This book presents Buddhism from the Buddhist point of
view. It is an earnest attempt on the part of eleven devout
Buddhist scholars to describe the beliefs and practices of the
Buddhist world twenty-five centuries after the Buddha.

Recognition of the need for such a book grew out of con-
versations among Fellows of the National Council on Re-
ligion in Higher Education. It was agreed that a fuller under-
standing of the leading non-Christian religions requires books
written by men speaking from the point of view of their own
faith, and edited by a Westerner to make sure that the meaning
would be clear to readers brought up in the Greek-Hebrew-
Christian tradition. Such books, it was predicted, would be
valuable to all who wished to understand the role played by
religion in the lives and culture of a greater part of the world.

In an effort to meet this need the Edward W. Hazen Foun-
dation made possible the publication three years ago of the
first book of this kind. Seven Hindu scholars wrote, and I
edited, The Religion of the Hindus. The interest shown in
that volume has given encouragement for the task of preparing
this book on Buddhism, using methods similar to those used
before.

First, I sought the advice of teachers of the history of re-
ligions, asking them to help me prepare an outline covering
the materials we thought should be included in a fair and
representative presentation of Buddhism. Then I visited Japan,
Hong Kong, Thailand, Burma, India, and Ceylon, interviewing
leading Buddhists in each community, revising the outline in
accord with their suggestions, and getting their recommenda-
tions for men qualified to write the different sections. On the

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