University of Virginia Library

BUDDHISM

1. The Founder. Buddhism is the religion which was
founded by a historical person in India, who was later
called “the Buddha.” The founder of Buddhism was
a man known as Gotama Siddhattha (in Pāli) or
Gautama Siddhārtha (in Sanskrit). Although his date
is not clearly ascertainable, he is the first man in Indian
history whose date can be assigned to a limited period
with any degree of certainty. There is a minor differ-
ence between Northern and Southern traditions con-
cering the dates of the life and death of the Buddha.
Southern Buddhists, following the Ceylonese tradition,
accept the year 544 B.C. as the year of his death, and
on that basis celebrated the 2,500th anniversary in
1956. European scholars have rejected this chronology
as incompatible with the dates of the Indian kings who
were contemporaries of the Buddha. Thus a somewhat
later date is sought.

Many Japanese Buddhists accepted a Northern tra-
dition conveyed to China by a monk called Saṅgha-
bhadra in A.D. 489, according to which they celebrated
the 2,500th birthday in 1932. However, the Jōdo, Shin,
and Nichiren sects did not join with them since the
founders of these sects had adopted the legend that
the year of the Buddha's death was 949 B.C., as fixed
by the Chinese priest Fao-lin (A.D. 572-640). Needless
to say, even the followers of these sects do not believe
this legend literally nowadays. Hakuju Ui, the late
Buddhist scholar of Japan, comparing the legends set
forth in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese versions of the
scriptures, fixed the date of the Buddha as 466-386
B.C. The dates of King Aśoka, on whose life Ui based
his computations, have been altered by recent research,
so the correct dates for Buddha would be 436-383 B.C.,
if his arguments are to be accepted. Even though there
is no agreement concerning the exact chronology, Jap-
anese and Chinese Buddhists were glad to collaborate
with Southern Buddhists in their 2,500th-year cer-
emonies honoring the Buddha.

Gotama the Buddha was born at Kapilavastu in what
is now Nepal near the border of India, the son of a
nobleman of the Sākya clan. When about twenty-nine
years of age, he left his wife, his little son, and his
father, and renounced the world. As an ascetic he
became a disciple of several teachers in succession, but
did not find satisfaction in their teaching and resolved
to seek truth for himself. Finally, at the spot now
known as Bodh-gaya in Bihar, he attained Enlighten-
ment at the age of thirty-five; he is therefore called
the Buddha “the Enlightened One” or “the Awakened
One.” From this time until his death at the age of
eighty, he spent his life in teaching his disciples, con
stantly traveling, except in rainy seasons, in the area
along the River Ganges to deliver sermons to people.
He died quietly, surrounded by his disciples, at a place
called Kuśinagara near the border between Nepal and
India.

2. Historical Development. In the latter half of the
third century B.C., Buddhism spread rapidly during the
reign in India of King Aśoka, who supported the Bud-
dhist order and sought to extend the teaching of the
Buddha throughout his empire. He sent missionaries
to the various countries known at that time, such as
Ceylon, Burma, Macedonia, and Egypt. A bilingual
edict by Aśoka in Greek and Aramaic has been found
in Afghanistan. Since that time Buddhism has become
a world religion, with Ceylon as the center for the
spread of Southern Buddhism. Meanwhile, in India the
Buddhist order came to be divided into two schools,
Conservative (Theravāda) and Liberal (Mahāsaṅghika),
finally subdividing into about eighteen schools in the
second century B.C. Some of these schools showed
liberal tendencies in thought and discipline towards
reform, and towards adaptating themselves to social
changes. The most important of these schools is the
Sarvāstivādins.

The social movements of liberal Buddhists in India,
coupled with new ideas and practices, developed grad-
ually, and found their culmination in the creation of
a new Buddhism called the Mahāyāna (“Great Vehi-
cle”) in contrast with the traditional, conservative Bud-
dhism, which was depreciated as the Hīnayāna (“Les-
ser Vehicle”). The rise of the Mahāyāna system is proba-
bly to be placed in about the first and second centuries
A.D. The new, reforming sects called themselves Mahā-
yāna because they thought of their system as (1) large
and vast, (2) one which can save many living beings,
and (3) a system which is superior. Mahāyāna believes
that the teachings of Buddhism will vary according to
the different climatic and cultural situations in which
it finds itself, that they will change and develop
through the years, and that even at the outset not all
of the Buddha's teachings were included in the canon.
Mahāyāna advocated salvation by grace of Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas (aspirants to Buddhahood), who were
ardently worshipped and invoked. Among the followers
of Mahāyāna there were many merchants and traders,
some of whom had become very rich due to their trade
with the Hellenistic world or with the Roman empire.
The unit of Indian gold coins, i.e., dīnāras, was exactly
the same as that in Rome, i.e., denarius, in terms of
appellation and weight. The prestige of some traders
almost surpassed that of kings. Until the tenth century
Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna thrived side by side in India.
Huge temples and monasteries with luxurious halls and
elaborate carvings were built by rich lay believers to

accommodate monks and nuns. The images of Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas were made. A great number of philo-
sophical treatises, hymns, religious stories, etc., were
composed.

There were two philosophical schools of Mahāyāna;
the Mādhyamika school founded by Nāgārjuna (ca. A.D.
150-250) and the Yogācāra school founded by Maitreya-
nātha (ca. A.D. 270-350) or Asaṅga (ca. A.D. 310-90).
The Mādhyamika school advocated the philosophy of
Voidness (śūnyatā); that everything is devoid of abid-
ing substance and that Voidness gives the basis for
ethical and religious practice. The Yogācāra (or
Vijñānavāda) school advocated a sort of idealism, say-
ing that everything manifests itself as the manifestation
of Store Consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), the funda-
mental principle of representation of all phenomena.
Its philosophy is identified with the “Representation
Only” or “Ideation Only” theory (vijñaptimātratā).

Buddhism could not completely eradicate the popu-
lar beliefs of Hinduism current among common people.
These tended to become predominant from the fourth
century on, with the decline of the trader class due
to the suspension of commercial interchange with the
West, so that from the eighth century on Buddhism
was greatly influenced by Hindu popular beliefs. Some
Buddhists came to practice esoteric, mysterious rites.
This form of Buddhism was called “Esoteric Buddhism”
(Vajrayāna, “Diamond Vehicle”).

The Muhammedan conquest of North India (1193-
1203) caused the downfall of Buddhism, which was
finally uprooted in India. While Hinduism, which had
taken to its grassroots, could not be easily destroyed,
Buddhism, which had been supported by many kings,
merchants, and landowners, was extirpated at one blow
by the Muhammedan army. Temples and monasteries
were destroyed; monks and nuns were killed. Buddhism
did not revive again on the soil of India until it was
re-introduced from Buddhist countries in the twentieth
century.

