Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience

Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience is the only up-to-date introductory text that covers the full spectrum of writings, practices, and perspectives animating the global Buddhist tradition. Instructors struggle to expose students to a diverse array of Buddhist texts and voices. This volume is enhanced by primary sources and twenty-two, gender-balanced personal narrative boxes. Each country chapter also concludes with an essay by a noted Buddhist practitioner-scholar. Another common challenge for instructors involves covering the variety of global Buddhist traditions; there are many such traditions, and only so much time in the semester. The authors solve this problem decisively. After discussing Buddhism’s origins in India, they go on to cover: Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism; Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan; and the globalization of Buddhism with special emphasis on the United States. A final, related challenge for instructors is to avoid overwhelming students. Indeed, instructors seem to face a paradox: they can cover the full variety of Buddhist texts and traditions only if they assign an unmanageable amount of reading. Buddhism’s brief, accessible, pedagogically rich chapters show that this paradox is only apparent. While the text is authoritative and comprehensive, its coverage respects the average student’s attention-span.

Donald Mitchell is Professor Emeritus of Asian and Comparative Philosophy and Religion at Purdue University. He is permanent Visiting Professor of Interreligious Dialogue at Sophia University Institute, Italy, and the editor of Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture.

Sarah Jacoby is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of Love and Liberation (2014) and the coeditor of Buddhism beyond the Monastery (2009).