A History of Indian Buddhism

A History of Indian Buddhism, the summation of a lifetime of research on Indian Buddhism, is an exceptionally comprehensive discussion of Indian Buddhism, with detailed chapters on its history, doctrine and bibliography. The text also presents some of the debates on Indian Buddhism that have occurred in the Japanese academic community and emphasizes issues that have often been treated only in passing in India and the West. Hirakawa`s extensive use of Chinese translations of Indian Buddhist sources and his references to Japanese studies of these works are particularly noteworthy. Finally, the book includes an extensive bibliography of Western scholarship compiled by the translator.

Contents

Foreword, Translator's Preface, Author's Preface, Abbreviations, Introduction, PART ONE: Early Buddhism: Indian Religion at the time of the buddha, The life of the Buddha, Early Buddhist Doctrine, The organization of the order, The establishment of the early buddhist canon, The Development of the Buddhist order, The Buddhism of king Asoka, PART TWO: Nikaya Buddhism: The Development of Nikaya Buddhism, Abhidharma Literature, The Organization of the Dharmas in the Abhidharma, Buddhist Cosmology and the Theory of Karma, Karma and Avijnapti-rupa, The Elimination of Defilements and the Path to Enlightenment, PART Three: Early Mahayana Buddhism, The Evolution of the order after Asoka, Mahayana Texts Composed during the Kusana Dynasty, The Origins of Mahayana, The Contents of early Mahayana Scriptures, Theory and Practice in Early Mahayana Buddhism, Notes, Bibliographical Essay, Bibliography, Index.