Owing to the efforts of Buddhist missionaries, Bud-
dhism was introduced, in about the first century A.D.,
to Persia, Afghanistan, and Central Asia (Kuccha, Kho-
tan, etc.), and then to China. It was then introduced
to Korea in the latter half of the fourth century, and
to Japan in the sixth century, first via Korea, and later
directly from China. Buddhism, especially in the form
of Esoteric Buddhism, came to Tibet in the seventh
century; Tibetan Buddhism is called Lamaism by for-
eigners. (“Lama” means a spiritual leader.)

In China and Japan thirteen major sects came into
existence, of which Zen is one. Zen is the Japanese
equivalent of ch'an in Chinese, and of dhyāna (“medi-
tation”) in Sanskrit. Zen Buddhism is a sect, which,
while having its roots in Indian dhyāna, gradually
moved away from the quiet and imaginative Indian
contemplation to a specifically Chinese religious prac-
tice, and became highly influential in Japanese culture.
Another noteworthy sect in China was the Pure Land
(Ching-t'u) sect which stressed the worship of Amitābha
Buddha (Amida in Japanese, “the Buddha of Infinite
Life and Splendor”) who was supposed to be located
in the Pure Land (or “the Extremely Pleasant Land”)
in the western direction from this earthly world.
Among present-day Chinese Zen and Pure Land Bud-
dhism have been amalgamated into one. In Japan the
latter has been the most popularly influential sect,
whereas Zen Buddhism was influential among the
upper classes such as samurai and landowners.

3. Buddhism Today. The estimates as to the number
of Buddhists in the world today range all the way from
200 million to 850 million. By United Nations estimates
(1967) there are over 1 billion 300 million people in
the countries in which Buddhist influence is an impor-
tant factor—Burma, Ceylon, Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam, Nepal, Sikkim, India, Korea, Mongolia,
Japan, and China. If China (650 million) is omitted
from that figure, on the ground that it is very difficult
to estimate the influence of Buddhism in Communist
China, there are 650 million people in the remaining
Buddhist countries. Of that number, at least 50 million
are followers of Southern Buddhism (Theravāda), and
about 125 million are avowed followers of Northern
Buddhism (Mahāyāna).

The whole Buddhist world can be divided into two,
Southern and Northern Buddhism. The former is Con-
servative Buddhism, and the latter is a newly developed
form of Buddhism, which appeared after the Christian
era. The former is now ardently adhered to in South
Asiatic countries, i.e., Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Laos,
and Cambodia. These Buddhists call themselves
“Theravādins,” those who profess Theravāda, which
appellation means “the Way of the Elders” (vāda
means “school,” “way,” or “ism”; thera means “the
elder.”) This is the Buddhist school based on the canon
written in the Pāli language. It asserts that it follows
insofar as possible the practices and teachings of the
time of the Buddha, although there have been consid-
erable changes since then. In the past there were some
other schools of Conservative Buddhism besides Thera-
vāda, which have now almost all vanished.

Northern Buddhism calls itself Mahāyāna (“Great
Vehicle”) because it claims to save a great many people
by the altruistic activity of its followers. Mahāyāna is
now prevalent in Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet, Mongolia,
China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.

Southern Buddhism has preserved the original fea-
tures of early Buddhism rather intact. The attitude of
its followers is conservative and traditional. Mahāyāna

has, on the other hand, been apt to adapt itself to the
climatic and social environment in which it has spread.
Theravāda claims itself to be the genuine form of
Buddhism, having preserved the true doctrine of the
Lord Buddha, whereas Mahāyāna, which has always
been in close contact with the common people, has
vehemently attacked the Hīnayāna Buddhists for their
self-complacent and self-righteous attitude. However,
there is some unity in the two divisions, for Mahāyāna
has also treasured much of the teaching which has been
preserved in Conservative Buddhism. Theravāda has
maintained a high degree of consistency in teachings
and practices, while great diversity has grown up in
Mahāyāna due to its more liberal and elastic attitude.

In India today, there is no Buddhist sect extant,
although Buddhist influence by tradition can be noticed
in the daily life of the Hindus. The revival of Buddhism
which occurred recently, from the end of the nine-
teenth century on, has been chiefly due to the efforts
of the members of the Mahabodhi Society, which
started under the auspices of Ceylonese Buddhists.
Conversion to Buddhism in India is nowadays most
conspicuous among the Untouchables. The number of
Buddhists increased rapidly from 180,800 in 1951 to
3,250,000 in 1961.

In the South Asiatic countries there is now only one
form of Buddhism, Theravāda. In Central Asia Bud-
dhism has almost vanished. In Nepal and Sikkim, Bud-
dhism only prevails in the form of Esoteric Buddhism
(Vajrayāna). In Tibet, Lamaism, which is an amalga-
mation of Esoteric Buddhism with popular faiths, pre-
vails with Lamas as spiritual leaders, although their
spiritual prestige has greatly declined due to the Com-
munist invasion in 1959.

Uniformity in Buddhism is established in China,
Korea, and Vietnam, where Zen (Ch'an) Buddhism,
fused with Pure Land Buddhism (and with Taoism, in
China) is now the only remaining sect. The traditions
of all the rest of the sects have almost gone out of
existence. In Japan, by contrast, there still exist ap-
proximately thirteen major traditional Buddhist sects,
many of which can no longer be found in China or
in India. However, the ways of living followed by
Japanese priests, who are mostly married, are highly
worldly and secular.

Challenged by Western culture and by changing
forms of society, Buddhism has been forced to reform
itself. There are many signs of vitality in the new
educational institutions, the new research projects,
philanthropic activities, etc., of Buddhist groups. The
movements of Buddhist reformers have become cul-
turally influential, and international activities by Bud-
dhists have become more and more widespread.

4. Scriptures. The scriptures of Buddhism are called
“the Three Baskets” (Tipiṭaka in Pāli; Tripiṭaka in
Sanskrit). Both Southern and Northern Buddhists have
always esteemed the scriptures as the supreme source
of knowledge, the standard by which everything should
be judged. The only notable exception to this reliance
upon the scriptures has been in Zen Buddhism, with
its emphasis upon direct insight and its assertion that
only silence avoids violating the truth. And even Zen
does not entirely reject the scriptures. In Southern
Buddhism also there are some teachers who emphasize
meditation virtually to the exclusion of study of the
scripture, but the general pattern throughout all Bud-
dhism has been one of great reliance upon the scrip-
tures. The decision as to which of the scriptures will
be accepted as authoritative differs with sects. Even
though almost all Buddhists will base their faith on
the scriptures, there is no one scripture which is ac-
cepted as having the same authority for everyone who
calls himself a Buddhist, and very few are accepted
equally throughout all the Buddhist world.

