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62 EASTERN HORIZON | BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS

which within the limitations of a single monograph
is not possible. Based on excerpts from his own more
detailed studies of the respective points, he presented
a few selected examples to illustrate patterns of more
general relevance. For example, his exploration in
this text begins with the key text recited regularly at
fortnightly monastic observances, the code of rules
(Pāṭimokkha/ Prātimokṣa) and its relation to the
narratives purporting to record the circumstances
under which a particular rule was promulgated.
Bhikkhu Anālayo, Early Buddhist Oral Tradition.
Textual Formation and Transmission. Wisdom: USA. This book is divided into six sections:
2023. pp 302. Hardcover. US$34.95 www.wisdom.com I. The recital of monastic rules
II. Discourses and Verse Collections
For hundreds of years after his death, the Buddha’s III. Memory errors
teachings were transmitted orally, from person to IV. Systematization
person. In this volume, acclaimed scholar-monk V. Additions and Innovations
Bhikkhu Anālayo examines the impact of such oral VI. Implications of Orality
transmission on early Buddhist texts, be these monastic
rules, verses, or prose portions of the early discourses. In-depth but still accessible, Early Buddhist Oral
Central to his research is a comparative study of some Tradition is an engrossing and enlightening inquiry into
150 Pāli discourses of medium length in the light of a the early Buddhist oral tradition.
broad range of parallels extant in Chinese, Gāndhārī,
Sanskrit, Tibetan and some other languages. He Bhikkhu Anālayo is a scholar of early Buddhism and a
scrutinizes various oral aspects of these texts, surveying meditation teacher. He completed his PhD research on
evidence for memory errors, the impact of attempts the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta at the University of Peradeniya,
at systematization, and instances of additions and Sri Lanka, in 2000 and his habilitation research with
innovations. Finally, he explores the implications of the a comparative study of the Majjhima Nikaya in the
nature of these texts as the final product of centuries of light of its Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan parallels
oral transmission and evaluates the type of conclusions at the University of Marburg, Germany, in 2007. His
that can—and cannot—be drawn based on them. over four hundred publications are for the most part
based on comparative studies, with a special interest in
Anālayo’s presentation provides a good introduction to topics related to meditation and the role of women in
the relevant themes rather than an exhaustive survey, Buddhism. EH