Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Religion, 2016
Vol. 46, No. 2, 221246, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2015.1091217
Stephen C. Berkwitz*
Department of Religious Studies, Southwest Missouri State University, 901 South National
Avenue, Strong Hall 269, Springeld, MO 65804, USA
Textbooks on Buddhism comprise a large, varied genre and have long been used
to introduce the religion to students in academic settings. This review essay
examines ten textbooks on the subject, noting their distinctive features,
strengths, and weaknesses, as well as the types of courses that are well suited
to each work. Additional information from a survey on Buddhism textbooks
conducted by the author is used to supplement our understanding of which
sources are regularly used in Buddhism courses and why. Unresolved tensions
over whether to stress the coherence or diversity of Buddhism, and how comprehensive a textbook should be, are noted. Arguing that Textbook Buddhism, as a
product of scholarly imagination, is a distinctive form of the tradition, it
behooves specialists to be more reective about their use of textbooks and to
be more intentional in helping students to read them critically.
K EY W ORDS
Cantwell, Cathy. 2010. Buddhism: The Basics. London: Routledge. viii + 196 pp. US
$23.95.
Gethin, Rupert. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. xvii + 333 pp. US$29.95.
Harvey, Peter. 2013 [1990]. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and
Practices. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xxviii + 521 pp. US
$34.99.
Lewis, Todd, ed. 2014. Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of
Practitioners. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell. xv + 329 pp. US$44.95.
Mitchell, Donald W., and Sarah H. Jacoby. 2014 [2002]. Buddhism: Introducing the
Buddhist Experience. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. xxii + 436 pp. US
$49.95.
Prebish, Charles S., and Damien Keown. 2010 [2006]. Introducing Buddhism. 2nd
ed. London: Routledge. xviii + 322 pp. US$44.95.
*Email: StephenBerkwitz@MissouriState.edu
2015 Taylor & Francis
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2
A notable example of a recent textbook written in German is Freiberger and Kleines (2011). This work
covers an impressive collection of topics and is informed by a broad array of recent research in the eld.
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Some of the strengths of Gethins work revolve around his awareness of those
ideas that might challenge and puzzle students. Reecting years of teaching
courses on Buddhism, Gethins text anticipates common student questions
and offers answers to them. For instance, he explains why Buddhist texts
were originally transmitted orally rather than in written form, and why this
form of transmission was signicant for Buddhist practice (Gethin 1998, 39).
While discussing Buddhist practices involving the petitioning of deities for
help with worldly matters, he points out that such practices are not inimical
to the theory of karma, since individual responsibility would not preclude
one from seeking assistance from others to cope better with lifes challenges
(129). An additional feature that students and scholars alike will appreciate is
Gethins incorporation of endnotes for citing scholarly sources and primary
texts used in his accounts. Including scholarly references in textbooks and introductory volumes is not normal practice, but it is wise to expose students to this
style of critical writing.
In terms of content, The Foundations of Buddhism includes numerous insights
on various features of the religion. Consistent with his approach to identifying
the shared heritage of different forms of Indic Buddhism, Gethin explains
how Madhyamaka and Yogcra thought represented a continuation and development of certain lines of older Abhidharma thought, and thus did not reject it
outright (Gethin 1998, 250). Likewise, in his discussion of the different scriptural
canons of Buddhism, he is careful to point out the doctrinal similarities
between the Pli Nikyas and Chinese gamas (44). At the same time,
Gethins choices on what to emphasize and include in his text leave some
notable gaps. The focus on the common heritage in Buddhist traditions is
founded mainly on his reading of Pli canonical and commentarial texts. He
eschews by design much consideration of Buddhism outside of India and Sri
Lanka, or Buddhism in later, post-commentarial eras. There is only an abridged
treatment of these other traditions of Buddhism. Although Gethin is careful to
acknowledge the diversity to be found across Buddhist traditions and cultures,
his book stops short of mapping out what this diversity actually looks like
outside of South Asia. In general, the focus of this textbook lies mainly with outlining the theoretical underpinnings for the development of the Buddhist religion. While Gethins approach has its merits, one might nd fault in that its
generalizations about what is common to Buddhism downplays the differences
across traditions.
