Theravāda Buddhism

The book’s main content is organized into seventeen chapters. It opens with a general historical sketch of early Buddhism, the social and intellectual setting of ancient India, the rise of Gotama’s teaching, the formation of the early community, the compilation of the Pitakas, the importance of Aśoka, the transmission of Buddhism to Ceylon, and the later role of Buddhaghosa in shaping the Ceylonese Theravāda tradition. The chapter on the life of Gotama presents the Buddha’s career as a teacher whose principles became the refuge of his followers after his passing. Subsequent chapters explain the Buddhist moral system, the ideal of Buddhism, the abolition of ignorance, the Four Truths, and the structure of Buddhist ethics through vices, virtues, and precepts. The book then studies the special moral rules of the community through the Pātimokkha, the religion of the laity, meditation and supernatural attainments, caste, disciplinary rules, and the female community. The final chapter addresses the critical history of canonical literature, giving the work a textual and historical dimension alongside its ethical and institutional analysis.