Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Volume I

Volume I of Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies provides a concentrated scholarly foundation for the study of Buddhism’s formative period. Edited by Paul Williams, the volume brings together seventeen influential studies dealing with the historical Buddha, early Buddhist textual transmission, the Pāli Canon, Vinaya institutions, stūpa worship, Aśokan Buddhism, Buddhist Councils, doctrinal interpretation, and the social roles of monastics and lay followers. Its principal value lies in presenting major debates within modern Buddhist Studies side by side, enabling readers to examine not only what scholars have concluded about early Buddhism but also the textual, historical, philological, and methodological grounds upon which those conclusions were reached. The volume thus functions as both an introduction to central problems in early Buddhist history and a critical map of twentieth-century scholarship on Buddhist origins.

The volume addresses several fundamental problems in the study of early Buddhism. These include the construction and cult of the stūpa according to the Vinayapiṭaka, Aśoka’s relationship with Buddhism, the dating of the historical Buddha, the formation and nature of the Pāli Canon, the role of oral transmission, and methodological questions concerning the recovery of the Buddha’s message. Contributors include André Bareau, A. L. Basham, Heinz Bechert, Steven Collins, L. S. Cousins, and Richard Gombrich. 

Another major cluster of studies examines doctrinal, textual, and institutional developments in early Buddhism. John C. Holt analyzes merit transfer and relations between the living and the dead; Joanna Jurewicz investigates pratītyasamutpāda in relation to Vedic thought; Étienne Lamotte addresses textual authenticity, textual interpretation, and religious suicide; while Charles S. Prebish surveys Buddhist Councils, the Skandhaka, and the Prātimokṣa. Peter Skilling contributes a study of nuns, laywomen, donors, and goddesses in early Indian Buddhism.