Books in the Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism series

This insightful study analyzes the phenomenon of Buddhism in Canada from a regional perspective, providing an important examination of the place of Buddhism in a developed western country associated with a traditional Judeo-Christian culture, but undergoing profound sociological transformation due to large-scale immigration and religio-cultural pluralism.

By providing an annotated translation of, and applying the methods of literary criticism to, a first-century account of the life of the saint Purna, this study introduces the reader to a genre which has played an essential role in Buddhist self-understanding for over 2000 years.

This book presents an analysis of one of the fundamental Mahayana Buddhist teachings, namely the three bodies of the Buddha (the Trikaya Theory), which is considered the foundation of Mahayana philosophy.

Including a foreword by the Dalai Lama, this book explores the interface between Buddhist studies and the uses of Buddhist principles and practices in psychotherapy and consciousness studies. It also presents a collection of articles that illustrate the potential of Buddhist informed social sciences in contemporary society.

Interdisciplinary in its approach, this book explores the dilemmas that Buddhism faces in relation to the ethnic conflict and violence in Sri Lanka. Prominent scholars in the fields of anthropology, history, Buddhist studies and Pali examine multiple dimensions of the problem. This book discusses Buddhist responses to the crisis in detail.

The medieval period of Japanese religious history is commonly known as one in which there was a radical transformation of the religious culture. This book suggests an alternate approach to understanding the dynamics of that transformation. It also focuses on what Buddhism meant for medieval Japanese peoples themselves.

Contains works by scholars of Buddhism, themselves Buddhist, who seek to apply the critical tools of the academy to reassess the truth and transformative value of their tradition in its relevance to the contemporary world.