One of the world's great Eastern religions, Buddhism has become an increasingly potent influence in the West. This book is a vivid, richly illustrated guide to the history and legends of Buddhism, and to the main themes and beliefs in the Buddhist spiritual tradition, both today and in the past.The Buddha's teaching and the influential concepts of Buddhist philosophy are described in depth, and the book also traces the development of Buddhism as it spread from its Indian homeland to Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Tibet. Each country or region has a chapter devoted to it, allowing the distinctive features in the Buddhism of that area to be thoroughly explored. The often complex doctrines are clearly explained in a lucid, authoritative text.The final chapter chronicles the growth of Buddhism in the West and shows how, with its mixture of ethical and spiritual teachings and its offering of a complete way of life, the religion has such powerful appeal to Westerners in their quest for an understanding of the human predicament.Tom Lowenstein has been a student of Buddhism since 1972 and studied Pali and Sanskrit in Sri Lanka and at the University of Washington. His other main area of academic interest is north Alaskan shamanism, which has so far resulted in three books: The Things That Were Said of Them (1992), Ancient Land: Sacred Whale (1993) and a social history textbook for Inuit high-school students. He has published several books of poetry including Filibustering in Samsara (1987). In 1979 he received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.