However, there is one formula which is universal.
That is the formula by which one expresses one's faith
in the three refuges (which are called “the Three
Jewels,” tiratana in Pāli), the Buddha, the Teaching
(Dhamma), and the Brotherhood (Saṅgha). It runs as
follows: “I put faith in the Buddha. I put faith in the
Teaching. I put faith in the Brotherhood.” This formula
is recited in the Pāli language in South Asiatic coun-
tries, and in the language of the people concerned in
North Asiatic countries. In Southern Buddhism the
scriptures in the Pāli language are accepted as the final
authority; in Northern Buddhism the corpus of scrip-
tures contain many more commentators' texts, which
were mostly composed after the Christian era.

5. The Fundamental Attitude. Buddhists should fol-
low the path which was prescribed by the Buddha.
For this purpose faith is indispensable, but it is only
a preliminary requirement for one's practicing the way.
According to Buddhism faith should not be in contra-
diction to reason. The Buddha was described as one
who has reasoned according to the truth rather than
on the basis of the authority of the Vedas or tradition.
Buddhists have accepted two standards for the truth
of a statement: it must be in accordance with the
scriptures and must be proved true by reasoning.

Buddhism presupposes universal laws called
dharmas, which govern human existence and may be
known by reason (“dharma” means etymologically “the
one that keeps”). Personal relations should be brought
into harmony with the universal norms, the universal
laws which apply to all existence, regardless of time
and space. Buddhism claims to be the Path which is
regarded as the universal norm for all mankind, con-
formity to the nature of the universe. A Buddha is

simply one who has trodden this Path and can report
to others on what he has found. Buddhism theoretically
admits the existence of many Buddhas.

On the other hand, metaphysical speculation con-
cerning problems not related to human activities and
the attainment of Enlightenment is discouraged—e.g.,
problems such as whether the world is infinite or finite,
whether the soul and the body are identical with, or
different from, each other.

6. The Main Teachings. Buddhism has asserted the
following: life is suffering; the struggle to maintain
individuality is painful. It asks: Why do we suffer? The
answer is, because of the transiency, the impermanence
of human existence. There is no substance which abides
forever. Suffering is caused by desire, since what we
desire is impermanent, changing, and perishing. These
desires are caused by ignorance. We are ignorant con-
cerning our true nature and the nature of the universe
in which we live. And we may be freed from our
ignorance by following the Path. Through the wisdom
which comes from reflection on the transitoriness of
life, by following the Path taught by the Buddha,
everyone can attain Enlightenment, which charac-
terizes Nirvāṇa, the ideal state.

The teaching of Non-ego has been regarded as char-
acteristic of Buddhist thought. The Buddha clearly told
us what the self is not, but he did not give any clear
account of what it is. He did not deny the soul, but
was silent concerning it. He did not want to assume
the existence of souls as metaphysical substances, but
he admitted the existence of the self as the subject of
action in a practical and moral sense. He seems to have
acknowledged that the true self in one's existence will
appear in our moral conduct conforming to universal
norms. To make clear the teaching of Non-ego, Bud-
dhists set forth the theory of the Five Aggregates or
Constituents (skandhas) of our existence. Individual
existence is made up of these Five Aggregates or Con-
stituents as follows:

• 1) Corporeality or Matter (rūpa),

• 2) Feelings or Sensations (vedanā),

• 3) Ideation (saññā in Pāli, saṃjñā in Sanskrit),

• 4) Mental formations (saṅkhāra in Pāli, samskāra in San-
  skrit),

• 5) Consciousness (viññāna in Pāli, vijñāna in Sanskrit).

None of the Five Aggregates is the self or soul (attā
in Pāli, ātman in Sanskrit), nor can we locate it in any
of them. On the other hand, as early Buddhism did
not deny the self in the ethical sense, later Mahāyāna
developed the theory of “the Great Self.”

We are always distressed by cravings, thinking that
there is something real in satisfying these desires in
the mundane world. This mistake about the true es
sence of reality is the cause of all the sufferings that
affect our lives. Ignorance is the main cause from which
false desires spring. Ignorance and false desires are the
theoretical and the practical sides of one fact. So when
knowledge is attained and cravings are quenched,
suffering comes to end. This state is called “Nirvāṇa,”
which means the “cessation” of selfish desires or ig-
norance.

Between ignorance and suffering, Buddhist thinkers
found and formulated several intermediate steps, and
this formulation was called “Dependent Origination”
or “Origination through Dependence” (Paṭiccasamup-
pāda in Pāli, Pratītyasamutpāda in Sanskrit). In
Mahāyāna philosophy this term came to mean “Inter-
related Existence of all Things.” It asserts that nothing
can exist separately from other things, and that all
things are interrelated.

In ancient India, belief in rebirth or transmigration
was generally current, and this conception was associ-
ated with the doctrine of karma (meaning “act,” or
“deed”), according to which good conduct brings a
pleasant and happy result, while bad conduct brings
an evil result. The karma committed with previous
intention will come to fruition, either in this life or
in afterlives after death. However, the acceptance of
this belief by Buddhists gave rise to a difficult problem:
How can rebirth take place without a permanent sub-
ject to be reborn? The relation between existences in
rebirth has been explained by the analogy of fire, which
maintains itself unchanged in appearance, yet is differ-
ent in every moment. In order to meet this vulnerable
point, some Buddhists later assumed a sort of soul,
calling it by different names. This assumption gave rise
to the conception of the fundamental consciousness
(ālaya-vijñāna) of the Yogācāra (or Vijñānavāda) school
in Mahāyāna.

7. The Universe. Buddhism declares that everything
has causes; that there is no permanent substratum of
existence. There is general agreement that the only true
method of explaining any existing thing is to trace one
cause back to the next, and so on, without the desire
or need to explain the ultimate cause of all things. The
universe is governed by causality. There is no chaotic
anarchy and no capricious interference.

The belief in karma and rebirth led to the assumption
of good and bad places to which people could be born
according to their deeds. The three spheres, or planes,
are (1) the immaterial plane where pure spirits live,
(2) the material plane where beings with subtle bodies
live, and (3) the plane of desire which corresponds to
our natural world, and in which the six classes of living
beings—gods, men, departed spirits, animals, demons,
and infernal creatures—live. Zen Buddhism in China
and Japan, however, has been rather indifferent to the

problem of the structure of the universe. Moreover,
Buddhist intellectuals who have been educated in
modern science, however devout they may be, do not
believe this traditional cosmology.

