Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations / Edition 2

by Paul Williams

Overview

Originating in India, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, becoming the prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. Over the last twenty-five years Western interest in Mahayana has increased considerably, reflected both in the quantity of scholarly material produced and in the attraction of Westerners towards Tibetan Buddhism and Zen.

Paul Williams' Mahayana Buddhism is widely regarded as the standard introduction to the field, used internationally for teaching and research and has been translated into several European and Asian languages. This new edition has been fully revised throughout in the light of the wealth of new studies and focuses on the religion's diversity and richness. It includes much more material on China and Japan, with appropriate reference to Nepal, and for students who wish to carry their study further there is a much-expanded bibliography and extensive footnotes and cross-referencing. Everyone studying this important tradition will find Williams' book the ideal companion to their studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415356534
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/09/2008
Series:	Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices Series
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Paul Williams is Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy and Co-director of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. The author of six books and an editor of a further eight, he is a former President of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies. Among his other books for Routledge is Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition (2000).

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

Buddhism - Doctrinal Diversity and Moral Unity

The Indian Background

Factors Which Tended to Promote Change

Abhidharma

Mahāsamghikas and the Lokottaravāda

The Origins of the Mahāyana, and the

Laity

Mahāyāyāa Before 'Mahāyāna' - the Ajitasenavyākarananirdesa Sutra

On the Origins and Justification of the Mahāyāna Sutras

PART I WISDOM

2 The Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnāpāramita) Sutras

On

the Mahā yāna Sutras

The Origins and Development of the Prajnāpāramita Literature

Wisdom (prajnā) and its Perfection

Absence of Self - The Extensive Perspective

The Bodhisattva

3

Madhyamaka

Nāgārjuna and Aryadeva

The Development of the Madhyamaka Tradition in India

Emptiness and Inherent Existence - the Incompatible Rivals

A Brief Note on Madhyamaka Method

Three Madhyamaka Critiques

On Causation

On the Self

On

Nirvāna

The Two Truths

Meditation and Emptiness - An Impressionistic Outline

A Final Note - Madhyamaka in China and East Asia

4 Cittamātra (Mind Only)

Background

The Cittamātra Tradition - Scholars and Texts

The Three Aspects

(Trisvabhāva)

Mind

Substratum Consciousness, Consciouness, and Immaculate Consciousness

Yet More Disputes Within the Cittamatra Tradition

5 The Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-essence/ Buddha-nature)

Some Tathāgatagarbha Sutras

The

Tathāgatagarbha in the Ratnagotravibhāgā

Tibet-the Gzban Stong and Rang Stong Dispute

The Ta-ch'eng ch'I-bsin lun and the Tathāgatagarbha in East Asia

Dogen on the Buddha Nature

6 Hua-yen - the Flower

Garland Tradition

Buddhism in China

The Avatamsaka Sutra

The Hua-yen Tradition in China

Hua-yen Thought - Fa-tsang's Treaties on the Golden Lion (Chin-shih tzu chang)

A Note on Some Aspects of hua-yen Practice

The Avatamsaka Sutra and Vairocana in

Buddhist Art

PART II COMPASSION

7 The Saddharmapundarika (Lotus) Sutra and Its Influences

A Note on Tien-t'ai (Tendai)

Nichiren and Nichirenism

8 On the Bodies of the BuddhaProlegomenon to the Mahāyāna

The Bodies of the Buddha and the

Philosophy of Emptiness

Cittamātra - The System Develops

A Note on the dGe lugs Schema of the Buddha's Bodies

A Final Note: The 'Non-Abiding Nirvāna'and the Lifespan of the Buddha

9 The Path of the Bodhisattva

Tibet and Tantra

Buddhism Reaches

the Land of Snows

The Eight-Century Debates

Compassion and the Bodhicitta

Bodhisattva Stages, Paths and Perfections

10 Faith and Devotion: The Cults of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

On Faith

Buddhānusmrti - Recollection of the Buddha

The

Pratyutpanna Samādhi, and Hui-yuan

The Notion of a Buddha Field (buddhaksertra)

Some Bodhisattavas

Maitreya

Avalokitesvara

Tārā

Manju Buddhas

Aksobhya

Bhaisajyaguru

Amitābha/Amitāyus

The Amitābha

Sutras

Amitābha's pure Land in China

Honen Shonin (1133-1212)

Shinran Shonin (1173-1262)

Notes

References

further study and research (Religious Studies)

Editorial Reviews

‘The publication of Paul Williams’ Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations in 1989 was a milestone in the development of Buddhist Studies, being the first truly comprehensive and authoritative attempt to chart the doctrinal landscape of Mahayana Buddhism in its entirety. Previous scholars like Edward Conze and Etienne Lamotte had set themselves this daunting task, but it had proved beyond them. Williams not only succeeded in finishing the job, but did it so well that his book has remained the primary work on the subject, and the textbook of choice for teachers of university courses on Buddhism, for 20 years. It is still unrivalled. This makes a second edition all the more welcome. Williams has extensively revised and updated the book in the light of the considerable scholarship published in this area since 1989, at the same time enlarging many of his thoughtful discussions of Mahayana Buddhist philosophical issues. The result is a tour de force of breadth and depth combined. I confidently expect that Williams’ richly detailed map of this field will remain for decades to come an indispensable guide to all those who venture into it.’ - Paul Harrison, Stanford University, USA

From the Publisher