A History of Indian Buddhism

Hirakawa Akira (b. Hirakawa Akira (b. He also taught at Tohoku, Komazawa and Waseda universities. He was elected President of Japan Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies in 1983. This is the largest academic organization dedicated to Buddhist studies in Japan. Hirakawa is an author or editor in excess of twenty Buddhist books and has published more than 240 articles and reviews about Indian Buddhism. His reputation as one of Japan’s most prominent scholars of Indian Buddhism is well-known. Paul Groner earned his Ph. Paul Groner received his Ph.D. from Yale University. He is now Associate Professor at University of Virginia.
The culmination of many years of research into Indian Buddhism, A History of Indian Buddhism is a comprehensive overview of Indian Buddhism. It includes chapters on Indian Buddhism’s history, doctrine, and bibliography. It also discusses some of the Indian Buddhist debates that have taken place in Japan’s academic community. The text also highlights issues that are often only briefly dealt with in India or the West. Notable are Hirakawa’s frequent use of Chinese translations from Indian Buddhist sources, and his references to Japanese studies. The translator also compiled a bibliography of Western scholarship. Contents: Introduction, Foreword, Translator’s Preface and Author’s Preface. PART ONE: Early Buddhism. The origins of Mahayana Buddhism. The evolution of the order after Asoka. PART TWO. Nikaya Buddhism. The Organization of Dharmas in Abhidharma. PART THREE: Early Mahayana Buddhism. The Contents of early Mahayana Scriptures. Theory and Practice in Early Mahayana Buddhism. PART THREE: Early Mahayana Buddhism. Bibliographical Essay.