In this book, William Stoddart studies the vast and complex field of doctrine, cultural forms and schools of Buddhism and presents, with clarity and conciseness, the essential elements of the Buddhist religion. Buddhism, despite its brevity, contains a great deal of information and constitutes a useful introduction to the subject for the general reader and a precise memorandum for the scholar. The purpose of this book is to provide a brief and schematic presentation of Buddhism. It aims to summarize its essential doctrines and practices, as well as to point out its main schools and cultural forms. Given the diversity of perspectives and ethnic groups within Buddhism, it is difficult to write a "unitary" relationship without falling into oversimplifications. The author has saved this obstacle with remarkable success and has managed to give an excellent overview of each of the schools and prospects involved. Dr. Stoddart discusses the essential elements of Buddhist doctrine, comparing it with other world religions, introduces the life of Buddha and that of some prominent figures of early Buddhism, studies the crystallization of Buddhism in the two great schools of Mahayana and Hînayâna, and explains the introduction and development of Buddhism in the regions and countries where it was implanted after its practical extinction in India: Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan. The author also dedicates chapters to as many central aspects of Buddhism: Buddhist art, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the six Pâramitas or Virtues of the Bodhisattva, the Original Vow, the question of reincarnation and pantheism, and the Shinto , the associate of Buddhism in Japan.