These weaknesses notwithstanding, it is easy to see why many instructors use
Gethins The Foundations of Buddhism in their introductory courses. The text offers
a detailed examination of the theoretical bases for the Buddhist religion, supported
by insightful analyses and informed references to contemporary scholarly
opinions. The course it imagines would be one that focuses on the origins and
development of Buddhism in India in particular, while mapping out how this
ancient tradition was passed on to other cultures and historical eras. It is a textbook
that lends itself to viewing Buddhism as an Indian religion that developed in distinctive yet coherent ways, owing to an intellectual framework that was largely
retained by later Buddhist communities. Its content is made clearer by a handful
of tables and maps, but it presumes that the instructor will supplement this textbook with other materials to ll out the geographical coverage of the Buddhist
religion.
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S.C. Berkwitz
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A utilitarian approach
The textbook Introducing Buddhism by Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown was
rst published in 2006 before being revised and published in a second edition in
2010. According to my survey, roughly 14 percent of my respondents used this
book in their courses. Particularly noteworthy about this text is that it is also
sold separately as an ebook, of which at least two survey respondents indicated
their use (Prebish and Keown 2004). This textbook exceeds all others in its collection
of pedagogical tools, including an online companion website with essay questions,
pronunciation guide, self-tests for students, and a password-protected instructorresources page.4 The printed book comes with maps, chapter outlines, an extensive
glossary, chronology of Buddhist history, lists of canonical texts, and textboxes containing key points you need to know. Introducing Buddhism is written in a clear,
concise manner with topics including key thinkers, texts, and schools of Buddhism
identied by subheadings throughout the book. In fact, this book is organized in an
almost encyclopedic manner with a series of discrete, unconnected entries. Using
the index, the reader can go directly to the part of the book to nd information
on the topic of ones interest. Prebish and Keown have clearly put a great deal of
thought into the design of their textbook, making it as user-friendly as possible.
While the utilitarian design of this text is distinctive, the organization of its contents resembles several other textbooks. Starting in ancient India, the book proceeds
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required to ll in the gaps with lectures or other readings. The material that appears
to be dated may be revised more quickly in the ebook version. Otherwise, after
having produced a second edition only four years after the text rst appeared,
we might cautiously look forward to the appearance of a third printed edition soon.
A condensed overview
Cathy Cantwells Buddhism: The Basics was also published in 2010 in the expansive
Routledge series entitled The Basics. One assumes that the length and format for
this book was predetermined by the series requirements. Cantwells text differs
from most others on our list for presenting a condensed treatment of the Buddhist
religion5. The bulk of this textbook deals with the Buddha, the Dharma, and the
Sangha, utilizing familiar emic categories to organize the work. Written in a succinct manner, Buddhism: The Basics offers limited pedagogical features consisting
of a single map of Asia, a short glossary of technical terms, chapter summaries
in outline form, and several textboxes to highlight certain concepts and quotations
from texts. My survey suggests that it has not as yet been widely adopted for classroom use, but its slim size and affordable price would make it easy to incorporate
into existing courses. Cantwell opens her work with an introduction that includes
some remarks on Buddhism as it appears today and some popular misconceptions
about the religion. She is also careful to explain that a book on the basics should
not imply that Buddhism has certain timeless truths but that rather even the most
common, longstanding aspects of the religion have appeared and change at particular moments in history (Cantwell 2010, 2). Indeed, although this work is marketed as a concise guide to Buddhism, it approaches the subject with
considerable critical reection and analysis.
Given the limited size of this textbook, Cantwell cannot cover certain material
that one typically nds in other works. She gives some emphasis, however, to
topics such as ethical reection on some moral dilemmas related to meat-eating
and abortion (7680), the role of the oral transmission of Buddhist texts (9496),
and the participation of women in Buddhism despite the stratication of gender
roles and statuses (129136). The additional coverage given to such topics is
welcome, but it also means that other important subjects are treated in brief or
not at all. One also nds frequent comparisons to other religions such as Islam
and Christianity to contextualize certain aspects of Buddhism. Another distinctive
feature is the relatively lengthy discussion of how Buddhism has changed in
todays world, including accounts of political activism, laicization, and globalization. Importantly, Cantwells textbook includes some consideration of nationalism,
political resistance, and ethnic defense in her accounts of Buddhist activism,
demonstrating that Engaged Buddhism is not the only type of modern Buddhist
practice in society.
In assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Cantwells work, we can commend
her for its balanced coverage between different regions and traditions of Buddhism.
She sets up a regional division of Southern, Northern, and East Asian forms of
Buddhism, and proceeds to draw illustrative examples and comparisons from all
three areas. Unlike many other textbooks that deemphasize Tibetan traditions,
5
The short introductory work by Keown (1996) is another example of this type of textbook.
