Buddhology

/buːˈdɑːlədʒi/ noun

Definition

The academic and scholarly study of Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist texts, history, and traditions.

Etymology

From 'Buddha' plus the suffix '-logy' meaning 'the study of.' This scholarly term emerged in academic contexts, particularly in the 19th-20th centuries, as Buddhism became a serious subject of Western academic inquiry.

Kelly Says

Buddhology is a real academic field with university departments studying everything from ancient Sanskrit texts to modern Buddhist philosophy—scholars of buddhology have revealed how Buddhism split into completely different branches with different beliefs!

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