Customer Reviews

Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo

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Gombrich is an excellent writer, his prose clear and precise. In this book, he does a great job of explaining how Buddhism grew out of the Buddha's responses to the various religious and spiritual options available in 500-400 b.c. India, including Brahmanism and various types of renouncers and ascetics. Fascinating! Gombrich also does an excellent job of explaining the specific spiritual problems Gotama attempted to address with his philosophy and practice. Very highly recommended.

If you're interested in the origins of Buddhism, with a thorough exposition of its social parameters, this is the book for you. From the Buddha's relation to Brahminism and the evolution of the religious order founded by him, this book covers it all, including the arrival of Europeans and how Theravada Buddhism reacted to it.

Personally, I started reading this book to know about Theravada Buddhism per se, not so much its social history, but even then I found much to be interesting and helpful for an understanding of Buddhism in general.

The writing is excellent, precise, to the point, and informative.