The Foundations of Buddhism

Rupert Gethin is co-founder of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol and a specialist in Indian Buddhism.

offers a valuable improvement over What the Buddha Taught, its most likely competitor as an introductory textbook./Richard S. Cohen University of California, San Diego/ Religious Studies Review Volume 25 Number 3 July 1999

• Introduction ; 1. The Buddha: The Story of the Awakened One ; 2. The Word of the Buddha: Buddhist Scriptures and Schools ; 3. Four Truths: The Disease, the Cause, the Cure, the Medicine ; 4. The Buddhist Community: Monks, Nuns, and Lay Followers ; 5. The Buddhist Cosmos: The Thrice Thousandfold World ; 6. No self: Personal Continuity and Dependent Arising ; 7. The Buddhis Path: The Way of Calm and Insight ; 8. The Abhidharma: The Higher Teaching ; 9. The Mahayana: The Great Vehicle ; 10. Evolving Traditions of Buddhism