The Buddhist Path to Awakening

The book opens with an Introduction that reflects on methodology in the academic study of religion, the interpretation of early Buddhist and Pāli literature, the teaching of the Nikāyas, and the preliminary significance of the thirty-seven bodhipakkhiyā dhammā. Part One, “The Seven Sets Individually,” analyzes each group in detail: Chapter I studies the four satipaṭṭhānas, including the meaning of sati, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna and Satipaṭṭhāna suttas, and the ekāyana formula; Chapter II examines the four right endeavours; Chapter III discusses the four iddhipādas, their relation to success, power, and meditative development; Chapter IV treats the faculties and powers, including faith, knowledge, stream-entry, and the twenty-two indriyas; Chapter V analyzes the seven factors of awakening and their role in combining meditative stillness with wisdom; Chapter VI presents the noble eightfold path, its individual factors, its relation to the Middle Way, suffering’s cessation, and the notion of “path.” Part Two, “The Seven Sets Collectively,” studies the seven sets as a unified doctrinal and practical system: Chapter VII examines their use in the Nikāyas; Chapter VIII traces expanded forms in Buddhist literature; Chapter IX focuses on the expression bodhipakkhiyā dhammā and its canonical and commentarial usage; Chapter X studies their Abhidhamma interpretation, including the Visuddhimagga, Paṭisambhidāmagga, Dhammasaṅgaṇī, Vibhaṅga, and Sarvāstivāda perspectives. The work concludes with a conclusion, appendix, glossary, abbreviations, bibliography, and index.