The Noble Eightfold Path: Being the James Long Lectures on Buddhism for 1900–1902 A.D.

The book is organized into four main lectures. Lecture I, “Life and Work of the Buddha,” outlines the historical setting in which Buddhism arose, the Buddha’s biography, his renunciation, enlightenment, first sermon, the Middle Path, the Four Noble Truths, early disciples, the Buddhist order, and the final scene of his life. Lecture II, “The Chief Doctrines of Buddhism,” analyzes the doctrinal foundation of Buddhism through the Pāli texts, explaining suffering, karma, rebirth, causation, Nirvāṇa, Buddhist cosmology, divine beings, heavens, hells, and later developments. Lecture III, “Buddha’s Moral Teaching,” examines Buddhist ethics, including lay discipline, monastic obligations, the Ten Moral Precepts, Pātimokkha, uposatha, the Four Stages, the Ten Perfections, and moral ideals represented through previous-birth stories. Lecture IV, “Buddhism and Christianity,” compares the two traditions by contrasting Buddhist morality, Nirvāṇa, self-sacrifice, monasticism, death, women, cosmology, and salvation with Christian doctrines; it also discusses proposed Buddhist influence on Christianity, including Gospel parallels, Barlaam and Josaphat, monasticism, Lamaism, Gnosticism, and related topics. The volume also includes a note on Buddha’s birth and a bibliography.