Buddhism and Monotheism

1. The Indian religious context of the arising and development of Buddhism; 2. The different traditions of Buddhism; 3. The historical Buddha, and past Buddhas; 4. Rebirth; 5. Karma; 6. Suffering, its causes and its transcending; 7. Pessimistic?; 8. Buddhist ethics; 9. Buddhist practices; 10. Buddhist meditation and Christian contemplation; 11. The cosmos at large; 12. The realms of rebirth; 13. Māra, the Satan-like deadly one; 14. How Buddhists see and relate to the Gods; 15. Comparisons to monotheistic views on the Heavens; 16. The Buddhist 'creation' and 'fall' story; 17. Buddhism on the supposed Creator-God Great Brahmā; 18. The lovingkindness and compassion Of Great Brahmā; 19. The Dhamma as the basic pattern structuring the world; 20. Dhamma … and God; 21. A person as a flowing dance of conditioned, impermanent, self-less processes; 22. God as 'I am who I am'; 23. Nirvana … and God; 24. The nature of the Buddha in the Theravāda; 25. Faith and prayer in Theravāda Buddhism; 26. Bodhisattvas in the Mahāyāna; 27. Buddhas in the Mahāyāna; 28. The Mahāyāna Pantheon; 29. The three-body doctrine; 30. Amitābha Buddha; 31. Key Bodhisattvas: the all-compassionate Avalokiteśvara and the wisdom-embodying Mañjuśrī; 32. Revelation, faith and prayer in the Mahāyāna; 33. The Ādibuddha – a God-like figure?; 34. The Buddha-nature and the problem of evil; 35. Critical reflections on the idea of a God as creating living beings and the Universe; 36. Buddhist general attitudes to other religions; 37. Conclusion.