Buddhism: Its Essence and Development

A 1951 systematic overview of Buddhist doctrine by the Anglo-German scholar Edward Conze, organising the tradition into nine sections: an introduction covering Buddhism as religion and philosophy; common ground shared by all schools; monastic Buddhism; popular Buddhism; the Old Wisdom School (the Hinayana traditions); the Mahayana and the New Wisdom School; Buddhism of faith and devotion; the Yogacarins; the Tantra or Magical Buddhism; and non-Indian developments including Chan, Amidism, and Tibetan schools.

The book was based on lectures Conze delivered at Oxford and was written for a general educated reader rather than for specialists. For roughly thirty years it served as the standard one-volume English introduction to Buddhism — the first such account to treat the Mahayana traditions on their own doctrinal terms rather than as departures from an Hinayana original. Later Buddhist Studies scholarship has updated and partly displaced Conze's framing, but the book is still read as a historically influential synthesis and remains in print.

To regard all later Buddhist history as a record of the 'degeneration' of an 'original' gospel is like regarding an oak tree as a degeneration of an acorn.

p. 28 · I. Common Ground

First lines

Buddhism is an Eastern form of spirituality. Its doctrine, in its basic assumptions, is identical with many other teachings all over the world, teachings which may be called 'mystical.' The essence of this philosophy of life has been explained with great force and clarity by Thomas a-Kempis, in his Imitation of Christ.

Contents

Reception

For roughly thirty years (1951–early 1980s) Conze's *Buddhism* was the standard one-volume English introduction to the tradition and is still in print; his translations of the *Prajñāpāramitā* literature remain canonical. Later Buddhist Studies scholarship (David Snellgrove, Peter Harvey, Paul Williams, Donald Lopez) has updated and partly displaced Conze's framing — particularly his sympathetic-Romanticist reading of the Mahayana and his Schopenhauerian gloss on emptiness — and his idiosyncratic public persona and political views are documented in his autobiography *The Memoirs of a Modern Gnostic*. The book is read today as a historically influential synthesis rather than as a current state-of-the-field text.

Frequently asked

What is Buddhism: Its Essence and Development about?

It is a systematic survey of Buddhist doctrine across all major schools by the scholar Edward Conze, first published in 1951. Beginning with the common ground shared by all schools, it works through the Hinayana, the Mahayana, the devotional schools, the Yogacarins, the Tantra, and non-Indian developments including Chan and Amidism.

How does Conze organise the history of Buddhism?

Rather than tracing a single "original" Buddhism that later degenerated, Conze treats the tradition as a living development across nine sections. He argues that to regard later Buddhist history as degeneration is like regarding an oak tree as a degeneration of an acorn — each school is addressed on its own doctrinal terms.

Is Buddhism: Its Essence and Development still a standard reference?

It remains in print and is historically significant as the first single-volume English account to treat the Mahayana seriously on its own terms. Subsequent scholarship by Paul Williams, Donald Lopez, and Peter Harvey has updated the field, and Conze's Schopenhauerian reading of emptiness is now contested, but the book is still assigned as a historically influential synthesis.