History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana

by Hirakawa Akira, Paul Groner (Translator)

The book, the summation of a lifetime of research on Indian Buddhism, is an exceptionally comprehensive discussion of Indian Buddhism. The text presents the debates of Indian Buddhism that have occurred in the Japanese academic community and emphasizes issues that have often been treated only in passing in India and the West. Finally, the book includes a bibliography which provides a broad look of the study.

Genres: History, Buddhism, Religion

Hardcover

First published January 28, 1990

Reviews

[Anmol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rich academic work on early Indian Buddhism. However, while I was expecting it to be more history-oriented, this is centrally about the doctrines of the early Buddhist schools up to early Mahayana, with some historical context scattered in between. A third of this book is, therefore, simply a barrage of facts without much analysis or opinion - Buddhist philosophers, their writings, and their central ideas, one after the other - which can be quite hard to digest. Particularly helpful, though, were the chapters on the Abhidharma and the bibliographical essay towards the end which mentions a large number of resources for further study of ancient Indian history and Buddhism. I am astounded by the depth of Buddhist philosophy, the number of divisions within it (something which is, in my opinion, not very problematic: as long as these divisions are philosophical and not societal). Buddhist philosophy alone is a deep area of study requiring years of one's time. What about Indian philosophy as a whole?Ars longa, vita brevis!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

6 ch. on 'Early Buddhism," 7 ch. on "NikAya Buddhism," mostly explicating Abhidharmakosa stuffs, 5 ch. on "Early Mahayana" with several plugs for that lay stupa cult that supposedly was original MY Buddhism...

Groner's bibliographical essay is pretty good, too... a mix of old Buddhology, new Buddhology, Western Buddhology, Eastern Buddhology...

[Michelle Wruck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I approached this book with a simple question - what happened to Buddhism between its inception and the writing of the Lotus Sutra. The early texts are facsimilies, simple instructions on what to do and how to move toward enlightenment. The Lotus Sutra is poetic, defensive, and mystical. This book was recommended to me as a way of understanding the historical development of the Mahayana (and Theravada) tradition(s). It served that purpose well.

Hirakawa clearly writes from the Mahayana perspective and sides with the Mahayana tradition in places where the traditions disagree over the history. I don’t have any skin in that game, so I wasn’t overly concerned about these sections.

I will say that it is a slow, thick text. It’s not a light read but it’s essential for anyone wanting to understand the history of Buddhism

[Benjamin Saubolle-Camacho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tough to call this a history when only a few chapters are truly devoted to it. I’m used to dense reads but this one is particularly a slog—something about the style, perhaps, is a bit slow and jarring. It is a translation, so maybe something has been lost. Seemingly very comprehensive, but I just poked my head into the interesting historical bits & decided to spend more time with other texts.

[Solomon Selah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the rigorous Japanese scholar.
This book is wonderful in its narrative, textual research and philosophical interpretation. In particular, the sections on primitive and the early Buddhist schools are extremely outstanding, but Mahayana and Tantra chapters are slightly less so.
Moreover, it is not easy to read for beginners, and is suitable for those who have some basic knowledge.

[Subbu Allamaraju · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels cluttered. I expected a bit more organized historical perspective.

[Kandachamy Vijayakumaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content of this book is not really history of Buddhism, but rather a treasure trove of Buddhism.

[Ralph Horler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely wonderful historical account of Buddhism that will take you on a journey to the many aspects of early Buddhism, from a day in the life of a Buddhist Monk in India, the growing political situations after the life of the Buddha, the impact of King Ashoka and the evolving and diverging philosophies of the Buddha’s teachings.

The book was so thorough in parts, that sections such as explanations of the various Abhidharmas and final stages to enlightenment, needed re-reading to truly grasp the sectarian differences being explained. What is mostly appreciated, however, are the helpfully illustrated tables of comparisons which I will definitely be keeping as handy references.

I would advise that the reader gains a basic understanding of the history of the various warring empires in India before indulging in the latter part of the book. Part-way through the book, Akira delves deep into the impact these empires had on the way that Buddhism was practiced. Whilst a summary of the empire is explained well enough by the author himself, I found it much more helpful to research and map out when and where these empires existed.

The best part of the book that made it an illuminating book for me is Akira's own somewhat implicit narrative on how the Mahayana came to be. Most other historians and practitioners will provide the overly simplified explanation that the Mahayana derived from the Mahasanghikas, but this is clearly not sufficient, as it just leads one to the ask, “how did the Mahasanghikas rise to fame”? Akira has a well-thought out satisfying answer. Rarely is there a spoiler in the non-fiction book on Buddhism, but here is one, so I will not spoil the fascinating hypothesis written in the book. For those wishing to discover and understand the origins of the Mahayana, I would highly encourage them to pick up this book read it.

TLDR: An in-depth and delightful read from the acclaimed and meticulous Buddhist Scholar Hirakawa Akira. He has the ability to detail the ancient sects and the rising of the new Mahayana Order, to which he has a sapient yet original hypothesis about.