Buddhism: A Concise Introduction - Softcover

Smith, Huston; Novak, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060730676 ISBN 13: 9780060730673

Publisher: HarperOne, 2004

Synopsis

A concise and up-to-date guide to the history, teachings, and practice of Buddhism by two luminaries in the field of world religions.

Huston Smith and Philip Novak trace the tradition from Siddhartha Gautama’s awakening under the Bo Tree through the foundational doctrines of dependent arising and the Eightfold Path.

The text examines the great divide between Theravada and Mahayana, balancing early Pali sutras and vipassana insight meditation with the paradoxes of Zen and Tibetan Tantra.

American meditation centers adapt these ancient Asian lineages to contemporary lay life, establishing residential retreats and socially engaged communities across the United States.

• Intro to Buddhism: Unpack the legend of the Four Passing Sights, from the young prince encountering decrepitude, disease, and death to his departure for the forest as a wandering truth-seeker.
• Buddha Teachings: Follow Gautama’s first sermon in the deer park at Sarnath, where he diagnoses the dislocation of dukkha and outlines the cure for selfish craving.
• Eastern Philosophy: Grasp subtle metaphysics through vivid classical metaphors, including Indra’s Net of mutually reflecting jewels and the river crossing from ignorant clinging to the yonder shore.
• Daily Practices: Discover how ancient disciplines evolved into modern routines, from King Asoka’s nonviolent rock edicts to the five ethical precepts that anchor seated meditation.
• Also by This Author: Islam, The Illustrated World’s Religions and The Soul of Christianity.

About this title

About the Authors

Huston Smith is internationally known and revered as the premier teacher of world religions. He is the focus of a five-part PBS television series with Bill Moyers and has taught at Washington University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, and the University of California at Berkeley. The recipient of twelve honorary degrees, Smith's fifteen books include his bestselling The World's Religions, Why Religion Matters, and his autobiography, Tales of Wonder.

Philip Novak is the Santo Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Dominican University in San Rafael, California, where he has taught for over twenty years, and the author of The World's Wisdom, a widely used anthology of the sacred texts of the world's religions and the companion reader to Huston Smith's The World's Religions.

From the Back Cover

A concise and up-to-date guide to the history, teachings, and practice of Buddhism by two luminaries in the field of world religions.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060730676
• ISBN 13: 9780060730673
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256