Buddhism/Bibliography

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Scholarly introductions

A review in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion considers the following worth mentioning.

• Gethin, Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1998
• Habito, Experiencing Buddhism, Orbis Books, 2005
• Keown, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1996
• Klostermaier, Buddhism, Oneworld Pub, 1999
• Lopez, Buddhism, Penguin/Story of Buddhism, Harper, San Francisco, 2001
• Mitchell, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2002, 2nd ed 2008
• Olson, The Different Paths of Buddhism, Rutgers University Press, 2005
• Prebish & Keown, Introducing Buddhism, ebook, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 2005; printed ed, Routledge, 2006
• Robinson et al, Buddhist Religions, 5th ed, Wadsworth, Belmont, California, 2004

The reviewer says they all have their own strengths and weaknesses, but prefers Robinson et al overall.

Buddhist writings

Most Buddhist writings represent particular forms of Buddhism and therefore belong in more specialized articles. There have been many anthologies of Buddhist literature, of which the Penguin Classics anthology Buddhist Scriptures by Donald Lopez may be mentioned here. Another book worth mentioning here is The Path of the Buddha, edited by Kenneth W. Morgan (Ronald Press, New York, 1956; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, distributed by Wisdom Books). The editor travelled around the East asking leading Buddhists to recommend contributors, so the result is something like the "official" teachings of the major schools.