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An insiders perspective
First published in 1990, Peter Harveys An Introduction to Buddhism was revised and
published in a second edition in 2013. He has substantially updated and expanded
his textbook, adding new material to what was already a comprehensive treatment
of the Buddhist religion. The organization of the text resembles what one nds in
several other textbooks. It begins in ancient India; outlines the life of Gotama
Buddha; discusses karma and rebirth; examines the early Sangha and the subsequent rise of Mahyna philosophies; considers the spread of Buddhism to
other lands; includes a focused examination of practices related to devotion,
ethics, and meditation; and concludes with an analysis of contemporary forms of
Buddhism in Asia and the West. Harveys textbook relies more on the Pli literature
of the Theravda and includes copious quotations from canonical works in the
body of his text. This attention to the teachings of early Buddhism as found in
Pli texts is counterbalanced by coverage of the modern practice of Buddhism in
different regions of the world. Based on the results of my survey, Harveys text
remains a popular choice among instructors, with nearly 20 percent indicating
that they use this work in their courses. It features tables and a helpful list of
web resources for students, and the sources he employed for this text appear in
footnotes.
One of the notable qualities of An Introduction to Buddhism is that it is written
largely from viewpoint of a sympathetic practitioner. When Harvey writes, [i]n
a sense, Buddhism begins and ends with the Buddhas awakening experience,
he conveys the perspective of those who are inside the tradition (Harvey 2013
[1990]], 32). He also includes material that speaks directly to modernist Buddhist
values and concerns. In parts of this textbook, Harvey seems to address the
reader both as a spiritual teacher and an academic one. We are told, for instance,
that we should not passively accept karma but should strive to improve difcult
situations (41). On the subject of ethics, he writes: A moral life is not a burdensome
duty or set of bare oughts but an uplifting source of happiness (264). Such advice
and admonitions help to contextualize the Buddhist material and would probably
be welcomed by most students. It is important to note, however, that such statements also signal the interests and concerns of an insider to the tradition.
Related to this, Harvey also includes various phenomenological descriptions of
everyday Buddhist practices. Readers may thus obtain a better sense of what it is
like to be a Buddhist in the present day a perspective useful both to students in
courses and practitioners of Buddhism. Harveys sensitivity to what students
want to learn also appears in statements where he is clearly anticipating classroom
questions that many instructors have encountered. He explains the human population explosion in terms of animals and other invisible beings that are also
included in the cycle of rebirth (33). He then explains why Buddhism is not pessimistic (54). Further, he relates how Buddhists have variously reconciled the rst
precept against taking life with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian lifestyles
(271275).
Harveys textbook provides detailed, comprehensive explanations of the teachings and practices of Buddhism. His second edition is greatly enlarged over the
rst, and he has clearly taken pains to include new material that brings his textbook
up to date. Throughout his text, Harvey addresses religious and philosophical concerns that Buddhists had in the past and have in the present. Presenting the reader
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with Lewis book is that its accounts of the modern practice of Buddhism completely supersede an examination of historical developments and doctrinal teachings.
It is included in this survey as an example of a textbook that takes a wholly different
approach to teaching about Buddhism. The book contains short biographical
essays on 33 Buddhist practitioners, including monastics and laypersons from
ancient legends, to the recent past, up to the contemporary period. Only a
handful of these Buddhist practitioners are widely known, whereas the majority
are somewhat obscure but are deemed to be representative of one or another
facet of Buddhist practice. Each short biography, composed by a different scholar
who responded to Lewis call to contribute to this text, serves to convey in different
ways what it means to be Buddhist. Lewis adds a brief introduction at the beginning of each essay to place the material into a wider context for learning about Buddhism. One nds a measure of coherence in these essays in their examination of
lived Buddhism, or the religion as it is actually practiced by people in the world
for mundane reasons. Lewis designed this textbook to focus on non-elite views
of Buddhism, or the perspectives and interests of the vast majority of Buddhists
who are otherwise not represented in texts composed by celibate monks (Lewis
2014, 1).
