An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices

Introduction to Religion

by Peter Harvey

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the Buddhist tradition as it has developed in three major cultural areas in Asia, and to Buddhism as it is now developing in the West. It is intended to be a textbook for students of Religious or Asian Studies, but will also be of interest to those who want a general survey of Buddhism and its beliefs.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality, History, Reference

396 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 1990

About the author

Peter Harvey is Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland. He is author of An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues (Cambridge University Press, 2000) and The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvāna in Early Buddhism (1995). He is editor of the Buddhist Studies Review.

Reviews

[Jacob Bornheimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brings both scholarly accuracy and readability. An excellent introduction to the many and varied facets of Buddhism. It covers all the bases: the Southern, Eastern, and Northern varieties. I highly recommend this book for any prospective students of Buddhism.

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a text book. A good one, I think it, but it is a little dry, even dull, and all the chapters weren't of equal interest to me. It is a good overview of the different branches of Buddhist belief, their differing philosophies and practices and how and where they have flourished or not.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 5 out of 5]

definitely needs to be paired with dictionaries so students can search for weird terms themselves. otherwise top-notch. i’m teaching it this semester. will report back how students respond to this book

[Erik Champenois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful introduction to Buddhism from a scholarly believer's perspective. Covers early history and core beliefs; early developments; varieties of Mahayana Buddhisms; Buddhist practices including chapters on devotion, ethics, the sangha, and meditation; and the history and spread of Buddhism across Asian countries and in the modern world.

As a Mormon Christian, there is much in Buddhism that I find beautiful and potentially enrichening to my own beliefs. I find particularly compelling and peaceful the idea that there is no problem of evil because there is no Creator-God: instead of life having an inherent purpose, as such, we have the ability to give our lives a purpose. I also find very valuable the idea of the root of pain being spiritual ignorance rather than sin - as the influence of ideas of sin in Christianity have occasioned much guilt, been abused by power structures, and often generally adds an additional burden to life that may not have been there in the same way or to the same degree without the concept of sin.

On the other hand, there are Buddhist teachings that do not make sense to me: mostly the idea that nirvana and non-attachment is the "end of all things." While I find ideas of emptiness and meditation on emptiness/unity of all things potentially attractive, I do not enjoy the idea that the self and connections with others are ultimately not the end of all things. I am much more a believer in a "fulness of joy" and in experiencing passions and emotions over and above mere peaceful emptiness, and in family relationships and connectedness being the definition of Heaven than in a Nirvana that is the dissolution of all of the above. As a result, there is much that I admire and have holy envy for in Buddhism - and aspects of Buddhist teachings that I would like to potentially add to my own repertoire (perhaps I should some day let my wandering mind tune in to Buddhist meditation practices... ) - but also beliefs that I cannot share, though I can respect those who do.

[vlthm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a little about Buddhism but got really specialists advices and this one is so far my favorite. It's really concerned about a scientific perspective, gives you a lot of histories from the sutras and it's very extensive about the developments of Buddhism. It's neither a "propaganda" book to answer questions of health or mental states, which is very annoying from a historian perspective, but more about what is buddhism historically and also philosophically (the authors really dig into philosophy even if really quickly)

To read...

[Frank Jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent 'all-round' introduction, it strength is particularly in its treatment of history, major philosophical themes, and practices. Its weakness is due to its age. First published in 1990, its treatment of 'contemporary' Buddhism is terribly dated. However, reading it today makes the dramatic changes in the last 18 years all the more impressive.

I'd recommend this to anyone wishing to explore the over-arching traditions of Buddhism up to the last century.

[Martin Riexinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough introduction to teachings, practices and institutions. However, I sometimes missed more information and social and political context.

A bit disappointing are the last to chapters on Buddhism in modernity. Whereas major Asia countries are only briefly dealt with, Western Buddhism is given much attention. In particular disproportionate is the attempt to list British Buddhist associations as completely as possible when information abput Korea is sketchy.

[Rodney M Shearing · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy reading and very wide ranging study of Buddhism.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay- I finally finished reading this!

