Critical Terms For The Study Of Buddhism

Critical Terms For The Study Of Buddhism Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Critical Terms For The Study Of Buddhism book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.

Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism

Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism Book PDF

Author : Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 722 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2009-11-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780226493237

Get Book

Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism by Donald S. Lopez Jr. Pdf

Over the past century, Buddhism has come to be seen as a world religion, exceeding Christianity in longevity and, according to many, philosophical wisdom. Buddhism has also increasingly been described as strongly ethical, devoted to nonviolence, and dedicated to bringing an end to human suffering. And because it places such a strong emphasis on rational analysis, Buddhism is considered more compatible with science than the other great religions. As such, Buddhism has been embraced in the West, both as an alternative religion and as an alternative to religion. This volume provides a unique introduction to Buddhism by examining categories essential for a nuanced understanding of its traditions. Each of the fifteen essays here shows students how a fundamental term—from art to word—illuminates the practice of Buddhism, both in traditional Buddhist societies and in the realms of modernity. Apart from Buddha, the list of terms in this collection deliberately includes none that are intrinsic to the religion. Instead, the contributors explore terms that are important for many fields and that invite interdisciplinary reflection. Through incisive discussions of topics ranging from practice, power, and pedagogy to ritual, history, sex, and death, the authors offer new directions for the understanding of Buddhism, taking constructive and sometimes polemical positions in an effort both to demonstrate the shortcomings of assumptions about the religion and the potential power of revisionary approaches. Following the tradition of Critical Terms for Religious Studies, this volume is not only an invaluable resource for the classroom but one that belongs on the short list of essential books for anyone seriously interested in Buddhism and Asian religions.

Critical Terms for Religious Studies

Mark C. Taylor
Critical Terms for Religious Studies Book PDF

Author : Mark C. Taylor
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 431 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2013-07-09
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780226791739

Get Book

Critical Terms for Religious Studies by Mark C. Taylor Pdf

A century that began with modernism sweeping across Europe is ending with a remarkable resurgence of religious beliefs and practices throughout the world. Wherever one looks today, from headlines about political turmoil in the Middle East to pop music and videos, one cannot escape the pivotal role of religious beliefs and practices in shaping selves, societies, and cultures. Following in the very successful tradition of Critical Terms for Literary Studies and Critical Terms for Art History, this book attempts to provide a revitalized, self-aware vocabulary with which this bewildering religious diversity can be accurately described and responsibly discussed. Leading scholars working in a variety of traditions demonstrate through their incisive discussions that even our most basic terms for understanding religion are not neutral but carry specific historical and conceptual freight. These essays adopt the approach that has won this book's predecessors such widespread acclaim: each provides a concise history of a critical term, explores the issues raised by the term, and puts the term to use in an analysis of a religious work, practice, or event. Moving across Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Native American and Mayan religions, contributors explore terms ranging from experience, territory, and image, to God, sacrifice, and transgression. The result is an essential reference that will reshape the field of religious studies and transform the way in which religion is understood by scholars from all disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, cultural studies, gender studies, and literary studies.

Buddhism and Science

Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Buddhism and Science Book PDF

Author : Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2009-05-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226493244

Get Book

Buddhism and Science by Donald S. Lopez Jr. Pdf

Beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing to the present day, both Buddhists and admirers of Buddhism have proclaimed the compatibility of Buddhism and science. Their assertions have ranged from modest claims about the efficacy of meditation for mental health to grander declarations that the Buddha himself anticipated the theories of relativity, quantum physics and the big bang more than two millennia ago. In Buddhism and Science, Donald S. Lopez Jr. is less interested in evaluating the accuracy of such claims than in exploring how and why these two seemingly disparate modes of understanding the inner and outer universe have been so persistently linked. Lopez opens with an account of the rise and fall of Mount Meru, the great peak that stands at the center of the flat earth of Buddhist cosmography—and which was interpreted anew once it proved incompatible with modern geography. From there, he analyzes the way in which Buddhist concepts of spiritual nobility were enlisted to support the notorious science of race in the nineteenth century. Bringing the story to the present, Lopez explores the Dalai Lama’s interest in scientific discoveries, as well as the implications of research on meditation for neuroscience. Lopez argues that by presenting an ancient Asian tradition as compatible with—and even anticipating—scientific discoveries, European enthusiasts and Asian elites have sidestepped the debates on the relevance of religion in the modern world that began in the nineteenth century and still flare today. As new discoveries continue to reshape our understanding of mind and matter, Buddhism and Science will be indispensable reading for those fascinated by religion, science, and their often vexed relation.

Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism

Robert H. Sharf
Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism Book PDF

Author : Robert H. Sharf
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 417 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2005-11-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824861940

Get Book

Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism by Robert H. Sharf Pdf

The issue of sinification—the manner and extent to which Buddhism and Chinese culture were transformed through their mutual encounter and dialogue—has dominated the study of Chinese Buddhism for much of the past century. Robert Sharf opens this important and far-reaching book by raising a host of historical and hermeneutical problems with the encounter paradigm and the master narrative on which it is based. Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism is, among other things, an extended reflection on the theoretical foundations and conceptual categories that undergird the study of medieval Chinese Buddhism. Sharf draws his argument in part from a meticulous historical, philological, and philosophical analysis of the Treasure Store Treatise (Pao-tsang lun), an eighth-century Buddho-Taoist work apocryphally attributed to the fifth-century master Seng-chao (374–414). In the process of coming to terms with this recondite text, Sharf ventures into all manner of subjects bearing on our understanding of medieval Chinese Buddhism, from the evolution of T’ang "gentry Taoism" to the pivotal role of image veneration and the problematic status of Chinese Tantra. The volume includes a complete annotated translation of the Treasure Store Treatise, accompanied by the detailed exegesis of dozens of key terms and concepts.

From Stone to Flesh

Donald S. Lopez Jr.
From Stone to Flesh Book PDF

Author : Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2013-04-11
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780226493206

Get Book

From Stone to Flesh by Donald S. Lopez Jr. Pdf

We have come to admire Buddhism for being profound but accessible, as much a lifestyle as a religion. The credit for creating Buddhism goes to the Buddha, a figure widely respected across the Western world for his philosophical insight, his teachings of nonviolence, and his practice of meditation. But who was this Buddha, and how did he become the Buddha we know and love today? Leading historian of Buddhism Donald S. Lopez Jr. tells the story of how various idols carved in stone—variously named Beddou, Codam, Xaca, and Fo—became the man of flesh and blood that we know simply as the Buddha. He reveals that the positive view of the Buddha in Europe and America is rather recent, originating a little more than a hundred and fifty years ago. For centuries, the Buddha was condemned by Western writers as the most dangerous idol of the Orient. He was a demon, the murderer of his mother, a purveyor of idolatry. Lopez provides an engaging history of depictions of the Buddha from classical accounts and medieval stories to the testimonies of European travelers, diplomats, soldiers, and missionaries. He shows that centuries of hostility toward the Buddha changed dramatically in the nineteenth century, when the teachings of the Buddha, having disappeared from India by the fourteenth century, were read by European scholars newly proficient in Asian languages. At the same time, the traditional view of the Buddha persisted in Asia, where he was revered as much for his supernatural powers as for his philosophical insights. From Stone to Flesh follows the twists and turns of these Eastern and Western notions of the Buddha, leading finally to his triumph as the founder of a world religion.

Critical Buddhism

James Mark Shields
Critical Buddhism Book PDF

Author : James Mark Shields
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2016-04-22
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781317157601

Get Book

Critical Buddhism by James Mark Shields Pdf

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the relative calm world of Japanese Buddhist scholarship was thrown into chaos with the publication of several works by Buddhist scholars Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shiro, dedicated to the promotion of something they called Critical Buddhism (hihan bukkyo). In their quest to re-establish a "true" - rational, ethical and humanist - form of East Asian Buddhism, the Critical Buddhists undertook a radical deconstruction of historical and contemporary East Asian Buddhism, particularly Zen. While their controversial work has received some attention in English-language scholarship, this is the first book-length treatment of Critical Buddhism as both a philosophical and religious movement, where the lines between scholarship and practice blur. Providing a critical and constructive analysis of Critical Buddhism, particularly the epistemological categories of critica and topica, this book examines contemporary theories of knowledge and ethics in order to situate Critical Buddhism within modern Japanese and Buddhist thought as well as in relation to current trends in contemporary Western thought.

The Madman's Middle Way

Donald S. Lopez Jr.
The Madman s Middle Way Book PDF

Author : Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2008-09-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780226493220

Get Book

The Madman's Middle Way by Donald S. Lopez Jr. Pdf

Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the Adornment for Nagarjuna’s Thought, a work on Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy. It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today. The Madman’s Middle Way presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by an essay on Gendun Chopel’s life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. Donald S. Lopez Jr. also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the Adornment and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, Lopez examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the Adornment; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama’s sect; and what the Adornment tells us about Tibetan Buddhism’s encounter with modernity. The result is an insightful glimpse into a provocative and enigmatic workthatwill be of great interest to anyone seriously interested in Buddhism or Asian religions.