Organized in chronological and geographical terms, the book presents several
short biographies of Buddhists who lived in premodern India and Tibet, but
focuses more heavily on modern Buddhists who live (or lived) in the West, in
South and Southeast Asia, in the Himalayan region, and in East Asia. Clearly,
the familiar divisions between Theravda, Mahyna, and Vajrayna are still at
work, even in a textbook as unconventional as this one. Rather than rehearsing
the distinctive histories and teachings of these schools, however, Lewis text
employs life stories as an entry into understanding how ordinary Buddhists practice their religion. The not-so-subtle implication of this approach is that Buddhist
texts are poor sources for conveying any information other than what a small percentage of learned elites dene as Buddhism. To underline this distinction, Lewis
acknowledges the difference between pragmatic and transcendental Buddhism,
before further asserting that most Buddhists have a primary concern with earning
merit rather than attaining nirvana (Lewis 2014, 45). Since many textbooks in
Lewis opinion tend to ignore or downplay the lived experiences of ordinary Buddhists, he undertook this project to introduce this perspective into survey courses
on Buddhism.
The 33 essays are consistently strong and written in a lively, readable style. The
textbook succeeds in humanizing Buddhists and making them appear more complicated and relatable as real-world people, as opposed to exotic others who
function merely as stereotypes. By focusing on what these Buddhists do as
they live their lives and practice their religion, the text privileges ritual over doctrine, and ethnography over textual analysis. For instance, one learns from the
life of a Thai lay upsik how the ideas of merit and gender play out in a Buddhist context (Lewis 2014, 151154). Elsewhere, the altruistic ethos of a bodhisattva is enacted by a contemporary Tantric master who practices medicine to
help others (243). We also meet the Auntie Li, the owner of a dumpling shop
in a Chinese city, who seeks to reconcile her personal practice of being a good
Buddhist with the demands of operating a business (312313). In these stories
and others, the reader learns rsthand, as it were, how people engage, value,
and embody the religion. The pragmatic orientations of such Buddhists are in
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and impact that Buddhism has had, especially in Asia. Chapters follow on the
Buddha, Meditation, the Dharma and Vinaya, before the book shifts to examine
the historical development of the religion in India and other parts of the world.
There is, however, a greater emphasis on Buddhist India, and much of Wynnes
interpretive work takes place in the earlier chapters.
The distinctive features in Wynnes Buddhism are numerous and noteworthy. This
textbook makes a strong argument for coherence to be found in the various forms
of Buddhism and tends to trace these features back to the Buddha and the initial
development of the religion. Wynne cites, for example, how the canonical teachings
and material culture of the religion derive from the early movement founded by the
Buddha (Wynne 2015, 6). Other descriptions of early Buddhism highlight the
central role of meditation and its reformulation of karma as intention to allow
city-dwellers to participate more fully in the soteriological path (2223, 65). Buddhism in its original form is said to have been universal in its scope and pragmatic
in its approach, and these features are largely responsible for its geographical
spread and cultural diversity. At the root of this approach is a conviction that
knowledge of the Buddha and his teachings are recoverable and form the basis
from which to understand how the religion developed and, at times, departed
from its origins. Key developments according to Wynne include the transformation
of the constructed realism of the early canonical teachings discounting the objective reality of both the world and individual existence for the workings of the mind,
to the reductionistic realism of Abhidharma thought on no-self, and nally to the
meditative realism of Pudgalavda Buddhist thought about the inexpressible
reality behind existence (67). Another signicant feature is his use of the models
guild monasticism and state Buddhism, which account for how various Buddhist
communities engaged the traditions ascetic ideal either closer or further from the
centralized rule of political power across Asia. These two models are then used
in place of the problematic Theravda-Mahyna dichotomy to describe the development of Buddhist traditions chiey in terms of how they functioned in society
(212213).
Scholars can appreciate the original approach Wynne takes in discussing the
characteristics and development of Buddhism. His approach emphasizes the philosophical and institutional types that underlie the traditions diverse cultural
expressions. Early teachings related to karma, virtues, and divine abodes are
explained philosophically and said to have had popular appeal. Even in instances
where later teachings are said to deviate from the early foundations of the tradition,
such as in the cases of an economy of merit and merit-transfer, Wynne explains how
these later developments contributed to the needs of devotees and monasteries
(Wynne 2015, 121). Further, Wynne does the reader a service by pointing out the
limitations of the Theravda-Mahyna dichotomy, how these terms refer to different things rather than simply Buddhist schools, and how these communities share
signicant commonalities in a mythic heritage, as well as devotional and ethical
norms (178179). Intentionally downplaying the signicance of this division,
Wynne chooses instead to discuss later forms of Buddhism in terms of portraying
either guild monasticism (as found in ancient India and China) or state Buddhism
(as seen in Sri Lanka, Korea, Japan, and Tibet). The authors critical analyses of the
Buddhist material contribute much that is new and signicant to the textbook
genre.
