About the Book
This volume, introduced by an essay on early Buddhism as a text-historical periodization, collects revised versions of articles related to Agama and Vinaya literature. It thereby complements previously published volumes of collected papers by the same author (Madhyama-agama Studies, 2012; Samyukta-agama Studies, 2015; Ekottarika-agama Studies, 2016; Dirgha-agama Studies, 2017, Vinaya Studies, 2017).
Preface
The present book for the most part collects revised versions of my more recently published articles related in one way or another to Agama and Vinaya literature and its oral transmission. It thereby complements similar collections of articles presented previously in book form as Madhyama- agama Studies (2012g), Samyukta āgama Studies (20151), Ekottarika-agama Studies (2016c), Dirgha agama Studies (2017b), and Vinaya Studies (2017).
By way of introduction to this book, in the first chapter I explore the notion of "early Buddhism", as a way of setting the stage for the ensuing collection of already published articles, which often refer to this concept. The actual collection of articles then begins with an overview of the topic of "women in Agama and Vinaya literature” that is, a survey of passages relevant to assessing the position of women in early Buddhism. My research on this topic has been based on comparative study of the relevant textual material transmitted by different recite traditions, which forms a continuous theme throughout most of the remainder of the book. In the second chapter, titled "the transmission of teachings by a nun", I translate and compare the Chinese and Tibetan versions of a detailed doctrinal teaching given by a nun, examined from the view of the transmission lineages of these two dis- courses. Based on this comparison, in the third chapter I discuss the relationship between Mülasarvāstiväda and Sarvastivada transmission lineages of Agama texts, in particular from the viewpoint of "oral transmission and school affiliation".
