Pyrrhonian Buddhism

Author : Adrian Kuzminski
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 103 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2021-03-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000350074

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Pyrrhonian Buddhism by Adrian Kuzminski Pdf

Pyrrhonian Buddhism reconstructs the path to enlightenment shared both by early Buddhists and the ancient Greek sceptics inspired by Pyrrho of Elis, who may have had extended contacts with Buddhists when he accompanied Alexander the Great to India in the third century BCE. This volume explores striking parallels between early Buddhism and Pyrrhonian scepticism, suggesting their virtual identity. Both movements saw beliefs—fictions mistaken for truths—as the principal source of human suffering. Both practiced suspension of judgment about beliefs to obtain release from suffering, and to achieve enlightenment, which the Buddhists called bodhi and the Pyrrhonists called ataraxia. And both came to understand the structure of human experience without belief, which the Buddhists called dependent origination and the Pyrrhonists described as phenomenalistic atomism. This book is intended for the general reader, as well as historians, classicists, Buddhist scholars, philosophers, and practitioners of spiritual techniques.

Author : Adrian Kuzminski
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2008-06-19
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780739131398

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Pyrrhonism by Adrian Kuzminski Pdf

Pyrrhonism is commonly confused with scepticism in Western philosophy. Unlike sceptics, who believe there are no true beliefs, Pyrrhonists suspend judgment about all beliefs, including the belief that there are no true beliefs. Pyrrhonism was developed by a line of ancient Greek philosophers, from its founder Pyrrho of Elis in the fourth century BCE through Sextus Empiricus in the second century CE. Pyrrhonists offer no view, theory, or knowledge about the world, but recommend instead a practice, a distinct way of life, designed to suspend beliefs and ease suffering. Adrian Kuzminski examines Pyrrhonism in terms of its striking similarity to some Eastern non-dogmatic soteriological traditions-particularly Madhyamaka Buddhism. He argues that its origin can plausibly be traced to the contacts between Pyrrho and the sages he encountered in India, where he traveled with Alexander the Great. Although Pyrrhonism has not been practiced in the West since ancient times, its insights have occasionally been independently recovered, most recently in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Kuzminski shows that Pyrrhonism remains relevant perhaps more than ever as an antidote to today's cultures of belief.

Author : Christopher I. Beckwith
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2015-06-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9781400866328

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Greek Buddha by Christopher I. Beckwith Pdf

How a Greek philosopher's encounters with Buddhism in Central Asia influenced Western philosophy Pyrrho of Elis went with Alexander the Great to Central Asia and India during the Greek invasion and conquest of the Persian Empire in 334–324 BC. There he met with early Buddhist masters. Greek Buddha shows how their Early Buddhism shaped the philosophy of Pyrrho, the famous founder of Pyrrhonian scepticism in ancient Greece. Christopher I. Beckwith traces the origins of a major tradition in Western philosophy to Gandhara, a country in Central Asia and northwestern India. He systematically examines the teachings and practices of Pyrrho and of Early Buddhism, including those preserved in testimonies by and about Pyrrho, in the report on Indian philosophy two decades later by the Seleucid ambassador Megasthenes, in the first-person edicts by the Indian king Devanampriya Priyadarsi referring to a popular variety of the Dharma in the early third century BC, and in Taoist echoes of Gautama's Dharma in Warring States China. Beckwith demonstrates how the teachings of Pyrrho agree closely with those of the Buddha Sakyamuni, "the Scythian Sage." In the process, he identifies eight distinct philosophical schools in ancient northwestern India and Central Asia, including Early Zoroastrianism, Early Brahmanism, and several forms of Early Buddhism. He then shows the influence that Pyrrho's brand of scepticism had on the evolution of Western thought, first in Antiquity, and later, during the Enlightenment, on the great philosopher and self-proclaimed Pyrrhonian, David Hume. Greek Buddha demonstrates that through Pyrrho, Early Buddhist thought had a major impact on Western philosophy.

Author : Douglas C. Bates
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2020-02-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1896559565

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Pyrrho's Way by Douglas C. Bates Pdf

PYRRHO'S WAY lays out the Pyrrhonist path for modern readers, giving clear guidance on how to apply Pyrrhonist practice to everyday life to achieve inner peace. If Buddhist wisdom has ever appealed to you, but you found Buddhism's paradoxes and endless hours of meditation to be a barrier, Pyrrhonism is for you.

