Kamakura butsu Buddha statue [Wikimedia] (Public Domain Image)

The Buddhist Catechism

by Henry S. Olcott

[1908]

Contents Start Reading Page Index Text [Zipped]

Colonel Henry Steel Olcott [1832-1907] was the first western Buddhist convert, probably since antiquity. He co-founded the Theosophical Society and was its first president. The only contributor to the 19th century southern Buddhist revival who was born a Protestant, Olcott was able to promote Eastern ideas to western society.

The Buddhist Catechism was Olcott's attempt to elucidate the basic doctrines of Buddhism in an ecumenical way. This book is still in use today in Sri Lanka. Olcott is fondly remembered in Sri Lanka and by Theosophists world-wide.

Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Certificates, First and Third-Third edition
Preface to the Thirty-Third Edition
Preface to the Thirty-Sixth Edition
Preface to the Fortieth Edition
Preface to the Forty-Second Edition
Part I. The Life of the Buddha
Part II. The Dharma or Doctrine
Part III. The Sangha
Part IV. The Rise and Spread of Buddhism
Part V. Buddhism and Science
Appendix
Bibliography