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Buddhism: The Path to Nirvana

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Lester has provided a servicable introduction to Buddhism, as one volume in a set of such works by the publisher introducing the major world religions. As such, it covers the basic history and beliefs of the faith in a survey manner at a level good for the general public, but below what a college or university course should require. There are no real surprises for anyone who has read a couple other books like this, but for the curious person on the street, it's a good starting point.

At the time this book was published in 1987, Robert Lester was "a professor in the religious studies department of the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of numerous books (e.g., "Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia") and articles and a leading scholar in Buddhist studies."

"He wrote in the Preface, "This book is a brief introduction to a large and complex subject. Buddhism is more than twenty-five hundred years old and was defined not only in its native India but also in China, Japan, Tibet, and the several countries of Southeast Asia... Nonetheless, I believe that the result is a reasonably reliable entre to the origin, development, and major traditions of the Buddhist religion."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"By the beginning of the Christian era the Sangha was effectively divided into schools ... The elders (Theravada) held to the old ways; the Mahayana set forth a new vision." (Pg. 19)

"The Buddha's words were carried in the vernacular languages and freely shared. Class status was of no concern to the Buddha; moral character rather than ritual purity was the basis for status... His teachings were accommodating rather than confrontational; they subordinated and reinterpreted most existing religious beliefs rather than pushing them aside." (Pg. 34)

"Mahayana monks submitted that the goal of the monastic life... is full Buddhahood. They criticized the pursuit of arhatship as a selfish pursuit and submitted that the complete extinction of suffering could only be achieved with the mental disposition of a bodhisattva... (who) deny all self-interest, most of all interest in achieving nirvana." (Pg. 43)

"The Buddha's point was that ... philosophizing about life in general, draw attention away from the existential, 'brute' fact that there is suffering, that it has a cause and a cure." (Pg. 75)