View Book

Selected Writings of Allan Bennett, Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya

ID: 2661 - View Book Page - Edit In OJS

This is the first edited, annotated collection of the writings of Allan Bennett, one of the first British men to gain higher ordination as a Buddhist monk and one of the seminal figures in the development of Buddhism in the UK. Bennett’s view of Buddhism reflects the intellectual history of his day and the debates that were happening between different religious groups in late Victorian and early Edwardian imperial Britain. His work represents some of the first writings by English converts to Buddhism and mobilized both British Buddhists and sympathizers. Controversy has surrounded his life, particularly in western Buddhist circles, because of his early involvement with the occult.

His writings included two published Volumes. The first recorded a series of talks he gave in London in 1917-1918, published just two months before he died, The Wisdom of the Aryas. The second was published posthumously, The Religion of Burma and Other Papers. Both of these are included in this volume as well as excerpts from his esoteric notebooks, essays published in the journal he established Buddhism – An Illustrated Quarterly Review, the prospectus of the International Buddhist Society (Buddhasāsana Samāgama) he founded, and excerpts from his letters and lectures as well as other publications.

Related Interest/Companion Volume The Life of Allan Bennett, Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya
(Volume 1 of Allan Bennett, Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya: Biography and Collected Writings)

Published: Mar 1, 2025


Section Chapter Authors
Introduction
Introduction Elizabeth Harris, John Crow
Chapter 1
Excerpts from Allan Bennett's Letters and Esoteric Notebooks (1893-1900) Allan Bennett
Chapter 2
The Ritual for the Evocation Unto Visible Appearance of The Great Spirit Taphthartharath (1911) Allan Bennett
Chapter 3
A Note on Genesis (1909) Allan Bennett
Chapter 4
The Four Noble Truths (1901) Allan Bennett
Chapter 5
On The Culture of Mind (Edited and reprinted as ‘Training the Mind’ by Aleister Crowley) (1902) Allan Bennett
Chapter 6
Animism and Law (1902) Allan Bennett
Chapter 7
The Foundation of the Sangha of the West Being an Account of the Upasampada Ordination of Bhikkhu Ananda Maitriya (1902) Allan Bennett
Chapter 8
Revised Prospectus of the Buddhasāsana Samāgama or the International Buddhist Society (1903) Allan Bennett
Chapter 9
9. The Faith of the Future or The Law of Righteousness (1903) Allan Bennett
Chapter 10
In the Shadow of Shwe Dagon (1903-1904) Allan Bennett
Chapter 11
Propaganda (1908) Allan Bennett
Chapter 12
Obituary: Col. H.S Olcott (1908) Allan Bennett
Chapter 13
The Word of the Buddha [poem] (1908) Allan Bennett
Chapter 14
Extension of the Empire of Righteousness to Western Lands: Address of Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya, Director of the Buddhasasana Samagama, at the Sixth Annual Convention of the International Buddhist Society, December 17, 1908 (1909) Allan Bennett
Chapter 15
Devotion in Buddhism (1909) Allan Bennett
Chapter 16
The Religion of Burma (1910) Allan Bennett
Chapter 17
Right Understanding (1913) Allan Bennett
Chapter 18
The Wisdom of the Aryas (given as lectures in 1919-1920, published in 1923) Allan Bennett
Chapter 19
Buddhism: A Religion of Compassion (1921) Allan Bennett
Chapter 20
Buddhism and the Western World (1921) Allan Bennett
Chapter 21
The Doctrine of the Aryas (1921) Allan Bennett
Chapter 22
Excerpts from the Buddhist Correspondence of Ananda Metteyya Allan Bennett