The introductory chapter presents the problem posed for all Buddhists by the existence of differing versions of what the Buddha taught, preserved by different early schools of Buddhism, in different languages. Using specific examples, it shows how by focussing on these very textual discrepancies, the methodology of comparative analysis to be applied in this book can actually reveal what is most likely to have been the Buddha’s original teaching. A discussion follows of the assumptions underlying this methodology and how it might be applied to core components of Buddhist doctrine. The chapter concludes by showing how the structure of the book is defined by the fourth of the Buddha’s four noble truths, which specifies the path of practice to be followed to end suffering and attain enlightenment.

The first chapter of this twenty-first-century reassessment of Beckett’s dialogue with Buddhist concepts investigates Beckett’s early source of Buddhist philosophy in Schopenhauer’s transmission of Eastern thought. The chapter addresses the doubt expressed by some Beckett exegetes about Schopenhauer as a viable source by detailing recent archival findings and the judgment of scholars of Buddhism on this question. Building on these findings, a section on Schopenhauer’s understanding of Upanishadic and Buddhist concepts counters doubts about his ability to distinguish between the two. The brief survey of what these two systems of Indian thought share and where they part ways is intended to lessen the chance of mistaking one for the other or singling out one, when it could be either, thereby setting the stage for the next chapters. An example of such a mistaken identity by Beckett scholars at the end of the chapter is intended as a cautionary tale.