Buddhism does not admit God as the creator of the
universe. It asserts that the universe is without begin-
ning and end, although one period of the universe
consists of the four periods; origination, duration, de-
struction, and annihilation. These succeed one after
another in cyclic change.

8. Buddha. The person who has attained Wisdom
or who has realized universal norms (dharmas) is called
the Enlightened One (Buddha). Theoretically there can
be many Buddhas. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed the
idea of the Threefold Body of the Buddha: (1) “the
Body of the Law” (dharmakāya) is Voidness, the form-
less reality beyond our words and thoughts; (2) “the
Body of Enjoyment” (saṃbhogakāya) means the void
and absolute reality which, enjoying virtues as results
of merits, has taken a merciful vow to live amid the
empirical world, and to save it by leading it into wis-
dom; (3) “the Body of Transformation” (nirmāṇakāya)
is a corporeal, preaching Buddha revealed in our em-
pirical world, such as Sākyamuni Buddha.

9. The Institution of Buddhism. The Buddha estab-
lished a religious order which has continued to the
present day as one of the oldest and most influential
orders of religious brethren in the oriental world. The
Buddhist order (saṅgha), and the kindred religion called
“Jainism,” have survived longer than any other institu-
tions. “Saṅgha,” the appellation of the Buddhist order,
means “congregation.” In the days of the Buddha
saṅgha in the political sense meant “republic,” and
saṅgha in the economical sense meant “guild.” So
various ways of managing guilds or republics, such as
decision by voting, secret ballot, etc., were incorpo-
rated in the rules of the Buddhist order.

It is noteworthy that the Buddha organized the order
of nuns also, in addition to that of the monks. Conse-
quently the whole body of the Buddhist order consists
of four kinds of followers: (1) monks (bhikkhu in Pāli,
bhikku in Sanskrit), (2) nuns (bhikkhunī in Pāli,
bhikkunī in Sanskrit), (3) laymen (upāsaka), and (4) lay
women (upāsikā). The central role of the order has
been played by monks in South Asiatic countries and
in China, where monks and nuns spend a celibate life
in monasteries or nunneries.

In Tibet many monks have practiced celibacy; they
belong to the Ge-lug or Yellow Hats sect. But others
(the Nyng-ma or Red Hats sect) live a married life.
In Nepal and Japan some Buddhist leaders are celibate
and follow monastic disciplines, but many are married
and live the life of a householder. Korean priests have
observed celibacy very strictly for a long time, but in
recent years some Korean priests have imitated the
Japanese priests and have married. In an effort to get
rid of everything Japanese, the Korean Government
has been expelling married priests from the temples.

Monks are known as bhikkhus in South Asiatic coun-
tries, this term meaning “one who lives on alms.” In
Burma they are often called “Phongys” (phon means
“great,” gyi means “glory”). In South Asiatic countries
monks are greatly respected and worshipped. Monks,
when saluted, do not return salutation to laymen, even
to kings and prime ministers, according to the tradi-
tional disciplines of their order. They take food, after
seeking alms, which they may do only in the morning.

In Japan, the religious leaders are called by the
Japanese equivalents of “priests,” “monks,” or “minis-
ters,” and are often given the honorary title of “Rever-
end.” The English term bonze is a corruption of the
Japanese word bōzu, which means “the head of a
monastery,” and was formerly an honorary title, but
in the 1960's it came to be used in a derisive sense.

In Buddhism monks and priests are responsible for
the spiritual guidance of laymen, and laymen are re-
sponsible for the support of the religious orders.

In Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, all Buddhist lay-
men are expected to spend some time in a monastery
receiving instruction in Buddhism; it is possible to be
ordained as a monk and then return to lay life. Some
remain as monks in monasteries for life. In Burma it
is not uncommon for laymen to spend some time in
monasteries, but they do not customarily receive ordi-
nation unless they intend to remain. In all other Bud-
dhist countries, the practice of returning to lay life after
receiving ordination is not usually approved.

The ceremony of ordination according to the rules
of the Book of Discipline (Vinaya) is followed in South
Asiatic countries. According to the Book of Discipline,
a monk is dismissed when he commits one of the fol-
lowing four Major Offences: (1) sexual intercourse, (2)
taking what is not given to him, i.e., theft, (3) claiming
in public that he has already become a Holy Man,
although he has not yet attained that state, and (4)
killing a human being. The rules of discipline in Con-
servative Buddhism were for a long time the custom
in Mahāyāna countries also. However, there was an-
other informal self-vow ordination, practiced by some
Mahāyānists—the Bodhisattva ordination—which be-
came overwhelmingly prevalent in Japan. In Esoteric
Buddhism the ritual of ordination by anointment with
water is followed.

Throughout all the Buddhist world, the Buddhist
community has never been organized around a central
authority which could decree doctrines or practices
which must be observed by all followers. Buddhists
have been comparatively individualistic and unwilling

to submit to a rigid authority. Agreement as to the
doctrines to be held and the practices to be followed
has been reached by discussion within the community,
guided by the scriptures accepted as a basis for their
faith. In Southern Buddhism there is great unity, with
the different sects playing only a minor role. In Tibet,
although there are several sects, Buddhists there are
united in most matters. In China the sectarian differ-
ences of the past have blended into one general form.
Some writers say that Buddhism is practically extinct
in Communist China. Only in Japan are there marked
sectarian differences, but the authorities of the extant
sects are not coercive. Collaboration among different
sects is well performed.

10. The Mission of Buddhism. Throughout the long
history of Buddhism covering almost twenty-five cen-
turies, Buddhists have recognized their mission to
spread the teachings of the Buddha throughout the
world. Soon after the founding of the order, the Buddha
sent out his followers on missionary journeys to spread
the teaching “for the profit and good and happiness
of the world” (Mahāvagga I, 6, 8, etc.).

The Buddhist teachings were considered universal
and all-comprehensive, to be made known to all men
for their enlightenment. This spread of Buddhism was
marked by the devotion of monks and laymen, and
conversion took place only by persuasion. There is no
known case of conversion to Buddhism by the use of
force. Even King Aśoka, under whose reign Buddhism
spread as a universal religion in many countries, re-
nounced the use of force.

However, Buddhist mission work, generally speak-
ing, declined throughout the Buddhist world from the
tenth century on. Under the impact of the spread of
Christianity and communism, some Buddhist leaders
have come to be enthusiastic in mission work; they
have established some international organizations.

