"The term 'Buddhism' refers to a vast and complex religious and philosophical tradition with a history that stretches over some 2,500 years, taking in, at one time or another, the greater part of Asia, from Afghanistan and parts of Persia in the west to Japan in the east, from the great islands of Sumatra and Java in the south to Mongolia and parts of southern Russia in the north."
Introduction, p. 1

"'Buddhism' is something of an intellectual abstraction: in reality there is not one Buddhism but many Buddhisms."
Introduction, p. 2

"For the following reasons he is a Blessed One: he is an Arhat, a perfectly and completely awakened one, perfect in his understanding and conduct, happy, one who understands the world, an unsurpassed trainer of unruly men, the teacher of both gods and men, a blessed Buddha." Chap. 1, p. 9

"The earliest Buddhist sources state that the future Buddha was...