The Buddhist Handbook
A Complete Guide to Buddhist Schools, Teaching, Practice, and History
- Pages: 360
- Book Size: 6 x 9
- ISBN-13: 9780892817610
- Imprint: Inner Traditions
- On Sale Date: March 1, 1999
- Format: Paperback Book
• A Who's Who of contemporary teachers, writers, and practitioners.
• Provides thorough summaries of all major Buddhist traditions around the world.
• An excellent introduction to the fastest-growing religion in the West.
Newly revised and updated, The Buddhist Handbook is the definitive guide to the complete panorama of Buddhist teaching, practice, schools, and history. The fastest-growing religion in the West, Buddhism includes numerous traditions within its scope. The Buddhist Handbook provides a comprehensive and nonsectarian survey of these traditions and their contemporary exponents throughout the world, providing necessary information for those who wish to explore the various traditions thoroughly and find the one best-suited to their needs. For those already practicing in a particular school of Buddhism, it offers illuminating insight into the teachings of other schools, as well as a Who's Who of contemporary teachers, writers, and practitioners.
The far-reaching range of this book includes chapters on the westward migration of Buddhist thought, contemporary Buddhist activities in North America and around the world, the relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy, Buddhism and social action, and the role of women in Buddhism. Updated to include the most recent information about developments in Buddhism throughout the world, The Buddhist Handbook remains an essential work for the library of every aspiring Buddhist.
The Buddhist Handbook
The Complete guide to Buddhist Schools, Teachings and History
Acknowledgements
A Note on Language, Caveat
Part 1: Prologue:
1 Why Buddhism
2 The Heart of the Matter
Part 2: The Buddha:
3 The Indian Background
4 The Buddha: The Early Years
5 The Buddha: the Teaching Career
Part 3: The Basic Teachings and Practices
6 The Buddhist World View
7 The Basic Teachings and Practices
Part 4: The Development of Buddhism in India
8 Four Councils and eighteen Schools
9 Mahayana
10 Tantra
Part 5: The Spread of Buddhism
11 The Southern Transmission: Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea, Indonesia
12 The Northern Transmission: The North-Western Springboard and The Silk Road
13 The Northern Transmission: China
14 The Northern Transmission: Vietnam, Korea
15 The Northern Transmission: Japan
16 The Northern Transmission: Tibet
17 The Northern Transmission: Mongolia, Russia, Himalayan
Part 6: Buddhism Comes West
18 Slow Beginnings
19 The Flowing of the Lotus
20 The North Connection
21 Buddhism and Psychotherapy
Appendix I Who's Who in Buddhism: A Modern Western Perspective
Appendix II Useful Addresses
Appendix III Major Buddhist Festivals
Appendix IV Further Reading
Index
John Snelling (1943-1992) was General Secretary of the Buddhist Society as well as editor of the Society's journal, The Middle Way, the most widely circulated Buddhist periodical in the West. Among the many books he wrote are The Sacred Mountain: Pilgrims and Travellers at Mt. Kailas in Western Tibet, Buddhism in Russia, and The Elements of Buddhism.
Yoga Journal
“The perfect volume for a Western Buddhist to hand to a friend who asks, ‘What is Buddhism, anyway?’ Snelling is a fine writer: his prose is clear and readable, infused with intelligence and humor. This gives The Buddhist Handbook a significant advantage over many books about Buddhism, which can tend to be abstract and dryly scholarly.”
American Bookseller
“A useful and valuable guide. In a concise and readable style, it provides a foundation for discriminating among the range of authentic but different teachings being presented in the West today.”
Shambhala Sun
