How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early TeachingsWritten by one of the world's top scholars in the field of Pali Buddhism, this new and updated edition of How Buddhism Began, discusses various important doctrines and themes in early Buddhism. It takes 'early Buddhism' to be that reflected in the Pali canon, and to some extent assumes that these doctrines reflect the teachings of the Buddha himself. Two themes predominate. Firstly, the author argues that we cannot understand the Buddha unless we understand that he was debating with other religious teachers, notably Brahmins. The other main theme concerns metaphor, allegory and literalism. This accessible, well-written book is mandatory reading for all serious students of Buddhism. |
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Contents
1 Debate skill in means allegory and literalism | 1 |
Kamma as a reaction to Brahminism | 27 |
3 Metaphor allegory satire | 65 |
How insight worsted concentration in the pali canon | 96 |
5 Who was Angulimala? | 135 |
Other editions - View all
How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings Richard F. Gombrich Limited preview - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
abhidhamma Akgulimala allegory Ananda arahant Arittha ascetic asked attain Brahma brahma-vihara brahmin Buddha Buddha’s teaching Buddhaghosa Buddhist called century B.C. ceto-vimutti chapter Chinese claim commentary consciousness context corruptions debate dependent origination dhamma dhammânusarino doctrine early existence fingers fire Fiva five khandha follower through faith four noble truths Gombrich GULIMALA heaven idea interpretation Jains jhana Kali kamma karma khandha Kitagiri Sutta list of seven literally Maha Mahayana mahito Mara meditation metaphor MN sutta monks moral Musila naga Nikaya nirvana noble truths one’s ontology pada Pali Canon Pali texts pañña pañña-vimutti passage perception person Pitaka prajña preaching realised rebirth reborn refers released by faith released by insight saddhânusari sañña Sanskrit says seems sense sermon skill in means story stream-enterer Susima Sutta Sutta MN Sutta Pitaka Thag theory things thought tradition translation types understand Upanisadic Vallée Poussin vata verse Vinaya words