Essence of Buddhism

by Vijay Kumar Mathur

The book Essence of Buddhism comprising of research articles of well known intellectuals gives a glimpse of all aspects of Buddhism such as Buddha advocated the universal brotherhood, equality and compassion for all living beings. His purpose was to impart to the people at large the art of living, free from sorrows and delusions of all kinds. He gave the essential doctrines of the pure religion, divested from extraneous elements. In Buddhism, eight fold path, theory of Karm, Nirvana and Ahimsa lead to rescue mankind from the fetters of passion and to convince them of an ideal higher than worldly good. The book is useful for students, scholars and readers interested in the study of Buddhism.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction/V.K. Mathur
• Life and teachings of the Buddha/Susant De Alwish
• Bhakti and Puja in Buddhism/S. Dutt
• Buddha’s answers to great questions of life/Swami Budhananda
• Lord Buddha’s conception of the soul/P.S. Naidu
• Lord Buddha and his middle path/Suman Mathur
• Later Buddhism in India/Albert Schweitzer
• Buddhism in China, Tibet and Mangolia/Albert Schweitzer
• Buddhism in Japan/Albert Schweitzer
• The law of the Buddha/H. Kern
• Buddhist iconography/Benoytosh Bhattacharyya
• Buddhism and Sarnath/Kamla Rohatagi & S.P. Rohatagi
• The second contact with the west: the rise of Mahayana Buddhism/Jyotsana Saxena
• The Buddhists of Burma and Ceylon/James Bisset Pratt
• The doctrines of modern Buddhism/James Bisset Pratt
• The value of Buddhism and its springs of power/James Bisset Pratt
• Bibliography.

About the Author:

Dr. Vijay Kumar Mathur has been working in the National Museum, New Delhi, and has widely travelled in India and abroad. He visited several important Museums in Russia, Belgium, France, Poland and Thailand. In 1992, Indian Council for Cultural Relationss deputed him to Pakistan for the selection of art objects for the Classical Art Exhibition to be held in the National Museum, New Delhi, on the occasion of the First South Asian Festival of SAARC countries.