Buddhism As A Religion - Its Historical Development And Its Present Conditions

Book Summary

PREFACE THERE seems to be no need of books on Buddhism, yet, though the literature on this subject is indeed immense, a serious gap remains to be filled. In vain one looks about for a book which represents Buddhism as a present-day religion, comprising all the countries under its sway. The writers on Buddhism either deal chiefly with the Buddha himself and with the old Indian Buddhism as Oldenberg and Ehys Davids, or they put before us the Buddhism of one single country Ceylon, or Burma, or Tibet, or China as Spence Hardy, Bigandet, Waddell, Edkins, and others. Even Monier-Williams well-known book, though more complete than many others, is far from being an exhaustive record. Northern Buddhism he only slightly touches upon. But there should be a work showing Buddhism as a whole, beginning with Gautama Buddha himself, tracing the line of historical development which his religion took over all the lands of its influence, and painting a vivid picture of its present-day conditions and organizations everywhere. This is the scope of the volume now before us. The book is written for a general public, avoiding purposely display of scholarship as much as possible. At the same time it should be understood that it is entirely based, not only on the most recent scientific publica- tions of our best scholars, but on long personal investi- gations made on the spot. The author has studied Buddhism for more than twenty years. He has lived in Buddhist countries for nearly ten years, and has travelled a good deal in these lands with the special object of ascertaining the actual state of the Buddhist religion. He has been in personal contact with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Burmese, and SinghaleseBuddhism. Living in the monasteries, watching the monks and the laydevotees, inquiring about rituals and institutions, he learnt thoroughly what Buddhism as a practical re- ligion of the present day really is. Having returned from Eastern Asia to Europe, the writer was asked by a publisher to contribute a book on Buddhism to a series of popular treatises. He gladly consented, as he thought it very necessary, at a time when Buddhism is discussed more and more in European countries, to make the general public ac- quainted with this religion as a whole, laying stress especially on the modern features of its life. The book is meant to give a fair and impartial statement. Of course that does notmean to restrainfrom criticism. Facts must be seen as they are. And some of the facts which one has to face in studying Buddhism as a living religion are not pleasant. Neverthe- less, animosity and one-sidedness have been avoided. Also there is no arguing from the dogmatical point of view, which seems entirely useless. But the historical and the social character of Buddhism are the points to which attention is drawn. The publication being in German, 1 friends suggested a translation into English, because the English- speaking people are those most interested in the topic. I had the privilege of finding a very congenial trans- lator in a lady who herself is personally acquainted with the Far East, having travelled in China twice for a considerable time. The book has been revised and much enlarged for this translation, there being no restriction of space, which hampered the German edition. But vast as the subject is, concentration seemed necessary. Par- ticularly, the system of the Buddha himself hasbeen stated in the most concise way, so as only to give a clear understanding of the ruling ideas...

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