How Buddhism began
Subtitle: the conditioned genesis of the early teachings
By: Richard F. Gombrich.
Series: Jordan lectures in comparative religion ;; 17
Publisher: Athlone Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: London; Atlantic Highlands, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 180
Subjects: Buddhism -- Doctrines -- History -- Early period, to ca. 250 B.C.
Other titles: Jordan lectures 1994
Description: "This book takes a fresh look at the earliest Buddhist 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."--BOOK JACKET. "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. Perhaps most important of all, a combination of literalism with ignorance of the Buddha's allusions to brahminism led Buddhists to forget that the Buddha had preached that love, like Christian charity, could itself be directly salvific."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includs bibliographical references (p. [165]-169) and indexes.