Preface
I
t is always a joy to publish a book, but the joy is greatly increased when the
book can be revised and reissued to incorporate the results of new research
and the growing maturity of one's understanding. Rarely if ever is a schol-
arly work allowed to reappear in successive revised editions, but textbooks-as
long as they contribute to the education of students-can appear and reappear
by revising and incorporating new material to make significant improvements.
Fourteen years have elapsed since the publication of the Third Edition of this
text. This lapse of time is to be regretted but has allowed us to benefit from
the increase of fine research on Buddhism that has appeared during this long
interval.
This Fourth Edition was set in motion by a long and detailed review of
the Third Edition by John Strong of Bates College, to whom we owe a pro-
found debt of gratitude; his extensive review led to a thorough and complete
rethinking of the text. Many chapters are altogether new, all the others have
been substantially rewritten, and the order of chapters and subjects has been
made more coherent. In addition, we have extensively cross'-'referenced this
book to John Strong's companion Wadsworth volume, The Experience if Bud-
dhism. In 1993 I asked Sandra Wawrytko to assist me on the subject of east
Asian Buddhism, and in 1994-95 when I fell severely ill, Thanissaro Bhikkhu
(Geoffrey DeGraff) took over the revision process and has contributed might-
ily to the work as a whole.
We are also very happy to have Charles Hallisey of Harvard University as
the new editor of the entire Wadsworth Religious Life in History series; hexiv