History of

Buddhacarita in Praise of Buddha's Acts (Taishō Volume 4, Number 192). Trans. from the Chinese by Willemen, Charles. California: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2009

This book presents a comprehensive study of the Abhayagiri Fraternity of ancient Sri Lanka, with a special reference to its new Buddhist practices and trends, which made a great contribution to the development of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It involves a consideration of both primary and secondary literary sources, and also takes into account archaeological findings, epigraphic material and liturgical artifacts. It contains a detailed examination of how the Abhayagiri School adopted heterodoxy Buddhism of other Buddhist traditions apart from the orthodox Theravada teachings and practices.

Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 1 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Sir Eliot is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Sir Eliot then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

This book provides a vivid and detailed picture of the daily life and religious practices of Buddhist monks and nuns in the classic period of Theravada Buddhism. The author describes the way in which the Buddha's disciples institutionalized and ritualized his teachings about food, dress, money, chastity, solitude, and discipleship. This tradition represents an ideal of religious life that has been followed in India and South Asia for more than two thousand years.

Barua, Benimadhab. A History of Pre-Buddhistic Indian Philosophy. Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 2921

This book demonstrates how popular ritual texts and story narratives have shaped the religious life and culture of the only surviving South Asian Mahayana Buddhist society, the Newars of Kathmandu. It begins with an account of the Newar Buddhist community's history and its place within the religious environment of Nepal and proceeds to build around five popular translations, several of which were known across Asia: the Srngabheri Avadana, the Simhalasarthabahu Avadana, the Tara, the Mahakala Vratas, and the Pancaraksa.

Early European histories of India frequently reflected colonialist agendas. The idea that Indian society had declined from an earlier Golden Age helped justify the colonial presence. It was said, for example, that modern Buddhism had fallen away from its original identity as a purely rational philosophy that arose in the mythical 5th-century BCE Golden Age unsullied by the religious and cultural practices that surrounded it. In this book Robert DeCaroli seeks to place the formation of Buddhism in its appropriate social and political contexts.

This introduction to Buddhism examines its basic philosophical teachings and historical development, setting forth complex and significant ideas in a straightforward and simple style that is easily accessible to the student. The author's orientation is philosophical, rather than religious or sociological. This approach is both the uniqueness and the strength of the work.

Before T.W. Rhys Davids and some others ventured into interpretations of obscure sources of Buddhist philosophy and history, most of the material was lying scattered. It was strange, and very characteristic of the real meaning of true Buddhism, that there was no life of Gautama the Buddha in the Buddhist scriptures. Known sources of the Buddha's life story like Malalankara Watthu and the Jataka Book were written much after the days of the Buddha. These were more or less in the same tradition and written in Pali.

The book gives a short account of Buddhism in the last 2500 years. The foreword for the book was written by Dr. Radhakrishnan, world renowned philosopher. The book contains 16 chapters and about one hundred articles written by eminent Buddhist scholars from India, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Nepal. The spirit of Buddha comes alive in the book and enlightens the readers with his teaching so essential now for peace in the strife-torn world.

Unparalleled in scope and detail, this classic history of Zen covers all important ideas and developments in the tradition from its beginnings in India through the Sung period in China. It includes chapters on Sakyamuni, the Yogic Element in Buddhism, the relationship between Mayahana and Zen, the Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, the course of Zen after Hui-Neng, and "the true human of no rank" in the teachings of Lin-Chi. Dumoulin’s work stands as a monumental study against which all other histories of Zen must be measured.