Akira Hirakawa's "History of Buddhism in India" Summary and Comments - An immortal classic of Buddhist studies! A masterful book covering the history and doctrines of Buddhism!
Introduced here is "A History of Buddhism in India" by Akira Hirakawa, published by Shunju-sha in 1974.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
A general history of Buddhism in India, written by one of the greatest scholars of Buddhism, based on 40 years of study, in a simple and lucid manner so that even beginners can easily read through it. The first volume covers the life of the Buddha, the establishment of Buddhism, primitive Buddhism, and the early Mahayana Buddhism.
The lower part of the book explains the genealogy of Mahayana, which originated in pagoda worship and reemerged as a popular religion, and examines the contents of famous temples that developed as temples of learning, as well as outlining the esoteric Buddhism that became a major force in the later period.
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The author of this book, Dr. Akira Hirakawa, is one of the great masters of Buddhist studies, who is absolutely indispensable in the study of Buddhism.
Although this book was first published in 1974, it is still highly regarded as one of the most famous Buddhist books of all time. 2011 saw the publication of a new edition, and even today it is a must-read reference book for those who wish to study Buddhism in depth.
Dr. Hirakawa describes this book in his "Hashiki" as follows
In this book, we have tried to grasp the history of Buddhism in India as an unbroken and interconnected flow, and to make the history of Buddhism simple enough to be understood by the novice student. In order to achieve this goal, I have provided relatively detailed explanations of the historical development of the cult from primitive Buddhism to tribal Buddhism, the emergence of early Mahayana Buddhism, and the contents of the Mahayana scriptures. I have also tried to provide simple explanations of the doctrines of the various schools of Buddhism, the Middle View and Buddhism, and the Nyoraizo philosophy.
Shunju-sha, Akira Hirakawa, History of Buddhism in India, vol. 1, p. 3.
As Dr. Hirakawa states here, this book will be a Buddhist book written in a way that is easy to understand for beginning students.
...but it is actually a very maniacal reference book! (LOL)
The first half of the book is perfectly fine. It is very interesting because the historical background of the birth of Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and the story of the establishment of Buddhism are explained in an easy-to-understand manner. It is also very easy to read.
The second half of the book starts with the doctrinal aspects of the Buddhist sects and Mahayana Buddhism, and from this point on, the book is explained in great detail. The book is so comprehensive that you will have nothing to fear if you understand all that is written in this book.
It is a marvel that this book has been able to cover so much of the teachings in a single work and to write it as a stream of Buddhist history.
I myself, I am ashamed to say, have struggled a lot with this doctrinal aspect. As you can see if you read the book, it is just very dense. It would be quite a feat to learn all of this on my own.
However, since it is such a comprehensive book, I can understand why it is considered one of the best books of its kind. It has the atmosphere that the royal road of Buddhist studies is right here.
Dr. Hirakawa is also famous for his theory of the origin of the Mahayana Buddhist stupa. This theory has had a strong influence on Buddhist scholars around the world, but is now criticized by Gregory Schopen'sMonastic Life in India During the Rise of Mahayana Buddhism.is out.
I thought again that it is very important to read the writings of such a huge figure as Dr. Hirakawa in order to understand the flow of Buddhist studies.
Dr. Hirakawa's "History of Indian Buddhism" is an immortal classic of Indian Buddhist history. This is a tremendous book. It is not a book that I would casually recommend to beginning students, but I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Buddhism.
The above is "Akira Hirakawa's "History of Buddhism in India" - An immortal classic of Buddhist studies! A classic book covering the history and doctrines of Buddhism! The above is "Akira Hirakawa's "History of Buddhism in India" - An immortal classic!
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