The Literature of the Personalists of Early Buddhism

by Sara Boin Webb, Eng. Tr.

Parsonalism was a remarkable and durable aspect of an important part of early Buddhism. For more than ten centuries it was taught and defended by several schools and had numerous followers but was strongly criticised by other Buddhist schools.The Literature of the Personalists of Early Buddhism attempts to present an historical overview of the personalist schools and studies on the formation and content of the doctrine (dharma) and monastic discipline of the Pudgalavadins in accordance with the documentation available. Bhikshu Thich Thien Chau was born in 1931. He entered pagoda in 1947 and became a bhikshu in 1952. He attended Buddhist courses at Bao Quoc Institute in Hue city in 1948 and graduated in 1958. He continued his Buddhist studies at Nalanda, India, from 1961 to 1965 and got the degree of Palyacharya; then got M.A. degree. ".....this stands as one of the most comprehensive and detailed studies of the history of the literature of this most puzzling and controversial of the early schools of Buddhist thought. Anyone wishing to learn about the doctrinal contents of the texts of this school of thought, could not do better than consult this volume. I will turn to this book again and again n the future as a sourcebook of information concerning the Pudgala Vadins." --Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism