The two books are an astonishing 1800 pages in total.

While I cannot honestly recommend this work as an introduction to Buddhism, it is highly recommended for learning more about primitive Buddhism.

This book is unique in that it looks at ideas in primitive Buddhism in the context of the original texts. It explains what the earliest Buddhist schools taught and how they developed and systematized their thought by reading the original texts. The quotations from the original sources are just enormous.

Focusing on the ideological aspect, this book is a great read.

This book is a commentary on the early days of the Buddhist Order. In this book, Dr. Gen Nakamura discusses the early days of the Buddhist Order in the context of the historical background and the state of the world of thought at that time.

The historical background of the emergence of Buddhism was discussed in "Ancient India" by Gen Nakamura, which was previously introduced in this blog. This "Ancient India" is highly recommended as an introductory book that even beginners can easily understand. In this work, "Gen Nakamura Selected Works [Definitive Edition], Volume 14: The Establishment of Primitive Buddhism, Primitive Buddhism IV," we can see the connection between ancient India and the primitive Buddhist cult even more clearly.

The Ten Great Disciples are well known as the disciples of the Buddha, led by Sharifluor, Mekasuren, and Mahakasyapa, but in this book we learn not only about the Ten Great Disciples, but also about the many practitioners who belonged to the Order.

This work gives us an idea of what the atmosphere was like in the early days of the Buddha Order. I appreciated this work very much in learning about primitive Buddhism.

In fact, until I read this book, I knew very little about Dr. Nakamura. I was surprised to learn that he is a man of truly exceptional achievements.

Reading this book, I was also struck by Dr. Nakamura's way of looking at the world from a larger perspective.

This book is a very significant work that will make you think about what Buddhism is all about. I highly recommend this book. You will be amazed at the different dimensions of his achievements.

The book begins with the prehistory of India, then moves on to the Indus civilization, the Aryan invasion, and the development of Brahmanism, detailing the process of the birth and decline of Buddhism. You will learn in an easy-to-understand manner why Buddhism was born, to which people Buddha's teachings resonated, how the Buddhist cult spread through India, and how it ended up declining in the end, and these major trends.

There are countless books explaining Buddhist teachings and ideas, but there are surprisingly few that summarize the historical background and climate in which these ideas were born in an easy-to-understand manner. This book is a valuable work that contains many unexpected discoveries for us Japanese. I am sure you will be surprised if you read this book.

本書は中村元先生の講義録を基にして作られた作品です。中村元先生は１９９９年に亡くなられました。その中村元先生の講義の雰囲気を感じられる本書はまさに貴重な一冊となっています。

Gen Nakamura's teachings are unique in that he discusses Buddhism not only in terms of ideology, but also in terms of historical background and his actual experiences in India. He shares many interesting topics in a language that is easy to understand, even for the novice student. This book is sure to be a good introduction to Buddhism.

This book is a great introduction for those who want to learn the basics of Buddhism. We encourage you to pick up a copy.

神話化されていない仏伝。それがこちらの『ゴータマ・ブッダ〈普及版〉』です。

Frankly speaking, you may be surprised to learn that it contains some things that are different from the Buddhist tradition and philosophy we are usually familiar with. And it cannot be said that there are no inconvenient points from the Japanese Buddhist priests' point of view. However, if we hide or cover up such inconvenient points, the development of thought and the Buddhist Way may be closed. It is precisely because we are now able to verify history that it is important for us to face these facts and question our own way of being.