Introduction to Buddhism

Evgeny Alekseevich Torchinov — an outstanding sinologist, religious scholar, buddhologist, translator, historian of philosophy and culture of China. Candidate of historical sciences and Doctor of philosophical sciences. For many years, Evgeny Alekseevich has been engaged in the study of Buddhism and Daoism, as well as the analysis of various ancient religions, contemporary world religions, religious movements, and sects, through which he formulated the phenomenon of «religious experience». The book «Introduction to Buddhism» is the most popular work of Evgeny Alekseevich; it is based on a series of lectures delivered by him from 1994 to 1999 at the Faculty of Philosophy of Saint Petersburg State University. It provides a detailed description of the history of the emergence and development of Buddhism, the foundations of this teaching, presents the main schools and directions, as well as discusses the Buddhist traditions of Tibet, China, the Far East, and Russia. This edition also includes an appendix that contains translations of key Buddhist texts by the author with notes.