What Early Buddhism Means

Early Buddhism is a modern historical label for the community before the schools. This page sets out its sources and its limits.

This page separates early textual evidence, modern scholarly discussion, and later readings. Historical study sits beside practice; it does not replace it.

The full article is available in Traditional Chinese.

Seated Buddha from Sarnath, Gupta-period stone, hands in the teaching gesture
Seated Buddha from Sarnath (Gupta period)

Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Glossary

Early Buddhism

A modern scholarly label for the community before the schools, not an ancient self-name.

Early Buddhist Texts (EBT)

A scholarly name for the earlier layers shared by the Nikayas and Agamas.

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