How Buddhism Began - The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings (Paperback)

This book takes a fresh look at the earliest Buddhism texts and offers various suggestions how the teachings in them had developed. Two themes predominate. Firstly, it argues that we cannot understand the Buddha unless we understand that he was debating with other religious teachers, notably brahmins. For example, he denied the existence of a 'soul'; but what exactly was he denying? Another chapter suggests that the canonical story of the Buddha's encounter with a brigand who wore a garland of his victims' fingers probably reflects an encounter with a form of ecstatic religion.;The other main theme concerns metaphor, allegory and literalism. By taking the words of the texts literally - despite the Buddha's warning not to - successive generations of his disciples created distinctions and developed doctrines far beyond his original intention. One chapter shows how this led to a scholastic categorisation of meditation. Failure to understand a basic metaphor also gave rise to the later argument between the Mahayana and the older tradition.;Perhaps most important of all, a combination of literalism with ignorance of the Buddha's allusions to brahminism led buddhists to forget that the B

General

Imprint:	Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Series:	Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religion, No. 17
Release date:	1996
Authors:	Richard F. Gombrich
Dimensions:	216 x 138 x 20mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	140
ISBN-13:	978-0-485-17417-5
Categories:	Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > General > History of religion Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > History of religion
LSN:	0-485-17417-0
Barcode:	9780485174175

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