Original Buddhist Sources: A Reader

About this book

Bringing together essential materials on the origins and development of Buddhist traditions from India Sri Lanka Tibet China and Japan this anthology provides the broadest selection of primary source Buddhist literature available to date. The volume is divided into two major parts: Theravada and Mahayana forms of Buddhism. The first section presents selections that explore major themes in Buddhist thought such as causality Four Noble Truths the doctrine of non-self nibbana meditation and ethics as well as literature about monastic life and regulations women and hagiography. The second part includes selections from so-called wisdom literature and texts that represent the three major schools of Mahayana Buddhism: Pure Land Madhyamika and Yogacara. Selections also include sources from some of the major Chinese Buddhist schools such as Hua-yen Tien Tai Pure Land and Chan. Readings by thinkers such as Tantric Buddhist reformer Tsong Khapa Pure Land leaders Honen Shinran and Nichiren as well as Zen Buddhists Dogen and Hakuin provide a perspective on regional and national traditions. In addition to the general introduction each major section is introduced by an essay that places the selections within the context of Buddhist history. This comprehensive reader stands on its own as an indispensable anthology of original textual sources for courses in Buddhism while also serving as a companion volume to the text The Different Paths of Buddhism: A Narrative-Historical Introduction.