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S.C. Berkwitz
forms of Buddhism. The text includes many helpful tables that organize relevant
details related to Buddhist texts, concepts, and schools. This recent addition to
the textbook genre takes an exceptionally thoughtful and balanced approach to
the subject. As the product of wide, up-to-date research, Buddhisms offers students
and instructors a reliable guide to make sense out of the religions diversity and
complexity.
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lands. There are risks in overemphasizing either aspect. On the one hand, recognizing and demarcating a common core for Buddhism easily leads to essentialist views
of the religion and overshadows the particular ideas and expressions that make
Buddhism look different in various cultural and historical settings. On the other
hand, simply remarking on the cultural diversity of Buddhism can become a rote
exercise in listing different forms and features without attempting to explain
their signicance or account for their discontinuities.
One example of how existing textbooks could deal more productively with the
challenge of coherence versus diversity in Buddhism would be in their discussion
of the three main Buddhist schools Theravda, Mahyna, and Vajrayna Buddhism. A few textbooks (e.g., Wynne, Cantwell) acknowledge the difculties in
using these categories, since they refer to different things about Buddhism (e.g.,
a textual transmission and monastic lineage, an ideological position, and an esoteric movement) and emerged in different contexts. Most, however, simply adopt
these terms for describing the development of different types of Buddhism in
ancient India. Scholars would do better to stress that the connections between
Early Buddhism on the one hand and Theravda, Mahyna, and Vajrayna on
the other are more diffuse and complicated than usually acknowledged. Conating
Theravda with Early Buddhism or Hnayna is an oversimplication that distorts the different histories attributed to all three of these traditions. Likewise,
more authors need to recognize that Mahyna was not a popular, lay-oriented tradition in ancient India. Scholarly discomfort with positing the origins of Vajrayna
and with recognizing the transgressive and sexualized rites of some of these traditions ought to be overcome.
As such, depicting the development of Buddhism in terms of polemics and a
rivalry between Theravda and Mahyna schools is a serious distortion of
these traditions. This conventional opposition, which ignores the divergent interests and locations of these communities, is rarely expressed in our textbooks.
Many could, however, do more to dispel the misunderstandings about this
common portrayal of Buddhism as found in other scholarly and popular works.
More generally, authors of textbooks could advance the understanding of Buddhist
traditions by explaining more clearly how Theravda, Mahyna, and Vajrayna
do not simply originate in India and then spread to other lands as more or less
fully realized schools. It is more accurate instead to remark how Theravda,
Mahyna, and Vajrayna represent distinct conceptualizations of Buddhist identities that took shape largely outside of India proper, in places like Sri Lanka,
China, and Tibet due to conditions and processes specic to their newer settings.
The geographic spread of Buddhism is a conventional feature of textbooks, but
the subject requires a more nuanced historical discussion than what can be
found in works with an Indo-centric bias.
A further issue for any survey of Buddhism textbooks is the question whether
comprehensiveness is a virtue or a liability. There is of course an impetus for the
author of a textbook to present a comprehensive picture of Buddhism in all of its
forms and traditions. Textbook Buddhism is typically a pan-Asian tradition with
ancient roots in India and later formations across East, Southeast, and Central
Asia. More recently, it has spread to newer locations, notably in Europe and
North America. As a scholarly construct, Textbook Buddhism exists nearly everywhere and nowhere at the same time, since no individual or community can
embody the full range of its features. As in other religion textbooks, such a
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S.C. Berkwitz
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I wish to thank the respondents to the survey I created and administered through a
request on the H-Buddhism listserv. Their answers and comments inuenced my
choice of texts and my understanding of how such texts are regularly used in
Buddhism courses. Jan Nattier and Naomi Appleton shared several helpful
observations about Buddhism textbooks at the outset of this project. I also wish
to acknowledge the assistance I received from the keen observations and suggestions made by Michael Stausberg and an anonymous reviewer of this essay.
Disclosure statement
No potential conict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Stephen C. Berkwitz is Professor of Religious Studies at Missouri State University. His research focuses
on Buddhist literature and culture in Sri Lanka. His most recent book is Buddhist Poetry and Colonialism:
Alagiyavanna and the Portuguese in Sri Lanka (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2013).
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