Buddhist Scriptures by Edward ConzeReview by: Masatoshi NagatomiJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1960), p. 256Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/596178 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 23:25

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal ofthe American Oriental Society.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.208 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:25:05 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Journal of the American Oriental Society, 80.3 (1960)

Buddhist Scriptures. A new translation by EDWARD CONZE. Pp. 250. THE PENGUIN

CLASSICS, 1959.

This is a new addition to the series of previous works by Edward Conze, whose chief attempt is to inform the reader of Buddhism, his own adopted religion, by a well-disciplined critical method.

In dealing with the enormous data of Buddhism, Conze has made use of two methods: a focus "on that which separates" (Buddhist Texts Through the Ages, edited by Conze, 1954; Buddhism, Its Essence and Developement, 1957) and a focus on "that which is common" (Buddhist Meditation, 1956). The volume under review, a Buddhist anthology, follows the latter principle. That is to say, this volume is arranged so as to " concentrate on the central tradition of Buddhism, at the ex- pense of the more peripheral developements." Thus, instead of classifying the contents according to schools, Conze groups all the short selections from various sources of different ages under three major headings: The Teacher (pp. 17-66), The Doctrines (pp. 67-217), and Other Worlds and Future Times (pp. 219-242), each with further subdivisions preceded by his own brief notes.

Fully aware that this is not the first Buddhist anthology, Conze applies particular methods to furnish the work with its own place. Some of these methods are worth mentioning. In trans- lating the Dhammapada, he uses the Sanskrit version as it is less known than the Pali version. Likewise in presenting Zen Buddhism, emphasis is put on the Soto sect on the ground that the Zen Buddhism widely known in the West is that of the Rinzai sect.

In spite of such methodical care, however, Conze's contention that the work "contains very little that any Buddhist, of whichever school, would be prepared to reject" may be misleading to the lay readers for whom Conze intends his book. What Conze means by the remark is that such general themes of the book as meditation, faith in the Three Refuges, etc., are accepted by most Bud- dhists. Of many particulars, on the other hand,

this does not hold. The myth of Amitabha Bud- dha (pp. 232 ff.), for instance, certainly would be rejected by the orthodox Theravadin. Likewise, anyone who is acquainted with Zen Buddhism must be aware that Zen meditation departs from Theravada or pristine Buddhist meditation. This results not only from the varying interpretations and degrees of emphasis in different countries and ages, as Conze himself cautions at sundry places in his notes, but also from Conze's own intention to reproduce faithfully obvious textual contradic- tions. The reader should keep this in mind when he opens the volume.

The pitfalls in which an anthological work is prone to fall are a lack of balance in the choice of texts and a brevity of selections which prevents the reader's fair understanding of the subject. The present volume does not wholly avoid these faults, particularly in Part II: Doctrines, Chapter 5, Doctrinal Disputes, which merely provides for general readers some sample cases of Buddhist controversy on metaphysical topics. In determin- ing the choice of the extracts, Conze prefers "texts intended for laymen to those addressed to monks." He also states that "the temptation to make Bud- dhism appear more attractive by including only those teachings which would not jar on the preju- dices of the present age, has been manfully re- sisted." To comply with such principles, in the reviewer's opinion, it would have met the original purpose better if, at the expense of Doctrinal Disputes, some extracts had been given from the texts of the esoterico-tantric phase of Buddhism.

In summary, this work is not a short cut to the profundity of Buddhism nor a self-sufficient intro- duction to Buddhism. On the other hand, it will furnish beginners with interesting glimpses into various doctrinal phases of Buddhism ranging from its earliest stage down to 20th Century Zen Buddhism. Throughout the volume the transla- tions are lucid and readable. A list of textual sources and a glossary of technical terms with English equivalents enhances the usefulness of the volume.

MASATOSHI NAGATOMI HARVARD UNIVERSITY

256

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.208 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:25:05 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions