Criticism of the concept of Buddhism
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- For criticism see Criticism of Criticism_of_the_concept_of_Buddhism
- See also Buddhism.
According to the 5th edition of a standard textbook,[1] attempts to identify a common core to the various forms of Buddhism fail to fit the data, and it is better to regard Buddhism as a family of three different religions: Theravada, East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. Some other scholars, while not going this far, agree that the different forms of Buddhism have no common core.[2]
Four noble truths
According to a textbook published by Cambridge University Press,[3] these are an advanced teaching for those who are ready for them. According to L. S. Cousins,[4] afterwards President of the Pali Text Society, this is also the traditional understanding in the Theravada. He also cites a passage from the Pali Canon to this effect.
According to the above textbook, a major Mahayana scripture says that they are a preliminary teaching for people not yet ready for the higher and more expansive Mahayana teachings.[5]
According to Sir Charles Eliot, former British ambassador to Japan, they are little known in the Far East.[6] This last statement can be further illustrated by Buswell's Korean Approach to Zen, an annotated translation of the works of Chinul, the most important figure in Korean Buddhism. The index gives only one reference for this topic, to a passage where Chinul says those who want to follow the sravaka path must have faith in them, but those who want to follow the bodhisattva path must have faith in other things instead.
Furthermore, according to some scholars, including two Presidents of the Pali Text Society, the translation is wrong: they aren't even statements, but things.[7]
Notes
- ^ Robinson et al, Buddhist Religions, 5th ed, Wadsworth, Belmont, California, 2004, pages xxf
- ^ Philosophy East and West, vol 54, ps 269f; Williams, Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, 1st ed., 1989, pp. 275f (2nd ed., 2008, p. 266); Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987, volume 2, page 336
- ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, 1990, p. 47
- ^ Hinnels, John R. (1998). The New Penguin Handbook of Living Religions. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140514805. , pages 393f
- ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 92
- ^ Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, Edward Arnold, London, 1935, page 60
- ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume One), page 296; Gethin, Foundations of Buddhism, page 60; [1]