The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism

Robert E. Buswell Jr.,Donald S. Lopez Jr.
The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism Book PDF

Author : Robert E. Buswell Jr.,Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 1304 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2013-11-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781400848058

Get Book

The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism by Robert E. Buswell Jr.,Donald S. Lopez Jr. Pdf

With more than 5,000 entries totaling over a million words, this is the most comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of Buddhism ever produced in English. It is also the first to cover terms from all of the canonical Buddhist languages and traditions: Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Unlike reference works that focus on a single Buddhist language or school, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism bridges the major Buddhist traditions to provide encyclopedic coverage of the most important terms, concepts, texts, authors, deities, schools, monasteries, and geographical sites from across the history of Buddhism. The main entries offer both a brief definition and a substantial short essay on the broader meaning and significance of the term covered. Extensive cross-references allow readers to find related terms and concepts. An appendix of Buddhist lists (for example, the four noble truths and the thirty-two marks of the Buddha), a timeline, six maps, and two diagrams are also included. Written and edited by two of today's most eminent scholars of Buddhism, and more than a decade in the making, this landmark work is an essential reference for every student, scholar, or practitioner of Buddhism and for anyone else interested in Asian religion, history, or philosophy. The most comprehensive dictionary of Buddhism ever produced in English More than 5,000 entries totaling over a million words The first dictionary to cover terms from all of the canonical Buddhist languages and traditions--Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Detailed entries on the most important terms, concepts, texts, authors, deities, schools, monasteries, and geographical sites in the history of Buddhism Cross-references and appendixes that allow readers to find related terms and look up equivalent terms in multiple Buddhist languages Includes a list of Buddhist lists, a timeline, and maps Also contains selected terms and names in Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, Sinhalese, Newar, and Mongolian

Grains of Gold

Gendun Chopel
Grains of Gold Book PDF

Author : Gendun Chopel
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 480 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2014-01-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226092027

Get Book

Grains of Gold by Gendun Chopel Pdf

“Translated with grace and precision . . . gives us a rare glimpse of how Asian religion and life appeared from the perspective of the Tibetan plateau.” —Janet Gyatso, Harvard University In 1941, philosopher and poet Gendun Chopel sent a manuscript by ship, train, and yak across mountains and deserts to his homeland in Tibet. He would follow it five years later, returning to his native land after twelve years in India and Sri Lanka. But he did not receive the welcome he imagined: he was arrested by the government of the regent of the young Dalai Lama on trumped-up charges of treason. He emerged from prison three years later a broken man and died soon after. Gendun Chopel was a prolific writer, yet he considered that manuscript, to be his life’s work, one to delight his compatriots with tales of an ancient Indian and Tibetan past, Now available for the first time in English, Grains of Gold is a unique compendium of South Asian and Tibetan culture that combines travelogue, drawings, history, and ethnography. Chopel describes the world he discovered in South Asia, from the ruins of the sacred sites of Buddhism to the Sanskrit classics he learned to read in the original. He is also sharply, often humorously critical of the Tibetan love of the fantastic, bursting one myth after another and finding fault with the accounts of earlier Tibetan pilgrims. The work of an extraordinary scholar, Grains of Gold is a compelling work animated by a sense of discovery of both a distant past and a strange present. “The magnum opus of arguably the single most brilliant Tibetan scholar of the twentieth century.” —Lauran Hartley, Columbia University

What the Buddha Thought

Richard Francis Gombrich
What the Buddha Thought Book PDF

Author : Richard Francis Gombrich
Publisher : Equinox Publishing
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Electronic
ISBN : UOM:39076002892003

Get Book

What the Buddha Thought by Richard Francis Gombrich Pdf

Argues that the Buddha was one of the most brilliant and original thinkers of all time. This book intends to serve as an introduction to the Buddha's thought, and hence even to Buddhism itself. It also argues that we can know far more about the Buddha than it is fashionable among scholars to admit.

