Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Introduction; BUDDHISM AS PROCESS: THREE VERSIONS OF BUDDHISM; THE INCOMMENSURABILITY OF DIFFERENT VERSIONS; 1 The problem: asceticism and urban life; THE EMPEROR'S CLOTHES; TRADE, CITIES, CENTRALIZED STATES AND REMEMBERED TRIBALISM; LEGITIMATION OF COMMERCIAL VALUES; PROTEST AGAINST COMMERCIAL VALUES; LEGITIMATION OF CITY LIFE; PROTEST AGAINST CITY LIFE; LEGITIMATION OF THE CENTRALIZED STATE; PROTEST AGAINST THE CENTRALIZED STATE; LEGITIMATION OF POST-TRIBAL CULTURE; PROTEST AGAINST POST-TRIBAL CULTURE
Summary
Early Buddhism flourished because it took up the challenge represented by buoyant economic conditions in the newly emergent Indian states from the fifth century BCE. This book begins with the apparent inconsistency of Buddhism, a renunciant movement surviving within a strong urban environment, and draws out the implications of this
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-275) and index
