Buddhist Texts Through the Ages

Buddhist Texts Through the Ages is a wide-ranging anthology that presents Buddhist thought through carefully selected primary texts translated from Pāli, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, and Apabhraṃśa. Edited by Edward Conze in collaboration with I. B. Horner, David Snellgrove, and Arthur Waley, the book is organized to show the historical and doctrinal development of Buddhism from the early teachings preserved in the Theravāda tradition to Mahāyāna, Tantric Buddhism, and the later Chinese and Japanese traditions. The first section introduces early Buddhist materials concerning the Saṅgha, monastic discipline, lay devotion, schism, skill in means, arahants, the Five Faculties, Dependent Origination, wisdom, Nirvāṇa, and the Buddha as Tathāgata. The Mahāyāna section expands the vision of Buddhist practice through the Bodhisattva ideal, compassion, dedication of merit, the Six Perfections, the Dharma-body of the Buddha, Prajñāpāramitā, emptiness, Pure Land devotion, Avalokiteśvara, Tārā, and Yogācāra teachings on Mind Only and twofold egolessness. The Tantric section introduces symbolic and contemplative materials on wisdom and means, mandala practice, inner realization, and the transformation of ritual into a path of direct spiritual insight. The final section brings together texts from China and Japan, including materials on meditation, illness, doctrinal interpretation, nuns, early Chinese Buddhist sectarianism, trust in the heart, and Chan/Zen conversations. As a whole, the anthology provides a valuable textual gateway into the breadth of Buddhist literature and demonstrates how Buddhist teaching developed across languages, cultures, and historical periods while retaining its central concern with liberation, wisdom, compassion, and the transformation of human experience.