Customer Reviews

A Concise History of Buddhism

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In the West, I find many Buddhists are primarilly interested in the pragmatic and practical aspects of the faith, so there doesn't tend to be a lot of interest in what gets typically written off as dry, irrelevant history. The ahistorical bent of certain aspects of Buddhist thought lends its weight to this. Knowing what has already happened, however, can be a good pointer for figuring out where you are, and an understanding of the history and development of Buddhism is a great help in this respect. Since most people don't have the interest, time, or patience to wade through a major work on the subject, Skilton's book will fill their need. A mere couple hundred pages in length, he surveys events in brief eight to twelve page chapters that are easy to read without being simplistic. One gains insight into the great sweep of Buddhism across Asia from Japan in the East right over to Persia in the West. There is also a topically organized, extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources to further any interest the main text has raised.

Since its founding around 25 centuries ago, Buddhism has spread widely and diversified into numerous schools of thought and practice. Summarizing this long history and describing succinctly the many schools of Buddhism is not easy. Yet Andrew Skilton has accomplished this feat with apparent ease. And making something look easy is the hardest task any scholar can face.

I was astonished to see that one reviewer has claimed that this book is "Mahayana propaganda" based on a single reference. As I read it, I found Skilton's work to be very even-handed in discussing Mahayana and Theravada, without any proseletyzing or obvious mispresentation regarding either of these major schools of Buddhism. Skilton is disapassionate and fairminded, summing up history and doctrines with economy and precision. If there are errors in the book, I believe that they are minor and certainly unintentional.

I recommend this book highly.

In Mr. Van Horn's reader review, he uses a "quote" which is nowhere to be found in the book. This is what Skilton actually says (pgs 67-68) about the brahma-viharas in the Theravadin tradition:

"The Theravadin School developed a rather austere orthodoxy, epitomized in the works of the 5th century scholastic Buddhagohosa, especially in his Visuddhi-magga, which on a theoretical level tends to exclude doctrines and practices incompatible with its preferred preoccupations. An example of this exclusion might be the meditational practices called the brahma-viharas, which in its Abhidamma and commentarial literature are relegated to an ancillary function only, whereas its own canon records instances which substantially refute this role. Canonical passages frequently contain editorial additions "demoting" the brahma-viharas but, where parallel texts survive from the Mahasanghika canon, it is interesting to note that the latter did not feel any need to qualify such practices in that way."

As you can see, Mr. Van Horn's characterization of this point is entirely incorrect, as is his assessment of the book on the whole. One wishes he would have asked himself why Skilton, a longtime Theravadin practitioner himself, would want to write a piece of "Mahayanist propaganda."

In fact, Skilton's book is a commendably thorough, superbly written, extensively footnoted overview of the subject, with a firm grasp of the issues at hand. I could not recommend it more highly.

I was assigned this book for a course on Buddhism, and it was meant to be the more academic reading assigned. However, the book is well-written, few sentences wasted and every paragraph solid information. In fact, I understood Buddhism from a scholarly perspective, far away from the romanticised, enlightened account of spiritually-starved young ones. A true endeavor to study Buddhism as a religion, historically and doctrinally, is manifest here.

For example, the author provides an important overview of the state of India and Indian religion during Buddha's time, as well as an understanding of the languages used in that time. An etymological explanation of important terms is an extra treat for those interested-- words mean things. For example, the three sources of Buddhist knowledge are known as the "tripitaka"-- The Three Baskets. But the term is also a play on the Sanskrit for "pita", father. So another reading of "tripitaka" is "three from the father"-- Buddha.

Something else I enjoyed was the comparison between Buddhism and Hinduism. Those spiritually-starved Westerners idealize the dharmic religions are non-dogmatic, holistic, enlightened, above the fold... when Skilton shows in fact most of Buddhism's doctrines were direct refutations of Hindu doctrine at the time. For example, one of Buddha's most famous aphorisms is that there is no self... whereas Hinduism describes an atma (soul) that is at the essence of our being. Skilton lists several other points of contention between the two.

One thing I disagreed with was Skilton's harsh attitude toward Islam. Skilton almost defines the history of Muslims in India as an imperialist conquest that pillaged the natives, and brought about the end of Buddhism in India. Although this is reserved for the last chapter, and not an underlying theme which leaves the rest of his scholarship intact, one would assume Skilton has an anti-Muslim bias.

If you want to own one concise book covering the history of the Buddhist lineages, this is the one. It is as accurate as it gets, even where other authors get it all wrong (covering Tibetan Buddhism for example). Beautiful work!

I have a great respect for books, and I have at least as much respect for the Buddha Dharma, so it shocks even me to say that in my entire life I have only thrown away one book - and I mean into the trash - and this is it. One of the dark aspects of Buddhism is the pejorative way in which the Mahayanna traditions of Buddhism - Zen and Tibetan Buddhism - treat their Theravadan brothers. This book is full of just such treatment. For example, at one point in the book, the author states that one school of Theravadan Buddhism emphasized the four "Brahma Viharas" (the "noble qualities" of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity), even though - as he puts it - "there is no canonical evidence to support such a practice." This is simply not true. The Pali Sutthas are full of discourses on the Brahma Viharas. At one point they state that in a previous lifetime, the Buddha "became one with Brahma" by practicing the Brahma Viharas. This is just one modest example of the completely misleading way in which this book is written, and it doesn't begin to capture the negative tone it has toward Theravadan Buddhism. If you want to learn Buddhist history, do not read this book. It will give you a completely misguided impression of what that history really is. It is primarily Mahayana propaganda.