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There is a great deal of interest in Buddhist philosophy today - but different groups practice various traditions - and this might confuse Westerners who want to know the basis for the particular tradition they study. Nan Huai-Chin has provided an overview of the history and the tradition, tracing Buddhism from its inception in India to its transmission to China, and its subsequent blossoming throughout the world. He shares the basics and origins, relating the many stories surrounding the life of Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, as well as the cultural and religious setting of India that fostered the initial rise of Buddhism. He goes on to explain the various philosophical trends and evolution - Indian Buddhism in the time of King Ashoka; the initial transmission of Buddhism to China in the late Han and Three Kingdoms periods; Buddhism in the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern dynasties; the founding of Pure Land Buddhism; the Sui and Tang periods; the Zen School's change of system; and the rise of esoteric Buddhism. He provides an overview of the Pure Land, Vinaya, Tiantai, Satysiddhi, Three Treatises, Abhidharmakosha, Zen, Huayan/Avatamasaka, Faxiang/Yogacara, and the Tantra/Esoteric Schools. He discusses Buddhism in the rest of Asia, Europe, and America, and brings us to date with a discussion of Buddhism that brings us into the 20th Century. An extensive appendix explains the Zen Monastic System, with an especially interesting discussion of living in the Zen Hall. Zen Master Baizhang's enlightenment, and the twenty essential rules of the Zen community. For a solid understanding of contemporary Buddhism in its varied forms, this is an indispensable book.
Basic Buddhism: Exploring Buddhism and Zen, Nan Huai-Chin, Jaico Publishing, 243 pages $7.50
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