Author : Susi Ferrarello,Christos Hadjioannou
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 543 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2023-12-22
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781003827610

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The Routledge Handbook of Phenomenology of Mindfulness by Susi Ferrarello,Christos Hadjioannou Pdf

The Routledge Handbook of Phenomenology of Mindfulness brings together two schools of thought and practice that – despite rarely being examined jointly – provide an incredibly fruitful way for exploring thinking, the mind, and the nature and practice of mindfulness. Applying the concepts and methods of phenomenology, an international team of contributors explore mindfulness from a variety of different viewpoints and traditions. The handbook’s 35 chapters are divided into seven clear parts: Mindfulness in the Western Traditions Mindfulness in the Eastern Traditions Mindfulness, Ethics, and Well-Being Mindfulness, Time, and Attention Mindfulness and Embodiment Applications: Mindfulness in Life Conclusion: Mindfulness and Phenomenology? Within these sections, a rich array of topics and themes are explored, ranging from Stoicism and the origins of mindfulness in Buddhism and eastern thought to meditation, self-awareness, the body and embodiment, and critiques of mindfulness. Additionally, the book delves into the ways the ideas of leading phenomenological thinkers, including Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Levinas, can contribute to understanding the relationship between phenomenology and mindfulness. A valuable resource for those researching phenomenology and applications of phenomenology, this handbook will also be of great interest to students and practitioners of mindfulness in areas such as counseling and psychotherapy.

Author : Oren Hanner
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 183 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2020-09-30
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 3897335182

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Buddhism and Scepticism by Oren Hanner Pdf

Author : Olga Kubica
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 245 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2023-04-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000868524

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Greco-Buddhist Relations in the Hellenistic Far East by Olga Kubica Pdf

This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary view of the relationship between the Greeks and Buddhist communities in ancient Bactria and Northwest India, from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the fall of the Indo-Greek kingdom circa 10 AD. The main thesis of this book is the assumption that, despite the presence of mutual relationships and interactions between the Greeks and Buddhist inhabitants of the Hellenistic Far East, the phenomenon known conventionally as "Greco-Buddhism" never truly occurred. The individual chapters of this book provide an analysis of the main sources for Greco-Buddhist relations, mainly textual, but also archaeological and numismatic. The methods of philological and historical research are used in combination with postcolonial approaches to the study of the Greeks in India drawing from sociological research on ethnicity and intercultural relations. It is a rich source of information for anyone interested in Greco-Buddhist relations and is a great starting point for further research in this area. This volume is a valuable resource for students and scholars working on the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, both classicists and those working on early Indian history, as well as those working on cultural exchange in the Hellenistic world.

Author : Cowherds (Authors),The Cowherds
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199751433

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Moonshadows by Cowherds (Authors),The Cowherds Pdf

The Cowherds, a team of 10 scholars of Buddhist Studies, address the nature of conventional truth as it is understood in the Madhyamaka tradition deriving from Nagarjuna and Candrakarti. They combine textual scholarship with philosophical analysis to elucidate the metaphysical, epistemological and ethical consequences of this doctrine.

Author : Ugo Zilioli
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 177 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2024-01-25
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781350105171

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Eliminativism in Ancient Philosophy by Ugo Zilioli Pdf

A comparative investigation in the metaphysics of material objects in ancient philosophy, this book provides radically new insights into key themes and areas of ancient thought by drawing on Greek and Buddhist philosophies. Ugo Zilioli explicates the neglected tradition of philosophers who in different ways made material objects either redundant or ontologically dispensable in the ancient world. Chapters cover concepts such as nihilism, indeterminacy, solipsism and tropes, demonstrating how the philosophy of major thinkers Protagoras, Vasubandhu, Gorgias, Nagarjuna, Pyrrho, and the Cyrenaics advance our understanding of eliminativism. Zilioli's historical and philosophical reconstruction challenges traditional readings of key moments and figures in the history of thought, both Eastern and Western, as well as providing conceptual tools that are of interest not only to historians of philosophy but also to contemporary metaphysicians.

Author : Gordon F. Davis
Publisher : Springer
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2018-07-18
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783319674070

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Ethics without Self, Dharma without Atman by Gordon F. Davis Pdf