I bought this book after Bhante Shravasti Dhammika told me that reknown Buddhist scholar Peter Harvey referred his manuscript for a book about the Buddha to the Oxford University Press as Peter Harvey thought it was very good. (The book has since been published independently as “Footprints in the Dust” as Bhante Dhammika felt that the process with Oxford University Press was taking too long)

Anyway, I started on this book in July 2021, reached the half way mark but shelved if for later. While the book's title is "An Introduction to Buddhism" it is really not an introductory level book but a very well-written scholarly work that gives one a concise sweep of Buddhism's development over time and space. This is a huge endeavour give Buddhism’s development over a span of 2,500 years and over vast geographical areas from its origins in north-east India to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Indo-China, the land of the Yonas (Greeks), Gandhari (modern day Pakistan, Afghanistan) to Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan and rest of SEA. And the present day spread to Western countries such as USA, UK, Europe and Australia/NZ.

When I first started on this book, there were so many details new to me that it became a cognitive overload. So I had to take a break. But since then, during these four years, I have attended more classes and read more books, and took more effort to practise a little more conscientiously. So my knowledge and understanding has expanded and hence, I found reading this book easier because I am now more familiar with some of the developments as well as the terms used.

This book gave me a better sense of the different traditions and practises, and some of the key developments and figures, so I can explore in greater depth later. So I guess, this is the bit of "introduction" essence of this book. But my conclusion is that this is really more like a mini-reference book, which I will come back to again when I want to get a gist of some tradition or topic, and then use it as a launchpad to read further.

Peter Harvey is also a Buddhist practitioner, and it is obvious in his writing which has the perspective of an insider who understands the nuances of different traditions - both their ideals and the reality and tensions of actual practise as living traditions within the cultural, societal and political milieu of their times.

[Chris May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, concise and well written account of the history, philosophy and practices of a range of Buddhist traditions. It is not simply a surface level overview but has some great analysis of key Buddhist concepts and philosophical arguments. It also has a very helpful further reading section of free electronic articles and texts for a deeper look at many of the topics covered.

[Bob Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

People are calling this book everything from "shit" to "stupid fucking shit". In all seriousness, this book is an extremely bland / over-technical introduction to Zen Buddhism and should be erased from existence. I wouldn't be surprised if this behemoth has already caused thousands of conversions to Christianity, for Christ's sake. 1 STAR!!! SUCKS COCK!!!

[Private · Rating 5 out of 5]

The information was well sorted and you can easily find what you are looking for ! There were some interesting facts that i didn't know before.

[Ben Fairchild · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am re-reading this because its for my exams. Buddhism is such an inspiring religion for me because it is very well versed in the practicalities of highly intense spiritual work i.e. meditation, which is light years away from the practise of all but very few Buddhists but is just about within my realm. This comes from its very strong monastic tradition. It is also runs parallel to Christianity in many ways (Buddha the man that became Dhamma v.s. Jesus the God that became man) and it is very faith affirming when it does so. Y'know that little Buddha guy; he's okay but I'll take an eternity over a 'great eon' (apparently the time it takes for a 'world-system' to go through its cycle of evolution) any day!

[Eko]

This book accomplishes a lot and traces the history of various forms of Buddhism from beginning to present day throughout the world. The author addresses key nuances of various sects and how these play out regionally. I think the author must be a practitioner because this would be hard to capture as a scholar alone. As with most academic writing there were sections that read very dryly, but I would recommend this book to those interested in understanding the basics of Buddhism and how it is practiced throughout the world.

[Sabio · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best intro to Buddhism
But this is for those with an academic bent -- not for those who just want to try meditating.
Harvey is a great author and shows all sides of the various types of Buddhism.
Just as Christianity has more than a hundred sects (OK, they like to call theirs "denominations"), so does Buddhism.
There is no one thing called Buddhism. And each claims to be the original teaching. Yawn.

Humans are so predictable.

[Allison Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has really great information, but the writing is very dry and hard to get through. My first Buddhism teacher got sick, and our new professor thinks this book is a snooze. I would give it two stars, but the substance of the text is very thorough for an introductory text.

[Hollis Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

A thorough introduction to the Buddhist religion.

[Jono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good, but a bit too in depth to quite be termed an introduction.

[Yupa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utile come introduzione generica per i non specialisti.
A tratti affetto da un approccio un po' troppo "confessionale" e poco critico.

[Sarja · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great and comprehensive introduction to Buddhism - read it together with some source texts!

[Matias Altalef · Rating 1 out of 5]

So incredibly dry and boring, I could not bring myself to finish it.

[Josiah Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and readable. accessed pdf online.