Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.72 (645 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0415356539 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 456 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-07-09 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Alan B. Cicco said A must buy for any academic Buddhist library. I found this book extremely helpful on mutiple levels. Beyond the fact that Mahayana Buddhism suffers from a lack of cohesive literature combined, Williams counters this problem in his gathering of doctrine and his own insight on the history, evolution, and spread of Mahayana. He shows great detail to the evolution of each "school" and how it was affected by the geographic, ethnic, and cultural environments that fomred each branches specifics.A historical paper trail is fomed for many of the major works attributed to Mahayanist thought, so that we . Gunslinger said some buddhists may view the sutras as sacred doctrine kind of like Christians and Muslims view the Bible or the Koran. This guy isn't a practitioner and sometimes seems to have a cynical attitude. He doesn't seem to get the fact different buddhist groups view teachings differently--for example, zen buddhists regard the teachings of Buddha as provisional rather than "doctrine." Provisional teachings are always secondary to experience in zen. Of course, some buddhists may view the sutras as sacred doctrine kind of like Christians and Muslims view the Bible or the Koran, but many Buddhists see the sutras as examples of skillful teaching and thus something to learn fro. Very clear writing style - great! After a few years of practicing Buddhism and reading Dharma books, I am reading this as my first scholarly text, and I'm very impressed by it. It certainly is NOT an introduction for beginners, but Williams is careful to include just enough explanation to keep me reading without feeling a need to resort to Wikipedia (heh!).His footnotes (endnotes) are amazing -- the book proper is only 266 pages, followed by 121 pages of endnotes. I'm skipping most of these, but when I do dip into them, I'm even more impressed by Williams's unusual ability to stick
Previous scholars like Edward Conze and Etienne Lamotte had set themselves this daunting task, but it had proved beyond them. It is still unrivalled. I confidently expect that Williams’ richly detailed map of this field will remain for decades to come an indispensable guide to all those who venture into it.’ - Paul Harrison, Stanford University, USA. Williams not only succeeded in finishing the job, but did it so well that his book has remained the primary work on the subj
Paul Williams is Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy and Co-director of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. The author of six books and an editor of a further eight, he is a former President of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies. Among his other books for Routledge is Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition (2000).
Everyone studying this important tradition will find Williams’ book the ideal companion to their studies. This new edition has been fully revised throughout in the light of the wealth of new studies and focuses on the religion’s diversity and richness. Over the last twenty-five years Western interest in Mahayana has increased considerably, reflected both in the quantity of scholarly material produced and in the attraction of Westerners towards Tibetan Buddhism and Zen.Paul Williams’ Mahayana Buddhism is widely regarded as the standard introduction to the field, used internationally for teaching and research and has been translated into several European and Asian languages. Originating in India, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, becoming the prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. . It includes much more material on China and Japan, with appropriate reference to Nepal, and for students who wish to carry their study further there is a much-expanded bibliography and extensive footnotes and cross-referencing