Introduction to "Buddhist Commentaries"

One of the definitions the Oxford English Dictionary lists for the word "commentary" is:

A treatise consisting of a systematic series of comments or annotations on the text of a literary work; an expository treatise following the order of the work explained, Anything that serves for exposition or illustration; a comment, remark.

The Buddhist tradition, like many of the world's great religions, has a long history of commentary composition. In Sanskrit commentaries are known as shastras (शास्त्र). The importance and influence of these works is so great that the commentaries are typically included with the collections of scriptures.

Despite the title of these posts, I will not be talking about Buddhist commentaries on scriptures. In fact, my purpose is NOT to look at anything specifically Buddhist.

Vipassana teacher, S.N. Goenka, made the provocative (and technically correct) assertion that he doesn't teach Buddhism, rather he, like the Buddha, teaches dhamma - truth.

Truth, as it were, is simply that; something which is true. It is beyond race, language, geography, religion, and politics. Truth can be found anywhere and everywhere, including the influential literature, music, and key documents in Western history. The purpose of this posting series is, therefore, to look at these things from a distinctly Buddhist perspective. Some things, like the poetry of Walt Whitman, readily lend itself to a Dharmic commentary but what does the Buddha's teachings say about something like Adam Smiths "The Wealth of Nations"?

To look at Western culture through the lens of the Dharma is not a new idea. In fact I was inspired after reading Dan Taigen Leighton's masterful work "Faces of Compassion: "Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and their Modern Expression". Like Sensei Taigen, my purpose is not to "claim" anything for Buddhism or assert that any of the things I'll be looking at had/have any direct connection to the Dharma whatsoever. Rather, it is my hope that by looking at familiar things from a "fresh" perspective, we can learn a bit more about the familiar as well as the practice of Dharma.