11. Ethics. The way of the Buddha is called the
Middle Path because it avoids the extremes of the
pursuit of worldly desires or the practice of several
asceticisms. It must be adjusted to the infinitely varying
circumstances of actual life. Evil actions are to be
avoided by following the Middle Path or ethical prac-
tice. Only Pure-Land Buddhism has been an exception,
with its belief that all living beings are sinful and are
saved by the compassionate grace of Amitābha Buddha.

The fundamental principle of Buddhist ethics is that
all men should develop an attitude of compassion
(maitrī, literally “true friendliness”). If we allow the
virtue of compassion or love of neighbors to grow in
us, it will not occur to us to harm anyone else, any
more than we would willingly harm ourselves.

The laymen should obey the five precepts which
admonish him (1) not to kill, (2) not to take what is
not given, (3) to refrain from unlawful sexual inter-
course, (4) not to tell lies, (5) not to drink intoxicating
liquors. (But in Tibet and Japan the fifth precept is
often not observed.)

The duties which are stressed are those between
parents and children, husband and wife, pupils and
teachers, friend and friend, master and servants, and
laymen and monks. The virtues stressed are (1) gener-
osity, (2) benevolence, (3) cooperation, (4) service; these
four are regarded as the fundamental ones for social
life. Courtesy, sympathy, and honesty, etc., are also
encouraged.

From the time of the Buddha, Buddhism has stressed
the equality of man. The Buddha said: “For worms,
serpents, fish, birds, and animals there are marks that
constitute their own species. There are differences in
creatures endowed with bodies, but amongst men this
is not the case; the differences among men are nominal
only” (Suttanipāta 602-11). There was no discrim-
ination among the monks in the early Buddhist order.
This sense of equality has been theoretically preserved
throughout most Buddhist orders, although it has often
been impaired due to political reasons.

12. Buddhism and the Polity. Buddhism came to
flourish in each country under the patronage of rulers
from Aśoka (third century B.C.), to Prince Shōtoku
(sixth to seventh centuries A.D.) in Japan. On the other
hand a hostile government led to the extermination
of Buddhism in India. It was persecuted by the three
emperors called Wu in China, and also was opposed
on several occasions by the government of Japan, es-
pecially in the beginning of the Meiji era (1867-1912).
The Communist government has greatly affected Bud-
dhism in China and Tibet, to keep it under control.

In early Buddhism, the rights of a king were not
considered to be sacred or conferred by the gods; the
sovereignty of the kings was delegated to them by the
people in ancient times. The Buddha said: “Kings are
like venomous serpents. You should not make them
angry. It is better not to come into contact with them”
(Saṁyutta-Nikāya I, 69). It is said that the Buddha
extolled a republican form of government realized
among the Vajjis and other tribes. Such an unpolitical
attitude could not be maintained, however, and as time
went on both Conservative and Mahāyāna Buddhism
were drawn into the political sphere. Frequently the
state controlled Buddhism for its own purposes and
such control was often detrimental to Buddhism.

In Tibet, the unique amalgamation of Buddhism and
political power continued as the final authority, until
the communist invasion by the Chinese army in 1959.
Buddhism is the state religion of Thailand, Laos, and
Cambodia. Many Buddhists in Burma and Ceylon argue
that it should be the state religion in their countries.

In Japan, the Nichiren sect, and some of its new off-
shoots (Shinkō Shūkyō), hold that the state and religion
should be identified, and that the teaching of Nichiren
alone should be adopted. Most of the other Japanese
sects prefer noninterference on the part of the govern-
ment. On the proper relation between Buddhism and
the state, diversity of opinion exists in both Southern
and Northern Buddhism.

In countries where Buddhism has flourished it has
had considerable influence upon the administration of
justice. In some countries of ancient India capital pun-
ishment and mutilation had been abolished due to the
teaching of compassion. In Japan in the Heian era (the
eighth to the twelfth centuries), when Buddhist influ-
ence was strong, there was no case of capital punish-
ment. In Tibet, the thirteenth Dalai Lama abolished
capital punishment and extreme mutilation. Generally
speaking, when Buddhist influence was strong, punish-
ment was lenient, and rarely cruel.

The use of military force by the state was renounced
by Aśoka after he become a Buddhist, and there have
been many Buddhist emperors since his time who have
tried to govern by persuasion rather then by force. The
Tibetans and Mongolians were transformed from fierce
warlike nomads to a peaceful, friendly people by the
acceptance of Buddhism. Some Confucians and scholars
of Japanese classics criticized Buddhism on the ground
that its emphasis on compassion tended to make poor
soldiers. On the other hand, the samurai class in Japan
once adopted meditative disciplines of Zen Buddhism
as a part of their training to become brave warriors.

In China, Korea, and Japan, from about the sixteenth
century on, Buddhism became separated from the
ruling class, and the priests were obliged to turn to
the populace for support, as the ruling class became
materialistic. By contrast, in the countries of Southern
Buddhism the laymen in the ruling class have still held
to their Buddhism and have influenced the policies and
culture of their countries.

Buddhist orders have not been strong enough in
financial, administrative, and military power to oppose
aggression by the secular, military power of kings of
communist governments. And if they were to rebel,
they would be easily suppressed.

In the 1960's democracy was observed in free Buddhist
countries and totalitarianism abhorred. Buddhist monks
and nuns were allowed to take part in politics. In com-
munist countries Buddhist orders have been tolerated,
although the lands once owned by them have been
confiscated; still some expenses for their mainte-
nance are met by the communist governments in China,
Mongolia, etc. In the Soviet Union Buryat Mongo-
lians remained Lamaists even in the 1960's.

The traditional pacifistic attitude of Buddhists can
be noticed in such a political leader as U Thant, the
third Secretary-General of the United Nations.

13. Ethics of Commerce. Buddhism at the outset
arose in cities and especially won the support of kings
and merchants. In ancient India, for example, it spread
along the trade routes.

A hundred years after the demise of the Buddha a
controversy occurred on ten topics, and the whole
Buddhist order was divided into two groups. One topic
at issue was whether monks could accept money as
a gift by laymen. Conservative monks did not permit
such gifts, but liberal monks did. The first attitude has
been practiced by Southern Buddhists; the second by
a sect called the “Mahāsaṅghika,” and in later days
by the Mahāyāna. Early in the Christian era some
temples in India became very rich, being endowed with
huge areas of land, and with funds which were donated
by lay believers. The temples used the funds to develop
small industries, and with the gains from these, and
the rents from their lands, support was derived for the
monks.

In Southern Buddhism monks were not permitted
to engage in commercial activities. They were forbid-
den to cultivate land or to be involved in profit-making.
They were not allowed even to keep any coins; they
lived only on alms. In China most monks lived in the
same way, but in Zen monasteries monks came to
engage in raising food and in all sorts of manual labor
to maintain themselves. The spirit of labor and service
was encouraged. This way of life was introduced into
Japan. In Japan today priests are not prohibited from
engaging in commercial activities.

