Buddhism 101

Lesson 2: Schools of Buddhism and Further Developments

Bibliography and Exercises

Bibliography
      Conze, Edward. Buddhist Scriptures. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1959.

      Corless, Roger. The Vision of Buddhism. New York: Paragon House, 1989.

      Keown, Damien. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

      Oxtoby, Willard G., ed. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

      Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. New York: Grove Press, 1974.

Exercises
      (1) It is likely impossible to discover if any sutra was recorded exactly as the historical Buddha spoke it, and many may not be what the Buddha preached at all. Is this important? Would these texts have been accepted as valid if they were not attributed to the Buddha? Is there justification within Buddhism to build upon the foundations laid by the historical Buddha?

     (2) What makes a tradition “Buddhist”? Are there varying degrees of “Buddhist-ness”? For example, the Vajrayana tradition is a later development than the Theravada tradition – is it less Buddhist because it occurred later, or more Buddhist because of the growth it has undergone? Are they equally Buddhist? Where does Mahayana fit in?

  1  2  3  4  5