An Introduction to Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism: With Especial Reference to Chinese and Japanese Phases. E-book. Formato PDF William Montgomery Mcgovern   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

In dedicating to you this exposition of the bare essentials of the Mahayana philosophy, I feel that I must explain something of its scope and aim. In its original form the present work was part of a thesis which when presented to the Japanese cathedral, the Nishi Honganji, secured mo~my Buddhist degree, and an honorary ordination as a Buddhist priest. In consequence I hope that it may be considered to represent, as far as it goes, what the Japanese Buddhists believe to be true, and what they consider accurate. In presenting the book in a new dress before the Western public, a good deal of revision has taken place, but this has been chie?y a matter of omission and simplification. All technical details have been deleted, and any unusual idea or term has had placed after it a few words of elementary elucidation.

A Manual of Buddhist Philosophy: Cosmology. E-book. Formato PDF William Montgomery Mcgovern   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

LL forms of Buddhism, however divergent, claim to have but three Objects Of worship, viz. The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. The first is the founder of the faith, the second the teaching which he gave, and the third the order which he founded. Regarding each Of the Batnas or jewels, as they are called, an enormous amount Of speculation has grown up, with many different Opinions concerning the proper method of interpretation. Questions concerning the Sangha are largely dealt with in the various versions of the Vinaya Pitaka, or books of Canon law, and their later commentaries. These are con cerned with the proper organization Of the monasteries, the rites which should accompany the reception of men and women into the order, and the food, clothing, and furniture which should be used by them afterwards. All these questions lie entirely outside the scope of philosophy, and hence outside the scope of our present undertaking. Speculations concerning the Buddha, or, rather, the Buddhas, together with less elevated beings such as Pratyeka Buddhas and Arhats, have played an even greater part in Buddhist history, for fierce controversies have been waged concerning the nature and powers Of each type of Being, and the means by which such rank might be achieved. But as all such problems are more closely associated with religion than with philosophy, they are equally foreign to our present work.