This volume of essays offers direct comparisons of historic Western and Buddhist perspectives on ethics and metaphysics, tracing parallels and contrasts all the way from Plato to the Stoics, Spinoza to Hume, and Schopenhauer through to contemporary ethicists such as Arne Naess, Charles Taylor and Derek Parfit. It compares and contrasts each Western philosopher with a particular strand in the Buddhist tradition, in some chapters represented by individual writers such as Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Santideva or Tsong Khapa. It does so in light of both analytic concerns and themes from the existentialist and phenomenological traditions, and often in an ecumenical spirit that bridges both analytic and continentalist approaches. Some of the deepest questions in ethics, dealing with the scope of agency, value-laden notions of personhood and the nature of value in general, are intertwined with questions in metaphysics. One set of questions addresses how varying conceptions of selfhood relate to moral values (e.g. the concern of self or selves for the well-being of others); another set of questions addresses how a conception of oneself or one’s selves should or should not affect how one thinks of happiness, or eudaimonia, or – in classical Indian terms – artha, sukha or nirvana. Western philosophy has featured discussion of both, but some would argue that certain traditions of Asian philosophy have offered a more sustained and even treatment of both sets of questions. The Buddhist tradition in particular has not only featured much discussion on both fronts, but has attracted many contemporary philosophers to its distinctive spectrum of approaches, and to what is – from many ‘Western’ points of view – a seemingly subversive analysis of ego, selfhood and personhood, whether in metaphysical, phenomenological or other incarnations.

Author : Richard Pine
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 358 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2023-03-29
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781527501133

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Greece Between East and West by Richard Pine Pdf

Greece Between East and West looks at the central geopolitical situation of Greece, and its pivotal role in the Balkans and the Levant. The trend towards “modernisation” and “westernisation” is examined in the light of traditional values in culture, language, history and politics which reflect Greece’s eastern legacy and the continuing presence of that legacy in contemporary society. It features original creative writing, an interview with a leading film-maker, provocative accounts of political and cultural agitation on the Aegean islands, aspects of Greek music and drama, plus historical accounts of Greek cities like Smyrna/Izmir and Alexandria, and the new phenomenon of China’s re-creation of the historic “Silk Road”. Additionally, Greece Between East and West features a Foreword by Roderick Beaton, one of the most distinguished scholars and commentators on Greek history and social affairs, and current Chair of the British School at Athens.

Author : Richard Bett
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2019-03-21
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781108471077

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How to Be a Pyrrhonist by Richard Bett Pdf

Explores what it was like to argue and to live as a practitioner of Pyrrhonist skepticism.

Author : Mostafa Vaziri
Publisher : Vernon Press
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2019-09-30
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781622737345

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Liberation Philosophy: From the Buddha to Omar Khayyam by Mostafa Vaziri Pdf

The critical narrative of this interdisciplinary book offers a first-time look at the interrelationship between biology, mythology and philosophy in human development. Its daring premise follows the trajectory of human thought, starting with the biological roots of fear and the original need for religion, truth-seeking, and myth-making. The narrative then innovatively links a number of maverick philosophical teachings over the centuries, from pre-Buddhist times to the Buddha, from Epicurus and Pyrrho to Lucretius, and eventually to the seminal poetry of Omar Khayyam. These emergent philosophies exemplified liberation from the grasp of mythical and religious thinking and instead espoused an empirical and joyful mind. The narrative concludes with a look at the emancipating philosophical movement that resulted in the European Enlightenment, and it suggests that the philosophical teachings explored in the book may offer the potential for a second, broader Enlightenment.

Author : Iain McGilchrist
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 615 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2019-03-26
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780300245929

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The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist Pdf

A new edition of the bestselling classic – published with a special introduction to mark its 10th anniversary This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain – the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the ‘rational’ side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true? Drawing on a vast body of experimental research, Iain McGilchrist argues while our left brain makes for a wonderful servant, it is a very poor master. As he shows, it is the right side which is the more reliable and insightful. Without it, our world would be mechanistic – stripped of depth, colour and value.

Author : Abed Azzam
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2015-03-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780231538978

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Nietzsche Versus Paul by Abed Azzam Pdf

Abed Azzam offers a fresh interpretation of Nietzsche's engagement with the work of Paul the Apostle, reorienting the relationship between the two thinkers while embedding modern philosophy within early Christian theology. Paying careful attention to Nietzsche's dialectics, Azzam situates the philosopher's thought within the history of Christianity, specifically the Pauline dialectics of law and faith, and reveals how atheism is constructed in relation to Christianity. Countering Heidegger's characterization of Nietzsche as an anti-Platonist, Azzam brings the philosopher closer to Paul through a radical rereading of his entire corpus against Christianity. This approach builds a compelling new history of the West resting on a logic of sublimation, from ancient Greece and early Judaism to the death of God. Azzam discovers in Nietzsche's philosophy a solid, tangible Pauline structure and virtual, fragile Greek content, positioning the thinker as a forerunner of the recent "return to Paul" led by Badiou, Agamben, i ek, and Breton. By changing the focus of modern philosophical inquiry from "Nietzsche and philosophy" to "Nietzsche and Christianity," Azzam initiates a major challenge to the primacy of Plato in the history of Western philosophy and narrow certainties regarding Nietzsche's relationship to Christian thought.