Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience

Introduction: Explains Buddhism as a diverse tradition of doctrines, institutions, rituals, ethical disciplines, devotional practices, meditation, and the quest for enlightenment. Chapter 1 — The Life of Gautama Buddha: Presents Siddhartha Gautama’s birth, youth, renunciation, spiritual search, awakening, teaching mission, monastic community, and final days. Chapter 2 — The Teachings of the Buddha: Introduces core teachings such as impermanence, suffering, no-self, the Five Aggregates, Dependent Arising, karma, rebirth, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and Nirvana. Chapter 3 — The Way of the Elders: Discusses Theravāda Buddhism, the Three Baskets, Buddhist councils, King Aśoka, morality, concentration, wisdom, and Theravāda practice in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Chapter 4 — The Great Vehicle: Explains Mahāyāna Buddhism through major sutras, the bodhisattva path, the Six Perfections, the Ten Stages, celestial bodhisattvas, and the Three Bodies of the Buddha. Chapter 5 — The Indian Experience of Buddhism: Surveys Abhidharma schools, Mahāyāna philosophical schools, Madhyamaka, Tathāgata-garbha, Yogācāra, Buddhist logic, Tantra, and Buddhism’s decline in India. Chapter 6 — The Tibetan Experience of Buddhism: Presents the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet, the Geluk school, the Dalai Lama, Tantra, mandalas, mantras, mudras, deity yoga, and the major Tibetan schools. Chapter 7 — The Chinese Experience of Buddhism: Examines translation, inculturation, Chinese Buddhist schools, Tiantai, Huayan, Chan, Pure Land, persecution, reform, and later developments. Chapter 8 — The Korean Experience of Buddhism: Covers Buddhism in the Three Kingdoms, Unified Silla, Koryŏ, Chinul, the Korean Tripiṭaka, Chosŏn repression, Japanese occupation, and modern developments. Chapter 9 — The Japanese Experience of Buddhism: Introduces Nara schools, Tendai, Shingon, Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren, Zen culture, Tokugawa reform, Meiji transformation, and recent developments. Chapter 10 — Modern Buddhism in Asia: Surveys modern Buddhist movements in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan, with attention to women’s experience. Chapter 11 — Buddhism in the West: Discusses Theravāda, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Buddhism in the West, especially in relation to ethnicity, identity, authority, gender, ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, and social engagement.