertwined with Theravada Buddhism itself. In her recent publication, the Voice of the Buddha: Buddhaghosa on the Immeasurable Words, Heim continues to expand our understanding of the fascinating world of Pali commentaries. She argues that carefully observing the ways Buddhist authors themselves read canonical texts and commented on them can be a valuable exercise to understand their hermeneutic practices which can enrich our own ways of doing Buddhist studies. In particular, this is a refreshing exploration into how Buddhaghosa, read, understood, and interpreted buddhavacana (words of the Buddha) in the Pali canonical texts and what we can learn from his practices of reading to become better readers of the same texts.
