Buddhist Studies from India to America

The volume begins with a prologue and bibliography of Charles S. Prebish, presenting his academic formation, publications, institutional leadership, and major contributions to Vinaya studies, American Buddhism, Buddhist ethics, and digital scholarship. The Introduction by Damien Keown explains the structure of the book and identifies four major areas of Prebish’s influence. Part I, “Vinaya Studies and Ethics,” includes essays on Dōgen and the precepts, Buddhist bioethics in the United States, the question of whether Buddhism has ethics in the Western disciplinary sense, and the prospects for a fully developed saṅgha in Tibetan Buddhism. Part II, “Buddhist Traditions,” addresses Japanese Pure Land narrative literature, tensions in the Sutta tradition, Mi-pham’s contribution to Yogācāra, Zen practice, Tsong kha pa’s distinction between sūtra and tantra, and the Sanskrit term citta-mātra. Part III, “Western Buddhism,” examines the German Buddhist pioneer Paul Dahlke, object-relations psychology and Zen practice, and the “Two Buddhisms” model in the study of American Buddhism. Part IV, “Inter-religious Dialogue,” explores sport and religious pilgrimage, the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Christian theological reflection through dependent arising, and Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu’s dialogue with Christianity. The book closes with an index, supporting its function as a research-oriented academic collection.