The Gospel of Buddha is the compilation of Buddhist canonical material by the German-American philosopher and Open Court editor Paul Carus, first published in 1894. Carus draws on Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources translated by the previous half-century of European Orientalism — Rhys Davids, Oldenberg, Beal — and arranges them into a single continuous narrative of the Buddha's life and teaching, presented in scriptural-sounding prose modelled deliberately on the Christian Gospels. It was one of the first widely-read English-language presentations of Buddhism aimed at a general Western readership.
The book follows the Buddha from his birth as Prince Siddhattha through his renunciation, enlightenment at Bodhgaya, the first sermon at Benares, the building of the Sangha, and his final entry into Nirvāna, with interspersed parables, doctrinal dialogues, and a concluding section on the three personalities of the Buddha. Carus harmonised doctrinal tensions across Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Mahāparinirvāṇa traditions to produce a readable whole rather than a scholarly translation, explicitly following what he took to be the editorial method of the Fourth Gospel.
There is balm for the wounded, and there is bread for the hungry. There is water for the thirsty, and there is hope for the despairing.
Chapter I, "Rejoice"
First lines
Rejoice at the glad tidings! The Buddha, our Lord, has found the root of all evil; he has shown us the way of salvation. The Buddha dispels the illusions of our mind and redeems us from the terror of death.
Contents
Introduction: I. Rejoice — II. Samsāra and Nirvāna — III. Truth the Saviour
Prince Siddhattha Becomes Buddha: IV. The Bodhisatta's Birth — XII. Enlightenment — XIII. The First Converts
The Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness: XVI. The Sermon at Benares — XVII. The Sangha — XXIV. The Sermon on Charity
Consolidation of the Buddha's Religion: XXX. Jīvaka, the Physician — XXXIX. Devadatta — XLVI. Avoiding the Ten Evils
The Teacher: XLVIII. The Dhammapada — LV. One Essence, One Law, One Aim — LX. Amitābha
Parables and Stories: LXII. Parables — LXIV. The Man Born Blind — LXXXIV. The Mustard Seed
The Last Days: XCIII. The Buddha's Farewell Address — XCVII. The Buddha's Final Entering Into Nirvāna
Conclusion: XCVIII. The Three Personalities of the Buddha — C. The Praise of All the Buddhas
Reception
The Gospel of Buddha was the principal vector by which English-speaking late-19th-century readers encountered Buddhist material in continuous form; it was translated into more than a dozen languages within a decade of publication, and the Japanese translation by D.T. Suzuki's teacher Sōen Shaku was for a long time the standard primer in Japanese Buddhist seminaries on how to present the tradition to a Western audience. Specialist Buddhologists later in the 20th century — Edward Conze, Richard Gombrich — treated the book as a primary source for the modernist reception of Buddhism rather than as a reliable representation of the texts themselves: Carus harmonised doctrinal tensions across Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Mahaparinirvana strands in a way that contemporary scholarship does not. The book has nonetheless remained continuously in print through the Open Court reprint and is routinely cited in histories of the Western reception of Buddhism alongside Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia and Henry Steel Olcott's Buddhist Catechism.
Frequently asked
What is The Gospel of Buddha?
Paul Carus's 1894 compilation of Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese Buddhist sources arranged as a single continuous narrative of the Buddha's life and teaching, modelled on the structure of the Christian Gospels. It covers the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, the first sermon at Benares, the building of the Sangha, and his final entry into Nirvāna, with parables and doctrinal dialogues throughout.
Why is The Gospel of Buddha historically significant?
It was the principal English-language introduction to Buddhism for late-19th-century Western readers, translated into more than a dozen languages within a decade of its 1894 publication. The Japanese translation by Sōen Shaku — made by his student Teitaro Suzuki, later D.T. Suzuki — was introduced into Japanese Buddhist seminaries and became a model for presenting the tradition to Western audiences.
Is The Gospel of Buddha an accurate translation of the Buddhist canon?
Specialist Buddhologists such as Edward Conze and Richard Gombrich treated it as a primary source for the modernist reception of Buddhism rather than a faithful representation of the texts. Carus harmonised doctrinal tensions across Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Mahāparinirvāṇa traditions in a way contemporary scholarship does not accept, and the book is now studied as evidence of how Buddhism was interpreted in the West, not as a canonical source.