Dhamma Anusilana: Investigating the Buddhist Traditions

IN THE history of 2,600 years of Buddhism, there have been various attempts to understand the Buddha and his teachings. As a result of this on the one hand the recitations of the Buddha were collected in Tipitaka and on the other hand, in order to comprehend and appreciate the essence of the Buddhavacana, the aṭṭhakathas have been produced by various acaryas. During this gradual progress of writing, after the compilation of Aṭṭhakathas, there were Anuțikäs, etc. in the Theravada tradition. Again, Nikäya traditions also contributed immensely to its growth. The teachings of the Buddha offered such a blissful and perpetual solace to the suffering human race, irrespective of their religious affiliations, that even after the coming up of such a bulk of literature, we are constantly striving to understand the fundamental nature of what the Buddha wanted us to realize. That is why in the history of modern teaching and learning systems The Buddha and his teaching are a major centre of exploration. In order to understand different dimensions of the Buddha's teaching, efforts are being made by the scholars, practitioners and lovers of Buddhism globally. The current work, Dhamma-Anusilana: Investigating the Buddhist Traditions, is a compilation of selected articles of scholars associated to the major universities of the world. These articles highlight different dimensions of Buddhism. As such, the compilation of articles of this book has not been concentrated on any particular subject. It is based on the content of the articles received and those articles have been divided into four parts for the convenience of the readers.