"An Introduction to Buddhism"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at "An Introduction to Buddhism" by Paul Harvey, published in 1990 which was written as a text book with the intention of introducing either high school or college students to some of the concepts of Buddhism. Because Buddhism is such a broad subject, much of which is covered by this book, this paper compares how the concept of "suffering" is addressed in the book and in other different texts. The language that is used to discuss suffering is also examined, in terms of how the term is conceptualized by its inclusion--or its lack of inclusion--in the First Noble Truth and in terms of accessibility.

Outline:
Concepts and Comparisons
Successes
Failures
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Harvey (1990) does spend a great deal of time in discussion on the topic of suffering, since that is a major aspect of Buddhist teachings. However, Harvey describes the concept of suffering as an isolated event, in a somewhat clinical fashion. The basic concept of "suffering" actually tends to get lost in his discussion of "self" and "not-self," (Harvey, 1990, pp. 50-52), until he actually begins to discuss what he calls "the Second Holy Truth" (Harvey, 1990, p. 53). In part, the difficulty in this discussion comes with the use of unfamiliar words in Harvey's text; the reader spends more time translating and organizing concepts than he or she does in processing and un understanding them. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gethin, R. (1998). The Foundations of Buddhism (OPUS), New York: Oxford UP.
• Hanh, T. N. (1998). The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, New York: Random House-Broadway.
• Harvey, P. (1990). An Introduction to Buddhism, Cambridge: CUP.
• Harvey, P. (2002). An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues (Introduction to Religion), Cambridge: CUP.
• Walpola R. (1974). What the Buddha Taught, New York: Grove.

More papers on "An Introduction to Buddhism":

• Book Review # 131707 : "An Introduction to Buddhism" - A Book Review"
• Book Review # 31617 : "An Introduction to Zen Buddhism"
• Term Paper # 131867 : "Zen Buddhism - An Introduction for Westerners"

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