The Buddha also admonished laymen not to waste
money on extravagant and passionate pleasures. Liquor
and gambling were forbidden; frequenting the streets,
visiting fairs, idleness, and associating with evil com-
panions were discouraged. Consequently Buddhists in
Southern Asia even today do not drink liquor. In China
lay Buddhists drink, but monks do not. In Japan and
Nepal most Buddhists do not prohibit drinking.

On the other hand, the virtue of diligence has been
encouraged. By diligence and thrift one may accumu-
late riches.

(Sigālovādasutta 26, trans. C. A. F. and T. W. Rhys Davids,
slightly amended in collation with the Pāli). Buddhism never denounced the accumulation of
wealth; however, riches should be accumulated only
by lawful means, and all people should benefit from
it. Throughout all the Buddhist world there has been
no thought of forbidding interest on loans. A reasonable
interest rate has been regarded as permissible.

In China some monks engaged in philanthropic ac-
tivities; they formed groups of Buddhists to lend money
to people in need. In Japan some monks, in a similar
philanthropic spirit, constructed rest-houses and hos-
pitals, roads, ponds, bridges, and harbors.

In Indian Buddhism all vocations were permitted
except selling slaves, weapons, and liquor. This ban on
weapons and liquor was not observed in Japan.

15. Buddhist Attitudes Towards Non-Buddhists.
Tolerance has been an outstanding moral characteristic
of Buddhism from earliest times. Buddhism has at-
tempted to arrive at the truth, not by excluding its
opposites as falsehood, but by including them as an-
other form of the same truth. Buddhists are generally
noted for their liberal attitude toward other religions,
whether polytheistic, monotheistic, or atheistic. Bud-
dhists admit the truth of any moral and philosophical
system, whether primitive or developed, provided only
that it is capable of leading men at least part way
toward their final goal. Although Buddhism has been
predominant in many Asiatic countries, there is no
record of any persecution by Buddhists of the followers
of any other faith. They have waged no religious war.

Buddhism has tolerated the various pagan faiths
native to some countries of Asia which lack any clear
religious doctrine. In South Asiatic countries, many
Hindu gods and goddesses have been included in the
religious ceremonies of the Buddhist community, and
many Buddhists still observe festivals and customs as-
sociated with goblins or demons (nats) and other nature
spirits of each country.

In China, Buddhism had actually been amalgamated
with many Taoist beliefs and practices; many shrines
were semi-Buddhist and semi-Taoist. Chinese legendary
sages were worshipped in temples. The same tolerance
brought about a blending of the various Buddhist sects
in China producing one mixed form of Buddhism. The
situation is similar to the condition of Buddhism in
Korea.

In Tibet, Buddhists assimilated with Bonism, the
native religion of Tibet, by incorporating many of its
gods and goddesses into the lowest grade of Guardian
Deities, without affecting the doctrinal integrity of
Buddhism. The animal sacrifices were replaced with
symbolic worship, and inner purification was taught
in place of black magic.

In Japan, the indigenous gods and goddesses of Shin-
toism were dealt with in the same way. Till the eighth
century they were assigned rather low positions, but
later their positions became gradually higher and
higher; they were regarded as incarnations of Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas. The Japanese people very often do
not distinguish between Buddhistic divine beings and
Shintō gods. In the past in Japan there were very few
shrines that did not have shrine-temples built in their
confines, where Buddhist priests performed the morn-
ing and evening practices of reciting Sutras and served
the shrine gods and goddesses together with Shintō
priests. The majority of the Japanese pray before the
Shintoist shrines and at the same time pay homage in
Buddhist temples, without being conscious of any con-
tradiction. A devout Buddhist is very often a devout
Shintoist at the same time. Buddhist authorities do not
interfere with Buddhists who go to Christian churches
or attend Christian colleges to learn English or Western
culture.

The relation between the Buddhists and the Hindus
is viable insofar as Hindus regard Buddhism as a branch
of Hinduism.

15. Buddhist Influence on the West. Evidence of
any direct influence of Buddhism on the West in the
period before Alexander the Great is dubious. It is still
a matter of controversy whether the attitude of in-
difference and nonattachment which Pyrrhon of Elis
(ca. 360-270 B.C.) showed towards his drowning
teacher Anarxarchos, was derived from any knowledge
of the Buddhist ideal of the Holy Person (Arhat). How-
ever, historical investigations have shown that many
Greeks or other Europeans, living in the Middle East
in the Hellenistic period, after the invasion of India
by Alexander the Great in 327 B.C., professed Buddhist
or Hindu faith. King Milinda, whose name is found
in the title of the celebrated book in Pāli literature
called The Questions of King Milinda was identified
with Manandros, the Greek King, who ruled Western
and Northern India in the latter part of the second
century B.C. This book states that he was converted
to Buddhism. He may indeed have been a devout
Buddhist according to inscriptions, and because of the
statement by Plutarch that the relics of the king were
distributed for worship among eight tribes.

Apollonius of Tyana, a Neo-Pythagorean (first cen-
tury A.D.) made a peregrination in search of the wisdom
of the Brahmins. He is mentioned as a Buddhist in an
Indian classical work, Jagadgururatnamālāstava by
Brahmendra, an Advaita-Vedāntin, and in a commen-
tary on this work, as shown by M. Hiriyanna (Indian
Historical Quarterly, 2 [1926], 415-16). Some scholars

say that Plotinus was influenced by the teachings of
Buddhism, e.g.,  E . Benz, in Indische Einfluss auf die
Frühchristliche Theologie (Wiesbaden, 1951). There are
many similarities between the philosophy of Neo-
Platonism and that of Mahāyāna Buddhism.

There is an hypothesis that Buddhism had spread
to the islands of Britain before the introduction of
Christianity, judging from a statement by Origen and
the similarity of the images of the Celtic Cernunnos
to those of the Indian Virūpāksa and Řiva. British
archaeologists officially reported (e.g., Sir John Mar-
shall in Taxila, 3 vols. [1951], I, 22), that Buddhist
sculptures of Gandhāra style were discovered in the
ruins of ancient Roman cantonments in England. Bud-
dhist images were also discovered in ruins in Sweden.

Scholars like James Moffatt (J. Hastings, Encyclo-
paedia of Religion and Ethics, Edinburgh and New
York [1908-27], V, 401; XII, 318-19), say that the
ascetic practices observed by the Essenes, who lived
around the Dead Sea in the second century B.C., con-
tained some Buddhist elements. Celibacy, vegetar-
ianism, and a life of meditation practiced in mon-
asteries in Egypt before the birth of Christ are held
by some to be evidence for the influence of Buddhism.

A number of analogies have been pointed out be-
tween the life stories of Christ and Buddha, and also
between precepts and parables in the Bible and the
sutras. Scholars such as Arthur Christy (1932, pp.
255-56) and Richard Garbe in his Indien und das
Christentum (1914; trans. 1959), assert that these anal-
ogies are not mere coincidence, but represent bor-
rowing by the writers of the Bible. There is little doubt
that the life stories given in apocryphal gospels seem
to be modifications of the life of Buddha.

Gnostics were greatly influenced by Buddhism. Some
scholars, following Ernst Benz, say that Basilides (sec-
ond century A.D.) advocated an altruism based on the
standpoint of Mahāyāna and held an idea of transmi-
gration in the Buddhist sense. By recent studies Bud-
dhist influence has been traced in the philosophy of
Manicheism, and is found in the second and third
centuries in the works of Pantaenus, Bardesanes,
Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Philostratus. It
seems that the first Western philosopher who expressly
referred to Buddhism was Clement of Alexandria (d.
215 A.D.). He says (Stromateis I, p. 305 A-B, as also
Megasthenes, frag. 43), that some Indians worship
Boutta (i.e., Buddha). The pyramid-worship he refers
to in this connection apparently refers to the Stūpa-
worship prevalent among the Indian Buddhists.

It was probably in the sixth or seventh century A.D.
somewhere in Eastern Iran or Turkestan that the legend
of Barlaam and Josaphat originated. “Barlaam” is a
corruption of the Sanskrit word bhagavān, an epithet
for Buddha, and “Josaphat” derives from the Sanskrit
word bodhisattva. This legend is a copy of the life of
the Buddha made by some Christian missionaries for
the purpose of facilitating Christian propaganda among
people living in Buddhist countries. This story came
to be very popular in the medieval West. Both Barlaam
and Josaphat were venerated for a time as saints in
the Catholic Church. Some of the Jātaka tales, par-
ables, and other stories given in Buddhist scriptures
find their counterparts in the Western world in more
or less revised forms.

With the advent of Westerners to Eastern countries
in the beginning of the modern age, Eastern languages
and literatures came to be directly known to Europe-
ans. A great many Eastern religious and philosophical
works have been translated into Western languages.
However, in the Renaissance period and in the Euro-
pean literature and philosophy of the seventeenth cen-
tury little influence of Buddhism could be traced. What
chiefly influenced Europe then was Chinese thought,
especially Confucianism in a form rationalized and
idealized by Western intellectuals. It was only in the
eighteenth century that the influence of Buddhism
could be seen in European literature and philosophy.

In the efforts to introduce Eastern thought Friedrich
Max Müller (1823-1900) was a leading scholar of wide
influence. He edited many Buddhist texts, and also a
50 volume series of translations called “Sacred Books
of the East,” which included various Buddhist texts of
great importance. He was effective in spreading Bud-
dhist thought. J. Estlin Carpenter developed compara-
tive religion, by continuing the scholarship of F. Max
Müller.

Thomas William Rhys Davids (1843-1922), with his
wife, Mrs. C. A. F. Rhys Davids, established the Pāli
Text Society in London (1881) to publish texts of early
and Southern Buddhism in the Pāli language, and this
set the line of Buddhist studies. American scholars such
as Henry Clarke Warren and Franklin Edgerton (to-
ward the end of the nineteenth century) made re-
markable contributions in this field.

In the field of philosophy Schopenhauer expressly
identified the essence of his philosophy with that of
the Upanisads and Buddhism, as well as with that of
Plato and Kant. His idea of “blind will” is related to
the Buddhist concept of “Nescience” (avidyā). The
philosophy of the “Unconscious” of Eduard von Hart-
mann derived from this line of thought. Along with
Schopenhauer, Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, a mys-
tical thinker of the early nineteenth century, was also
influenced by Indian thought. He called his philo-
sophical standpoint “Pan-en-theism.” Schopenhauer's
admirer, Paul Deussen, devoted his whole life to the
study of Indian philosophy, especially Vedānta. He was

the first scholar who ventured to write a comprehensive
history of Eastern and Western philosophy entitled
Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie (6 vols., Leipzig,
1906f.). His Elemente der Metaphysik (1877) was a
reflection of the influence of Buddhist philosophy in
the Western world.

Count Hermann Keyserling especially drew the at-
tention of Westerners to the East. At the end of his
unique work, The Travel Diary of a Philosopher
(Darmstadt, 1919), he said that only the Bodhisattva
ideal would save the whole world from confusion and
destruction.

Karl Jaspers examined the significance of the philo-
sophical views of various Buddhist thinkers. Albert
Schweitzer, although he overtly criticized Buddhism,
was influenced by its idea of the respect for life.

Buddhism as a religion was examined from the view-
point of a sociologist by Max Weber to demonstrate
his assertion that Buddhism could not contribute to the
rise of capitalism as Calvinism did in the West. Rudolf
Otto and other scholars of comparative religion recog-
nized parallel developments between two world reli-
gions, Christianity and Buddhism. The studies of these
scholars resulted in giving up the idea, held in general
by Western intellectuals, that Christianity is the only
true religion.

Eastern philosophy was introduced into America by
Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose transcendentalism was
greatly influenced by the philosophy of brahman in
the Upanisads as well as by Buddhist philosophy. Henry
David Thoreau tried to live a solitary life like a Yogin
or a Buddhist recluse. In the 1950's and 1960's Aldous
Huxley incorporated principal ideas of Vedānta and
Zen in his writings. Critics and writers who show
Buddhist influence include Alan Watts, Christopher
Isherwood, and others. The standpoint of Charles Mor-
ris is somewhat similar to that of Early Buddhism, as
he himself says. Irving Babbitt translated the Dham-
mapada with respect for the spirit of Buddhism, hu-
morously criticizing his contemporary civilization.

The increasing interest in Eastern philosophy on the
part of Western thinkers gave rise to “comparative
philosophy.” Paul Masson-Oursel (1882-) of France
was probably the first scholar to use the term, in his
Philosophie comparée (1923; trans. 1926). The East-
West Philosophers' Conference has been held four
times at Honolulu, since 1939, with philosophers of
Eastern and Western countries participating, and the
journal, Philosophy East and West, specifically directed
to this kind of studies, with most of the issues under
the editorship of Charles A. Moore, has been published
by the University of Hawaii. The Journal of the History
of Ideas, under the editorship of Philip P. Wiener, has
in recent years included topics relevant to Eastern
philosophy. A great many eminent philosophers, such
as William Ernest Hocking, Filmer S. C. Northrop, Van
Meter Ames, Archie Bahm, Abraham Kaplan, Edwin
A. Burtt, Georg Misch, Dale Riepe, and others, have
engaged in studies of comparative philosophy. Such
specialists of Indian and Buddhist studies as Helmuth
von Glasenapp, W. Norman Brown, Daniel H. H. In-
galls, Walter Ruben, Constantin Regamee, Jean Fil-
liozat, and others have published relevant works. All
these scholars agree that Western philosophy is not the
only philosophy of mankind, and that any philosophy
which will develop in the future must also take note of
Eastern, especially Indian and Buddhist, philosophy.

