Reviews Of Diffeent Books

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 46

240
REVIEWS
that it should not be our only aim to try to restore original texts and to establish the original meanings intended by their authors and that modern scholarship should begin by examining the tradition itself. However, when one tries to know what the Buddha himself taught, it is not possible to maintain this position and Gombrich repeatedly speaks of developments which must have taken place after the Buddha's lifetime and which were not intended by him (cf. pp. 70, 109 and 120).
One of the most interesting sections of Gombrich's introduction is the one which deals with Buddhist identity (pp. 23-31). Gombrich distinguishes between two kinds of religion, one being soteriology adherence to which is defined by assent to its doctrine and entry into the membership of which is formalized by a declaration of faith, the other communal religion which is primarily a pattern of action providing rules for the ordering of society. He explains the different implications for Buddhist identity in ancient India, on the one hand, and in Sri Lanka and other Theravada countries, on the other hand.
The second chapter 'Gotama Buddha's problem situation' deals with A. Vedic civilization and B. The social conditions of his day. Gombrich remarks that the Buddha spent much of his time in cities, whereas the Vedic civilization depended on an entirely rural, village-based society, He writes:
"Thus the Buddha's period saw not only urbanization, but the beginnings of what one might call states. The period also saw the first use of money and the beginnings of organized trade" (p. 51). "Thus there arose two major new professions, both presumably urban-based: state officials and traders" (p. 55).
Gombrich remarks that there is some evidence that the Buddha's message appealed especially to town-dwellers and the new social classes. and refers to Gokhale's analysis of the social composition on the basis of the commentary on the Thera- and Theri-gäthä.' The commentary dates from the fifth century A.D., but according to Gombrich it rests on a far older tradition and its information may be authentic.2 Akanuma Chizen has used the same sources besides many others in his study of the four samghas (monks, nuns, male and female lay followers) published in 1928.3 Akanuma's results are not substantially different from those obtained by Mrs. Rhys Davids and B. G. Gokhale. It is difficult to know to what extent the figures obtained reflect the social composition of the samgha but it is perhaps not surprising that Buddhism appealed to an urban elite. In the third chapter Gombrich discusses the Buddha's Dharma and stresses the importance of the ethicization of the doctrine of karman. Gombrich remarks: "Since ethical value lies in intention, the individual is autonomous