The Buddhist Handbook: A Complete Guide to Buddhist Teaching and Practice

The book is organized into seven major parts, moving from basic orientation to historical development and modern global Buddhism. Part 1, “Prologue,” includes “Why Buddhism?” and “The Heart of the Matter,” presenting Buddhism as a non-dogmatic, experiential, tolerant, and practical path concerned with the deepest question of who or what we are. Part 2, “The Buddha,” introduces the Indian background, the Buddha’s early years, and his teaching career, situating Siddhartha Gautama within the wider religious culture of ancient India, including Vedic religion, ascetic movements, and the search for liberation. Part 3, “The Basic Teachings & Practices,” explains the Buddhist worldview and the core teachings and disciplines that shape Buddhist practice. Part 4, “The Development of Buddhism in India,” discusses the four councils, eighteen schools, Mahāyāna, and Tantra, showing how Buddhism diversified doctrinally and institutionally. Part 5, “The Spread of Buddhism,” surveys the Southern transmission to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and the Northern transmission through the Silk Road, China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Russia, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Himalayan region. Part 6, “Buddhism Comes West,” explores the slow beginnings and later flowering of Buddhism in Western countries, including North America and the dialogue between Buddhism and psychotherapy. Part 7, “Who’s Who in Buddhism: A Modern Western Perspective,” introduces figures and movements in Theravāda, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Pure Land, Nichiren, and miscellaneous modern Buddhist traditions, followed by notes, further reading, Buddhist festivals, and index.