In the field of literature, many German writers of
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as Richard
Wagner, Eduard Grisebach, Josef Viktor Widmann,
Ferdinand von Hornstein, Max Vogrich, Karl Gjellerup,
Fritz Mauthner, Hans Much, Albrech Schaeffer, Lud-
wig Deinhard, Karl Bleibtreu, Hermann Hesse, Adolf
Vogel, and many others, wrote novels, poems, and
dramas, clearly influenced by Buddhist or Eastern
Weltanschauung. Significant for English readers, The
Light of Asia (1879), a long poem on the life of Buddha,
by Sir Edwin Arnold, was still widely read in the
twentieth century.

Western thinkers influenced by Buddhist teachings
did not accept the role of God as the Creator. A
religion without the idea of God was something new
in the eyes of Westerners, and they were attracted by
the Buddhist ideal of Compassion which is supposed
to permeate all living beings.

A Buddhist temple was established in 1924 in Berlin
by Paul Dahlke; in London there has been a Buddhist
Society since 1906. In North America there were about
174,000 Buddhists in the 1960's. Many Buddhist
churches in America and Canada are mostly supported
by Americans and Canadians of Japanese origin, but
their influence has spread among others. The Gospel
of Buddha, (1894), by Paul Carus, was warmly wel-
comed in America as a good introduction.

Japanese culture reflecting Buddhist influence was
diffused internationally by the literary works in English
of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), a journalist from
America who became a Japanese citizen, and by the
writings of Wenceslau de Moraes (1854-1929), a Portu-
guese diplomat.

Zen Buddhism has come to be well known to West-
erners through works by Japanese scholars. Daisetz
Teitaro Suzuki wrote many works on Zen (chiefly
Rinzai) in English, and lectured at various universities
in the West. Shigatsu Sasaki and in 1930 Mrs. Ruth
Sasaki established the First Zen Institute of America
in New York. Nyogen Senzaki exerted influence in
California. Books on Sōtō Zen in English have been
published by that sect in Japan.

Some Americans welcome the practical and non-

metaphysical character of Zen. The irrational and anti-
traditional attitude of some Zen masters of the Sung
Period of China appealed directly to American “beat-
niks” for the justification of their non-deferential and
eccentric behavior. Some Americans observe the Bud-
dhist life of solitude.

Pure Land Buddhism is becoming known to Ameri-
cans, first because of the efforts of Buddhist missionaries
such as Itsuzō Kyōgoku, and also from the evaluation
by the scholars who took an interest in it, such as Paul
Tillich, Robert H. L. Slater, and Kenneth W. Morgan.

The political ideal of Buddhism, as it was set forth
by its leaders, is making an impression in world politics
because it is observed by U Thant and some Buddhist
statesmen of international significance. They abide by
the Buddhist principles of pacifism and the unity of
mankind.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. On Buddhism in General. P. V. Bapat, ed., 2500 Years
of Buddhism (Delhi, 1959). Edward Conze, Buddhism, Its
Essence and Development (London, 1951; New York, 1959).
Charles Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical
Sketch, 3 vols. (London and New York, 1954). Kenneth W.
Morgan, ed., The Path of the Buddha: Buddhism Interpreted
by Buddhists (New York, 1956). Hajime Nakamura, Ways
of Thinking of Eastern Peoples, rev. and ed. Philip P. Wiener
(Honolulu, 1964). Junjiro Takakusu, The Essentials of Bud-
dhist Philosophy (Honolulu, 1947).

2. On Indian Buddhism. S. B. Dasgupta, An Introduction
to Tantric Buddhism (Calcutta, 1958). Nalinaksha Dutt,
Early Monastic Buddhism, 2 vols. (Calcutta, 1941). Étienne
Lamotte, Histoire du bouddhisme indien, des origines à l'ère
Saka (Louvain, 1958). T. R. V. Murti, The Central Philosophy
of Buddhism (London and New York, 1955). Govind
Chandra Pande, Studies in the Origins of Buddhism (Al-
lahabad, 1957). Sigālovādosutta, see Dialogues of the Bud-
dha, trans. from the Pāli of the Dīgha Nikāya, by C. A. F.
and T. W. Rhys Davids (London, 1957), Part III, p. 180.
Th. Stcherbatsky, The Central Conception of Buddhism
(London, 1924); idem, The Conception of Buddhist Nirvāna
(Leningrad, 1927; reprint New York, 1965); idem, Buddhist
Logic, 2 vols. (1930; many reprints). Edward J. Thomas, The
History of Buddhist Thought (London, 1953). Maurice Win-
ternitz, A History of Indian Literature, Vol. II (Calcutta,
1927).

3. On Chinese Buddhism. Wing-tsit Chan, Religious
Trends in Modern China (New York, 1952). Yu-lan Fung,
A History of Chinese Philosophy, trans. D. Bodde, 2 vols.
(Princeton, 1952-53).

4. On Japanese Buddhism. Masaharu Anesaki, History of
Japanese Religions... (1930; London, 1953; Tokyo and New
York, 1963). Charles Eliot, Japanese Buddhism (London,
1935).

5. On Zen. Heinrich Dumoulin, The Development of
Chinese Zen..., trans. Ruth F. Sasaki (New York, 1953);
idem, A History of Zen Buddhism (New York, 1963). Daisetz
Teitaro Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism (London, 1926;
New York, 1961).

6. On East-West Relations. Van Meter Ames, Zen and
American Thought (Honolulu, 1962), contains an extensive
bibliography. Arthur Christy, The Orient in American Tran-
scendentalism (New York, 1932). Richard Garbe, India and
Christianity: The Historical Connections Between Their Re-
ligions, trans. Lydia G. Robinson (La Salle, Ill., 1959).

7. Bibliography. Bibliographie Bouddhique [since 1928]
(Paris). Shinso Hanayama, Bibliography on Buddhism
(Tokyo, 1961).

HAJIME NAKAMURA

[See also Causation; China; Cycles; God; Religion, Ritual
in; Sin and Salvation.]