Buddhist studies
Buddhist studies is the interdisciplinary study of Buddhism across its histories, texts, practices, institutions, and cultural settings.
Buddhism: A diverse religious and philosophical tradition originating in ancient India, centered on teachings attributed to the Buddha. The broad tradition Buddhist studies examines across regions, periods, and communities.
Buddhist textual criticism: The analysis of Buddhist texts’ composition, transmission, versions, and historical layers. It helps distinguish a text’s surviving form from the history of its transmission.
Eugène Burnouf: A nineteenth-century French scholar whose work helped establish the academic study of Buddhism. His Sanskrit research and publications shaped early European Buddhist scholarship.
Buddhist modernism: Modern reinterpretations of Buddhism shaped by global exchange, reform, and engagement with modernity. Scholarship has traced how modern categories recast Buddhist teachings and practices.
Buddhist canon: Collections of texts regarded as authoritative within particular Buddhist traditions. Canonical collections provide major textual sources, though no single canon represents all Buddhism.
Buddhist philology: The study of Buddhist languages and texts through grammar, manuscripts, and historical context. Philological work makes multilingual Buddhist sources interpretable with precision.
Max Müller: A German-born philologist and scholar of religion who edited and translated Asian religious texts. His editorial projects helped make Buddhist texts part of European comparative scholarship.
Protestant Buddhism: A reform movement in Sri Lanka that reshaped Buddhism amid colonial rule and Christian missionary activity. It shows how colonial encounters and modern religious categories transformed Buddhist institutions.
Pali Canon: The collection of scriptures preserved in the Theravada tradition, written primarily in Pali. It is a major early textual corpus studied in Buddhist history and philology.
Buddhist epigraphy: The study of inscriptions related to Buddhist communities, donors, institutions, and monuments. Inscriptions can document Buddhist life beyond literary accounts.