Setting Out on the Great Way - Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism - Paul Harrison
The Forest Hypothesis
Setting Out on the Great Way - Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism - Paul Harrison
David Drewes [+]
University of Manitoba
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David Drewes is Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba, Canada. His publications focus mainly on early Mahāyāna and early Buddhism.
Description
This chapter examines the ‘Forest Hypothesis’ of early Mahāyāna, which has been influential in recent decades. It argues that the theory has little evidentiary support and is primarily based on the old idea that Buddhism is essentially focused on the pursuit of religious experience or ‘awakening’.