Baba Noritoshi, "Buddhist Orthodoxy and Heresy: The Establishment of the Pali Cosmopolis" - An exciting book to learn about Sri Lankan Buddhism and its relationship with India and its history!

Buddhist orthodoxy and heresy Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Southeast Asia

Baba Noritoshi's "Buddhist Orthodoxy and Heresy: The Establishment of the Pali Cosmopolis" Summary and Comments - An exciting book to learn about Sri Lankan Buddhism and its relationship and history with India!

I would like to introduce "Buddhist Orthodoxy and Heresy: The Establishment of the Pāli Cosmopolis" by Baba Noritoshi, published by the University of Tokyo Press in 2022.

Let's take a quick look at the book.

It is neither "Mahayana Buddhism" nor "Theravada Buddhism."
Sanskrit to Pali
A New History of Buddhism Redrawn from the Shift in "Sacred" Language

The dichotomy between Theravada Buddhism, which spread from India to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and Mahayana Buddhism, which also spread to Japan, is a dichotomy created by the modern era. This book overcomes the modern concept of classification and opens a new chapter in the history of Buddhism based on the reality of the dynamic network of Sanskrit and Pali Buddhism.

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Diagram showing the three main categories of Buddhism. Red is thePali (language)Theravada Buddhism, which uses Buddhist scriptures. Yellow isa translation into ChineseBuddhist scriptures, the color blue isTibetan (language)Mahayana Buddhism using Buddhist scripturesWikipedia.

It is neither "Mahayana Buddhism" nor "Theravada Buddhism."
Sanskrit to Pali
A New History of Buddhism, Redrawn from the Shift in the Language of the "Sacred."

This may sound like a difficult image, but this book, which looks at the history of Buddhism through the lens of language, is extremely stimulating.

When studying Buddhism, we often come across the terms "Sanskrit source texts" and "Pali source texts. Sanskrit was not only the sacred language but also the common language of ancient Indian thought. Pali is likewise the classical language of Sri Lankan Buddhism. This is usually enough to understand the difference between these two languages, but there is a tremendous fact about the difference between Sanskrit and Pali. In this book, we will take a closer look at it.

Which language is older, Sanskrit or Pali, and what was its origin? Why did Sri Lanka use Pali instead of Sanskrit?

This is where the historical background of India and Sri Lanka came into play. This was not only a matter of Buddhist thought, but also a political issue at the national and royal level.

Furthermore, although the image of Sri Lanka as "a Theravada Buddhist country that has inherited the teachings closest to primitive Buddhism" inevitably comes to mind, in fact, Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism coexist in the country, and it was once even a major center of Mahayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia. This also involves political issues.

Buddhism in Sri Lanka has been spun out of the relationship with royal authority. Buddhism has moved within a larger framework that cannot be defined simply at the level of religion or ideology. Of course, these issues of religion and history are not limited to Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka, as a country on the periphery of India, needs something solid to assert its identity and legitimacy. In Sri Lanka, this was the Pali language and "Buddhism," which most faithfully inherited Buddha's teachings. In this way, we can see that "the most faithful inheritor of Buddha's teachings" is not an objective fact, but rather "a claim made by Sri Lanka. This book also looks at this situation in detail.

Frankly, it is tremendously interesting. It may seem unlikely that there has been a way to look at Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka from the perspective of international and domestic politics.

I was also planning to visit Sri Lanka this year, so this was an extremely gratifying book. What I have described in this article is only a small part of the contents of this book. It is just a lot of exciting content. The beginning of the book is a bit complicated, and for a beginner of Buddhism, it can be tough to read, but in the middle of the book, it becomes easier to read as it goes into the history of Sri Lanka.

I would highly, highly recommend this book. Well, it was an interesting book! You should definitely pick up a copy.

This is "Baba Noritoshi's "Buddhist Orthodoxy and Heresy: The Establishment of the Pali Cosmopolis" - An exciting book to learn about the relationship and history of Sri Lankan Buddhism and India! This is the end of the article.

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