Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices) - Hardcover

Gombrich, Richard F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415365082 ISBN 13: 9780415365086

Publisher: Routledge, 2006

Synopsis

Written by the leading authority on Theravada Buddhism, this up-dated edition takes into account recent research to include the controversies over the date of the Buddha and current social and political developments in Sri Lanka. Gombrich explores the legacy of the Buddha's predecessors and the social and religious contexts against which Buddhism has developed and changed throughout history, demonstrating above all, how it has always influenced and been influenced by its social surroundings in a way which continues to this day.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard F. Gombrich is Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, and one of the most renowned Buddhist scholars in the world. From 1976 to 2004 he was Boden Professor of Sanskrit, University of Oxford. He has been President of the Pali Text Society and was awarded the Sri Lanka Ranjana decoration by the President of Sri Lanka in 1994 and the SC Chakraborty medal by the Asiatic Society of Calcutta the previous year.  He has written extensively on Buddhism, including How Buddhism Began: the Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings (Routledge 2005); and with Gananath Obeyesekere, Buddhism transformed: Religious change in Sri Lanka (1988).

Review:

"An excellent and exciting introduction to the social history of Buddhism . . . This book will be useful to scholars and students in both Buddhist studies and the social sciences." -- Choice

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0415365082
• ISBN 13: 9780415365086
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 254