________________
THE VEDIC RELIGION AND THE ORIGINS OF
BUDDHISM PROFESSOR V.P. VERMA M.A., Ph. D.
1. Introduction : Vedic Roots of Spiritual Idealism
Since the beginnings of the rationalistic enlightenment in France with Diderot and Voltaire and the Kantian-Hegelian idealistic movement in Germany! the philosophical approach to religion became an organised branch of study and analysis. Furthermore since the middle of the nineteenth century the sociological approach to the problems of religion has also become significant in the works of Comte, Marx and Spencer. In the twentieth century Max Weber, Durkheim and Troeltsch are important names in this field. I will try to utilize in this article some of the concepts and notions made familiar by both philosophers and social scientists to study early Buddhist religion.
1.
2.
C.C.J. Webb, Kant's Philosophy of Religion (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1926). Otto Pfleiderer, Philosophy and Development of Religion (Gifford Lectures at Edinburgh for 1994. Edinburgh, William Blackwood, 1894), 2 vols. Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy (Oxford Univ. Press, 1928). 4. Seth Pringle-Pattison, Studies in the Philosophy of Religion (Gifford Lectures at Edinburgh for 19 3. Oxford Univ. Press, 1930). Hans Kelsen, Society and Nature (London, Kegan Paul, 1946). Andrew Lang, Myth, Ritual and Religion (London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1899), 2 Vols. Vol. 1, pp. 206-245; Vol II, pp. 148-183. P. Masson-Oursel. Comparative Philosophy (London, Kegan Paul, 1926). A.G. Widgery, The Comparative Study of Religions (London, Williams & Norgate, 1923) J. E. Turner, Essentials in the Development of Religion (London, George Allen, 1937), pp. 67-75 Raphael Karsten, The Origins of Religion (London, Kegan Paul, 1935), pp. 11-21. Willem F. Zuurdeeg, An Analytical Philosophy of Religion (London, George Allen, 1959), pp. 301-302 N.P. Jacobsen, Buddhism (London, George Allen, 1966), Ch. VI, "The Buddbist Analysis of Culture”, pp. 124-143.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
