Buddhism or Buddhisms? By the time they move on to Buddhism in Japan, many students who have studied its origins in India ask whether this is in fact the same religion, so different can they appear. In Buddhisms: An Introduction, Professor John S. Strong provides an overview of the Buddhist tradition in all its different forms around the world. Beginning at the modern day temples of Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, Strong takes us through the life of the Buddha and a study of Buddhist Doctrine, revealing how Buddhism has changed just as it has stayed the same. Finally, Strong examines the nature of Buddhist community life and its development today in the very different environments of Thailand, Japan, and Tibet. Enriched by the author's own insights gathered over forty years, Buddhisms never loses sight of the personal experience amidst the wide-scope of its subject. Clear in its explanations, replete with tables and suggestions for further reading, this is an essential new work that makes original contributions to the study of this 2,500 year-old religion.

Buddhisms: An Introduction, John Strong, One World, Paperback, 450 Pages, $35.00

John S. Strong is an American academic, who is the Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Bates College. Strong specializes in Buddhist studies and with emphasis on the Buddha's biography, relics, and the legends and cults of South Asia. John Strong was born in China, and completed his secondary education in Switzerland.[1] He graduated from the Oberlin College, where he joined the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He then obtained a master's degree at the Hartford Seminary Foundation.[2] Strong received his Ph.D. in History of Religions from the University of Chicago in 1977, and joined Bates in 1978. He received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1982, as an Assistant Professor of Religion.[1] He was promoted to a full professor in 1986.[2]

CONTENTS: The Buddha
Tables		ix
Illustrations		x
Preface		xi
Pronunciation and transliteration of terms		xiv
1	Introduction: the lifestory of the Buddha	1
2	Previous lives of the Buddha	19
3	Ancestry, birth, and youth	47
4	Quest and enlightenment	65
5	Teachings and community	101
6	Daily routines, miracles, and distant journeys	131
7	Final days, the parinirvana, and the nirvana of the relics	163
Sources and further reading		194
Glossary of Sanskrit names and terms with Pali equivalents		224
Bibliography		232
Index		249