6 INTRODUCTIONtexts, it is a raft across the ocean of suffering that is then abandoned when the
ocean is crossed. On occasion there have been individual Buddhists of differ-
ent eras who have regarded right view as an end in itself. Others have inter-. preted the result of the Path as the abandonment of views, and so regard right
view as unnecessary in that one can abandon views simply by stilling the mind.
This split in perspective has led to institutional splits between scholarly and
meditating monastics. Much of the institutional history of Buddhism is con-
cerned with the question of whether these two sides are working together or
at cross purposes at any particular point in time.
The text falls into two parts. The first six chapters cover the history of
Buddhism in India; the latter six explore Buddhism outside oflndia. The em-
phasis on India is due to the fact that Indian Buddhism forms the common
stock from which all other Buddhist traditions stem. To understand the rela-
tionship between, say, Japanese and Burmese Buddhism, it is necessary to trace
back through events in India. In both parts we have tried to cover what the
most recent historical scholarship has been able to unearth in terms of what
actually happened in the past, as well as how Buddhists in those times and
places viewed their own history. In a few instances, such as the history of early
Ch'an in China, we have focused more on modern than on traditional ac-
counts simply because the traditions are already so well known in the West. In
other cases, such as the thought of the Pudgalavadins, we have discussed in
detail areas in which the recent discovery of sources has overthrown ideas long
entrenched in the scholarly field, in order to alert students who may encounter
those ideas in their reading. At the same time, however, there are areas in
which we have found the latest scholarship to be less than convincing and so
have inserted our reasons for adhering to more traditional accounts. We have
also touched on some of the grand doctrinal syntheses-the work of Asanga,
Buddhaghosa, Chih-i, Fa-tsang, Kukai, and Tsongkhapa, among others-to
show how Asian Buddhists themselves tried to deal with the bewildering
wealth of their tradition. In addition, we have covered in detail the history of
the meditation and devotional traditions that are now coming to the West, so
that this text will be useful to students not only ofBuddhism past, but also of
Buddhism present and yet to come.