Decolonising the Study of Religion

Jørn Borup
Decolonising the Study of Religion Book PDF

Author : Jørn Borup
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 205 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2023-12-18
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781003817628

Get Book

Decolonising the Study of Religion by Jørn Borup Pdf

Decolonising the Study of Religion analyses historical and contemporary discussions in the study of religion and Buddhism and critically investigates representations, possibilities, and challenges of a decolonial approach, addressing the important question: who owns Buddhism? The monograph offers a case-based perspective with which to examine the general study of religion, where new challenges require reflection and prospects for new directions. It focuses on Buddhism, one religion which has been studied in the West for centuries. Building on postcolonial theories and supplemented with a critical analysis of identity and postsecular engagement, the book offers new possibilities and challenges to the study of religion. It critically investigates decolonisation in the study of religion, subscribing to a third way between ‘objectivist’ and ‘subjectivist’ positions. Analysing the postcolonial and decolonial critique of the study of religion, with a particular focus on Buddhist studies in the West and in Japan, this book will be of interest to researchers in the field of Religious Studies, Buddhism, Japanese religions, anthropology, Asian Studies and those interested in religion and decolonisation.

Hyecho's Journey

Donald S. Lopez Jr.,Rebecca Bloom,Kevin Gray Carr,Chun Wa Chan,Ha Nul Jun,Carla M. Sinopoli,Keiko Yokota
Hyecho s Journey Book PDF

Author : Donald S. Lopez Jr.,Rebecca Bloom,Kevin Gray Carr,Chun Wa Chan,Ha Nul Jun,Carla M. Sinopoli,Keiko Yokota
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2017-12-21
Category : Art
ISBN : 9780226517902

Get Book

Hyecho's Journey by Donald S. Lopez Jr.,Rebecca Bloom,Kevin Gray Carr,Chun Wa Chan,Ha Nul Jun,Carla M. Sinopoli,Keiko Yokota Pdf

"This book is an introduction to Buddhism told as the story of the Korean pilgrim Hyecho, who traveled through the Buddhist world during its eighth-century golden age. Lopez tells the story of Hyecho's journey, along the way introducing key elements of Buddhism--its basic doctrines, monastic institutions, relationship to Islam, and importance of pilgrimage.

Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka

Mahinda Deegalle
Buddhism Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka Book PDF

Author : Mahinda Deegalle
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 348 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2006-09-27
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781134241880

Get Book

Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka by Mahinda Deegalle Pdf

Interdisciplinary in its approach, this book explores the dilemmas that Buddhism faces in relation to the continuing ethnic conflict and violence in modern Sri Lanka. Prominent scholars in the fields of anthropology, history, Buddhist studies and Pali examine multiple dimensions of the problem. Buddhist responses to the crisis are discussed in detail, along with how Buddhism can help to create peace in Sri Lanka. Evaluating the role of Buddhists and their institutions in bringing about an end to war and violence as well as possibly heightening the problem, this collection puts forward a critical analysis of the religious conditions contributing to continuing hostilities.

Pure Land Buddhism in Modern Japanese Culture

Elisabetta Porcu
Pure Land Buddhism in Modern Japanese Culture Book PDF

Author : Elisabetta Porcu
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 275 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2008-08-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789047443056

Get Book

Pure Land Buddhism in Modern Japanese Culture by Elisabetta Porcu Pdf

Focusing on one of the most influential religious traditions in Japan, Pure Land Buddhism, this book offers a survey of its impact on mainstream forms of art in modern and contemporary Japan

The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Practice

Kevin Trainor,Paula Arai
The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Practice Book PDF

Author : Kevin Trainor,Paula Arai
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 689 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2022
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780190632922

Get Book

The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Practice by Kevin Trainor,Paula Arai Pdf

"This Handbook provides a state-of-the-art exploration of several key dynamics in current studies of the Buddhist tradition with a focus on practice. Embodiment, materiality, emotion, and gender shape the way most Buddhists engage with their traditions, in contrast to popular representations of Buddhism as spiritual, disembodied, and largely devoid of ritual. This volume highlights how practice often represents a fluid, dynamic, and strategic means of defining identity and negotiating the challenges of everyday life. Essays explore the transformational aims of practices that require practitioners to move, gesture, and emote in prescribed ways, including the ways that scholars' own embodied practices are integral to their research methodology. The chapters are written by acknowledged experts in their respective subject areas and taken together offer an overview of current thinking in the field. The volume is of particular value to scholars who seek an orientation to current perspectives on important conceptual, theoretical, and methodological concerns that are shaping the field in areas outside their primary expertise. The inclusion of substantial, up-to-date bibliographies also makes the volume an important guide to current scholarship"--