Survey of Buddhism

by Sangharakshita

• ISBN13: 9780904766936
• ISBN10: 0904766934
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Windhorse Pubns

Summary

An indispensable study of the whole field of Buddhist thought and practice, placing its development in a historical context. Now in its ninth edition. "The best survey of Buddhism"- Dr Edward Conze

Table of Contents

About the Author	xiii
Preface to the Sixth Edition	xv
Introduction
The Importance of Buddhism	3	(3)
The Unity of Buddhism	6	(3)
The Buddha	9	(2)
The Dharma	11	(3)
The Sangha	14	(2)
The Oral Tradition	16	(1)
The Canonical Literature	17	(5)
Phases of Development	22	(3)
The Spiritual Life	25	(3)
Nirvana	28	(1)
Art	29	(1)
Social and Political Ideals	30	(5)
The Buddha and Buddhism
The Approach to Buddhism	35	(7)
The Study of the Dharma: Methods and Materials	42	(9)
History Versus Tradition
The Universal Context of Buddhism	51	(7)
History Versus Tradition
The Cosmological Perspective	58	(6)
The Lineage of the Enlightened One	64	(6)
Gautama the Buddha: His Greatness and Role	70	(7)
The Historical Uniqueness of the Dharma	77	(8)
Ineffable Nirvana	85	(8)
The Charge of Nihilism	93	(9)
The Positive Aspects of Nirvana	102	(8)
The Essence of Enlightenment	110	(10)
The True Nature of All Dharmas	120	(8)
Conditioned Co-Production: the Twelve Links	128	(9)
Samsara and Nirvana	137	(7)
The Four Aryan Truths	144	(17)
The Threefold Way - The Middle Path - Morality	161	(14)
Meditation	175	(19)
Wisdom and the Arhant Ideal	194	(15)
The Foundations of Buddhism: Early Schools	209	(12)
Hinayana and Mahayana
Is Buddhism one or Many?	221	(11)
The Transcendental Unity of Buddhism: the Dharma as Means	232	(9)
The Three Vehicles	241	(8)
Factors in the Emergence of the Mahayana	249	(20)
What is Mahayana Buddhism?	269	(13)
The Trikaya Doctrine	282	(15)
The Two Truths: The Egolessness of all Dharmas	297	(8)
The Mahayana Sangha	305	(8)
The Mahayana Schools
The Complexity of the Mahayana	313	(2)
The Five Spiritual Faculties	315	(16)
The Schematization of the Schools	331	(5)
The Scriptures of Perfect Wisdom	336	(10)
The New Wisdom School	346	(14)
The Scriptures of Devotional Buddhism	360	(14)
The Pure Land School	374	(13)
The Scriptures of Buddhist Idealism	387	(11)
The Yogacara School	398	(14)
Transition to the Tantra	412	(5)
Tantric Texts, Teachers, and Schools	417	(10)
Some Special Features of the Tantra	427	(5)
Integral Buddhism	432	(5)
The Bodhisattva Ideal
The Unifying Factor	437	(6)
The Bodhisattva Versus the Arhant	443	(5)
The Path of the Bodhisattva: Preliminary Devotional Practices	448	(12)
The Thought of Enlightenment	460	(6)
The Six Perfections	466	(24)
The Ten Perfections and the Ten Stages	490	(11)
Select Bibliography	501	(12)
Index	513