CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements xiii
List of abbreviations xiv
A Note on Language and Pronunciation xx
Introduction 1
1. The Buddha and his Indian context 9
Background to the life of the Buddha
The life of the Buddha
The nature and role of the Buddha
The nature and style of the Buddha's teaching
2. Early Buddhist teachings: rebirth and karma 32
Rebirth and cosmology
Karma
Belief in rebirth and karma
3. Early Buddhist teachings: the four holy truths 47
The First Holy Truth: suffering
The Second Holy Truth: the origin of suffering
The Third Holy Truth: Nibbāna
The Fourth Holy Truth: the Path
4. Early developments in Buddhism 73
The early Sangha
Emperor Asoka and Buddhism
Devotion and symbolism in early Buddhism
The Ahhidhamma
The early schools and their doctrines
The rise of the Mahāyāna
5. Mahāyāna philosophy 95
The Perfection of Wisdom literature and the Madhyamaka school
The Yogācāra school
Tathagata-garbha thought
The Avatamsaka Sūtra and the Hua-yen School
6. Mahāyāna holy beings 121
The path of the Bodhisattva
The Mahāyāna Buddhology
The Mahāyāna pantheon
The Tantric perspective
7. The later history and spread of Buddhism 139
Buddhism in India and Central Asia
Sri Lanka
South-east Asia excluding Vietnam
The lands of Northern Buddhism
China
Vietnam and Korea
Japan
8. Buddhist practice: devotion 170
Focuses and locations of devotional acts
Bowing, offerings and chanting
The refuges
Attitudes to images
Protective chanting
Devotion to Avalokiteśvara
Devotion to Amitābha
Devotion to Bhaisajya-guru
Devotion to the Lotus Sutra
Pilgrimage
Festivals
9. Buddhist practice: ethics 196
The role and basis of ethics in Buddhism
Giving
Keeping the precepts
Loving, kindness and compassion
Care for the dying and the dead
The ethics of social relationships
10. Buddhist practice: the Sangha 217
The role of monasticism
Patterns of ordination
Nuns
The monastic code of discipline
The economic base of the monastic life
Study and meditation
Communal life
Relations with the laity
11. Buddhist practice: meditation and the development of wisdom 244
The approach to meditation
The practice of Calm meditation in Southern Buddhism
The practice of Insight meditation in Southern Buddhism
The classical path of Calm and Insight in Northern and Eastern Buddhism
Pure Land visualizations
Tantric visualizations
Tantric techniques of spontaneity
Zen meditation
12. The modern history of Buddhism in Asia 280
Communist Asia: Buddhism under a cloud
The continuing tradition and its modern varieties
Recovering old ground
13. Buddhism beyond Asia 300
Scholarship
The influence of Buddhism through literature and philosophy
The Theosophical Society: a bridge between East and West
Immigration, foreign wars and travel
Buddhist missions and organizations
Appendix on Canons of Scriptures 322
Notes 325
Bibliography 326
Indices 344