Buddhism: A Concise Introduction
About this ebook
Authors Huston Smith and Philip Novak present an accessible exploration of foundational doctrine, examining the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path that define the core path of liberation.
The text traces the awakening of Siddhartha Gautama in ancient India, illuminating essential insights from dependent arising and anatta to the disciplined cultivation of mindfulness.
A second part chronicles the modern migration of the Dharma, following how monastic lineages and meditation practices established deep roots across Europe and North America.
- Life of Buddha: Chronicles Siddhartha Gautama’s confrontation with the Four Passing Sights, his ascetic trials in the forest, and his decisive awakening beneath the Bo Tree.
- Eastern Philosophy: Explores the Great Divide between Theravada and Mahayana branches, contrasting the arhat’s solitary quest with the compassionate vow of the bodhisattva.
- Zen Buddhism: Details the Japanese contemplative discipline of seated zazen, private sanzen interviews with roshis, and paradoxical koan riddles designed to shatter conceptual thought.
- Tibetan Buddhism: Surveys Vajrayana Tantric technologies, highlighting multiphonic chanting, sacred mandalas and mudras, and the compassionate spiritual presence of the Dalai Lama.
- Also by This Author: Islam, The Illustrated World’s Religions and The Soul of Christianity.
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About the author
Huston Smith is internationally known and revered as the premier teacher of world religions. He is the focus of a five-part PBS television series with Bill Moyers and has taught at Washington University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, and the University of California at Berkeley. The recipient of twelve honorary degrees, Smith's fifteen books include his bestselling The World's Religions, Why Religion Matters, and his autobiography, Tales of Wonder.
Philip Novak is the Santo Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Dominican University in San Rafael, California, where he has taught for over twenty years, and the author of The World's Wisdom, a widely used anthology of the sacred texts of the world's religions and the companion reader to Huston Smith's The World's Religions.
