Encyclopedia of Buddhism.(Book Review)

Ed. by Robert E. Buswell, Jr. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 2 vols. $240 (ISBN 0-02-865718-7).

Buddhism is one of the three major world religions along with Christianity and Islam. It arose in India over 2,500 years ago and quickly spread throughout Asia. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, Buddhism began to take root in the United States with the increase in immigration from China, Japan, and Korea. Today, it is estimated that there are more than 2.3 million Buddhists in the United States and more than 1 million in Europe, and more than a third of them are non-Asian. Buddhism has also added many words and meanings to our religious and secular …