A Less Traveled Path brings to light unique textual evidence of an important transitional moment in Indian Buddhism. This book includes a critical edition and translation of the second chapter of a third- or fourth-century Buddhist Sanskrit text, the Saddharmasmrtyupasthanasutra, which sheds light on the so-called "Middle Period" of Indian Buddhism. In his introduction, Stuart argues that meditative practice, rhetoric, and philosophy were intimately tied to one another when the Saddharmasmrtyupasthanasutra was redacted, and that it serves as an important historical touchstone for understanding the development of Buddhist mind-centered metaphysics. This development is historically significant because it marks a major shift in Indian Buddhist religious practice, which conditioned the emergence of fully developed Mahayana path schemes and power-oriented tantric ritual traditions in the centuries that followed the text's compilation.
A Less Traveled Path: Saddharmasmrtyupasthanansutra Chapter 2: Critically Edited with a Study on Its Structure and Significance for the Development of Buddhist Meditation, Daniel M. Stuart, edited by Ernst Steinkellner, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Paperback (2 Volumes), 2015, 642 Pages, $147.00
DANIEL M. STUART is a scholar of South Asian religions, literary cultures, and meditation traditions specializing in the texts and practices of the Buddhist tradition. He is interested in the interrelationships between Buddhist practice traditions, theories of mind, and scriptural production in premodern South Asia, modern India, and global settings. His work engages how contemplative practitioners historically interfaced with their textual, philosophical, and material environments, fashioning dynamic meditative approaches to changing historical contexts.
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