Product Description

The “Encyclopedia of Buddhism” provides a comprehensive overview of one of Asia's most important religious and social forces, describing the Buddhist worldview, basic teachings and practices, history, and the different schools and sects. This intriguing set illuminates a religion that is a mystery to most Westerners by exploring Buddhist scriptures, art, architecture, saints, demons, monastic orders, festivals, rites and ceremonies, as well as the different forms Buddhism has taken in different parts of the world, and how it has blended with other religions like Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism and Christianity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #630567 in Books
• Published on: 1996-12-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

Golden Tales of the Buddhas
An excellent book that summarises Borobudur's past and archaeological symbolism. It is a light and informative read of the ancient Buddhist monument in Central Java. The photography is excellent, with lots of close ups of the reliefs. Very often you get whole pages of pictures which tell a story of their own. It's really worth buying this because you'll definitely read it more than once.

Simply the best.
I read this book back in 1991 before my first visit to Borobudur and found it a great introduction to the site for sure, but also to Indonesian history and Buddhism. February 2009 I returned to Borobudur for my third visit and despite being older and much more knowledgeable about Javanese history and culture, not to mention Buddhist texts and iconography, decided to re-read Borobudur. Only now, eighteen years later, can I really appreciate what a remarkably fine volume this is. The micro-focus is Borobudur, but the book additionally has chapters on all the most relevant elements of Javanese history and culture that put the story of Borobudur into focus. For example, because the decorative panels include carvings of the previous lives of the Buddha and other "heroic deeds", the most important Jataka tales and Avadanas are included. There are chapters on Borobudur as a mountain, as a stupa, as a mandala; there are chapters on Buddhism in Java, Buddhist architecture, how Borobudur must have been built, and how it was found and reclaimed. I have quite a few books on Borobudur, but in the hindsight of several visits to the site and years of study, I now realize this is simply the best book ever written on the single largest Buddhist monument in the world. Whether you visit Borobudur in person or are an armchair traveler, this is the guidebook you need.

Relaxing read while passing the time
I read this book while visiting Bobobudur over 4 days. It perfectly suited the relaxing atmosphere of my vacation.

The first few sections are devoted to the history and the archaeology of the site. Each successive chapters are devoted to the bas reliefs which tell 3 major stories of Buddhist texts.

Personally, I found the latter sections on the stories harder to follow since the books only gives bits and pieces of the story (and sometimes the photo illustrations, which are in great abundance, do not follow the text) and I am not at all versed in these stories. I would have much preferred
a more detailed book on the history and archaeology of the monument. But perhaps that is more difficult to come by because it is not a deeply studied area.

But I think the photographs more than make up for any perceived deficiencies on my part. Each page has at least one big photo which occupies half of the page and that makes it a great coffee table book to browse.