Reconstructing Early Buddhism

Abstract

Buddhist origins and discussion of the Buddha's teachings are amongst the most controversial and contested areas in the field. This bold and authoritative book tackles head-on some of the key questions regarding early Buddhism and its primary canon of precepts. Noting that the earliest texts in Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese belong to different Buddhist schools, Roderick S. Bucknell addresses the development of these writings during the period of oral transmission between the Buddha's death and their initial redaction in the first century BCE. A meticulous comparative analysis reveals the likely original path of meditative practice applied and taught by Gautama. Fresh perspectives now emerge on both the Buddha himself and his Enlightenment. Drawing on his own years of meditative experience as a Buddhist monk, the author offers here remarkable new interpretations of advanced practices of meditation, as well as of Buddhism itself. It is a landmark work in Buddhist Studies.

An Anthropological Outline of the Sutta Nipāta: The Contemplative Experience in Early Buddhist Poetry

“…It is more likely that we will encounter elements that evoke or refer to some level of archaism, but which are also influenced by the perspectives of those who transmitted or developed these ballads. Nonetheless, the use of the Pāli canon in the reconstruction of archaic Buddhism is generally accepted in contemporary scholarship, as exemplified by the works of (Bucknell 2022;Anālayo 2012;Turriff 2009;Kuan 2007). 3 yo uppatitam .…”