The author of this book is well known to readers of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and needs no introduction. In this volume, Mitchell draws from his experiences of teaching Buddhism at the university level for over three decades, involvement in the Buddhist-Christian dialogue since the early 1980s, and previous research and writing, to produce a splendid introductory text to the traditions of Buddhism. What is attractive about Mitchell’s approach is his interweaving of two kinds of narrative genres in telling the story of Buddhism. On the one hand, there is the fairly straightforward historical description of the origins, expansion, and development of Buddhist traditions over the past twenty-five-hundred-plus years. On the other hand, there are personal narratives from contemporary individuals interspersed in boxes throughout the text which illuminate the concrete experiences of Buddhists—what is hinted at in the subtitle to the book.

Chapter one, for example, tells the life-story of Gautama Buddha, proceeding from his upbringing through his renunciation, his awakening, his mission, and his last days. In addition, however, are two attestations—by Chatsumarn Kabilsingh of Thammasat University, Bangkok, and David Chappell of the University of Hawaii—to the soteriological power of the Buddha’s message for contemporary persons. Chapter two elaborates on the basic teachings of the Buddha (the Three Characteristics, the Five Aggregates, Dependent Arising, Karma and Rebirth, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and Nirvana), and provides testimonies—from Nichiko Niwano of Rissho Kosei-kai, Japan, and Judith Simmer-Brown of Naropa University—of their capacity to transform persons today. “The Way of the Elders” in chapter three tells about the emergence of the Theravadin tradition during the first centuries after Gautama, even while it presents two observations—by Sylvia Boorstein of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Ven. M. Vajiragnana of the London Buddhist Vihara—about the ongoing power of Theravada Buddhism to speak to people today. The remaining eight chapters of this book include this feature—thus twenty-two personal narratives in all—which gives the uninitiated student of Buddhism contemporary insider perspectives on the significance and meaning of Buddhism in today’s world.

Mitchell shows encyclopedic grasp of the traditions of Buddhism. In chapters four through nine, he discusses the development of Mahayana Buddhism, the various schools of Buddhism in India, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. The last two chapters focus on modern Buddhism in Asia and Buddhism in the West. Throughout, the major players and actors are introduced, the sociopolitical backgrounds portrayed, essential components of the traditions explicated, the important issues presented, and historical connections drawn. In addition to the detailed discussions, several other features make this a solid text. Plates, figures, and maps are found throughout the volume, suggestions for further reading are inserted at the end of each chapter, and a helpful glossary concludes the book. Detailed historical work informs the many philosophical and doctrinal sections of the book. As such, students are exposed not only to Buddhist histories but also to Buddhist ideas and ideologies, values, and experiences. This text will work equally well in courses offered either by the religion or the philosophy department.

Yet readers of this journal will miss Mitchell the interreligious and monastic dialogician. The last chapter includes two sections on “Buddhist ecumenism” and “interfaith dialogue,” but even here the author speaks from a “detached” historian’s perspective, as it were, rather than as one who has engaged deeply in the monastic interreligious dialogue. Of course, Mitchell cannot be faulted here for not doing what is beyond the compass of an introductory text. Yet, clearly, the empathetic chords which inform Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience could only have been developed through the kind of interreligious encounter which has characterized Mitchell’s life. It is hoped that Mitchell’s next book will build on this comprehensive presentation of Buddhism toward a more constructive theological contribution to the Buddhist-Christian dialogue in general and the intermonastic dialogue more specifically.