
From its earliest days, Buddhism has been closely intertwined with medicine. Buddhism and Medicine is a singular collection showcasing the generative relationship and mutual influence between these fields across premodern Asia. The anthology combines dozens of English-language translations of premodern Buddhist texts with contextualizing introductions by leading international scholars in Buddhist studies, the history of medicine, and a range of other fields.
These sources explore in detail medical topics ranging from the development of fetal anatomy in the womb to nursing, hospice, dietary regimen, magical powers, visualization, and other healing knowledge. Works translated here include meditation guides, popular narratives, ritual manuals, spells texts, monastic disciplinary codes, recipe inscriptions, philosophical treatises, poetry, works by physicians, and other genres. All together, these selections and their introductions provide a comprehensive overview of Buddhist healing throughout Asia. They also demonstrate the central place of healing in Buddhist practice and in the daily life of the premodern world. This anthology is a companion volume to Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Sources (Columbia, 2019).The excitement readers will feel in encountering this material, and the impact this anthology will make...will
open the way for more work on Buddhist medicine, but more importantly it should also move us towards a more complex and complete view of Buddhism.
This book manages to be both a major contribution to research scholarship and a wonderful textbook.
Almost all the translations are presented here for the first time, making this compendium an important
source for comparative studies and discovery in the history of medicine. . . . The book is beautifully edited,
designed, and printed and is also available through university libraries as an ebook. This is a remarkably
rich collection of materials for the history of medicine and of Buddhism. It will reward researchers and
students for many decades to come.