Studies in the Origins of Buddhism PDF Download

Author: Govind Chandra Pande
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 9390064066
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 623

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Book Description
The present work is designed to consist of a group of organically connected historical studies relating to the origins of Buddhism. It is the doctrinal rather than the institutional aspect of Buddhism that is mainly considered. The subject matter is for the greater part of a literary and religious-philosophic character, but the treatment is intended to be primarily historical. The whole work attempts to trace the rise and evolution of early Buddhist literature and thought both as an inner cultural process and an external process of actions of individuals and monastic communities.

Author: John S. Harding
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136501894
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
This book introduces the rich realities of the Buddhist tradition and the academic approaches through which they are studied. Based on personal experiences of Buddhism on the ground, it provides a reflective context within which religious practices can be understood and appreciated. The engaging narratives cover a broad range of Buddhist countries and traditions, drawing on fieldwork to explore topics such as ordination, pilgrimage, funerals, gender roles, and film-making. All the entries provide valuable contextual discussion and are accompanied by photographs and suggestions for further reading.

Author: Erik J. Hammerstrom
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231539584
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
Kexue, or science, captured the Chinese imagination in the early twentieth century, promising new knowledge about the world and a dynamic path to prosperity. Chinese Buddhists embraced scientific language and ideas to carve out a place for their religion within a rapidly modernizing society. Examining dozens of previously unstudied writings from the Chinese Buddhist press, this book maps Buddhists' efforts to rethink their traditions through science in the initial decades of the twentieth century. Buddhists believed science offered an exciting, alternative route to knowledge grounded in empirical thought, much like their own. They encouraged young scholars to study subatomic and relativistic physics while still maintaining Buddhism's vital illumination of human nature and its crucial support of an ethical system rooted in radical egalitarianism. Showcasing the rich and progressive steps Chinese religious scholars took in adapting to science's rising authority, this volume offers a key perspective on how a major Eastern power transitioned to modernity in the twentieth century and how its intellectuals anticipated many of the ideas debated by scholars of science and Buddhism today.

Author: Alexander Wynne
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134097417
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
Based on the early Brahminic literature, the author asserts the origin of the method of meditation learned by the Buddha from his two teachers and identifies some authentic teachings of the Buddha on meditation.

Author: Donald S. Lopez
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300159137
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
This book tells the story of the Scientific Buddha, "born" in Europe in the 1800s but commonly confused with the Buddha born in India 2,500 years ago. The Scientific Buddha was sent into battle against Christian missionaries, who were proclaiming across Asia that Buddhism was a form of superstition. He proved the missionaries wrong, teaching a dharma that was in harmony with modern science. And his influence continues. Today his teaching of "mindfulness" is heralded as the cure for all manner of maladies, from depression to high blood pressure. In this potent critique, a well-known chronicler of the West's encounter with Buddhism demonstrates how the Scientific Buddha's teachings deviate in crucial ways from those of the far older Buddha of ancient India. Donald Lopez shows that the Western focus on the Scientific Buddha threatens to bleach Buddhism of its vibrancy, complexity, and power, even as the superficial focus on "mindfulness" turns Buddhism into merely the latest self-help movement. The Scientific Buddha has served his purpose, Lopez argues. It is now time for him to pass into nirvana. This is not to say, however, that the teachings of the ancient Buddha must be dismissed as mere cultural artifacts. They continue to present a potent challenge, even to our modern world.

Author: Christopher S. Queen
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780700715947
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
These essays chart the emergence of a new chapter in an ancient faith - the rise of social service and political activism in Buddhist Asia and the West. Engaged Buddhists have sought new ways to comfort society's oppressed communities.

Author: Steven Heine
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195349091
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
The history of Buddhism has been characterized by an ongoing tension between attempts to preserve traditional ideals and modes of practice and the need to adapt to changing cultural conditions. Many developments in Buddhist history, such as the infusion of esoteric rituals, the rise of devotionalism and lay movements, and the assimilation of warrior practices, reflect the impact of widespread social changes on traditional religious structures. At the same time, Buddhism has been able to maintain its doctrinal purity to a remarkable degree. This volume explores how traditional Buddhist communities have responded to the challenges of modernity, such as science and technology, colonialism, and globalization. Editors Steven Heine and Charles S. Prebish have commissioned ten essays by leading scholars, each examining a particular traditional Buddhist school in its cultural context. The essays consider how the encounter with modernity has impacted the disciplinary, textual, ritual, devotional, practical, and socio-political traditions of Buddhist thought throughout Asia. Taken together, these essays reveal the diversity and vitality of contemporary Buddhism and offer a wide-ranging look at the way Buddhism interacts with the modern world.

Author: Whalen Lai
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism was popularized in the West by writers such as D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts as a kind of romantic abstraction outside of history. The papers in this volume, originally presented as a unique conference sponsored by UC-Berkeley and the San Francisco Zen Center, go a long way towards revealing the complex historical development of Ch'an theory and practice both in China and Tibet. The papers on China reveal Ch'an not as a single line of transmission from Bodhidharma, but as a complex of contending and even hostile factions. Furthermore, the view that sees Ch'an as the sinicization of Buddhism through Taoism is questioned through an examination of the Taoism that was actually prevalent during the establishment of Ch'an in China. The papers on Tibet take us to the heart of the controversies surrounding the origins of Buddhism in that country, based on exciting research into the Tunhuang materials, the indigenous rDzogs-chen system, and the Sudden vs. Gradual Enlightenment controversy. Of particular note in this volume is the inclusion of several translations of papers by noted Japanese scholars who have led the way in this type of research, made available to the Western reader for the first time.

Author: Rose Drew
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136673261
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
The last century witnessed a gradual but profound transformation of the West's religious landscape. In today's context of diversity, people are often influenced by, and sometimes even claim to belong to, more than one religious tradition. Buddhism and Christianity is a particularly prevalent and fascinating combination. This book is the first detailed exploration of Buddhist Christian dual belonging, engaging - from both Buddhist and Christian perspectives - the questions that arise, and drawing on extensive interviews with well-known individuals in the vanguard of this important and growing phenomenon. The book looks at whether it is possible to be authentically Buddhist and authentically Christian given the differences in beliefs and practices. It asks whether Buddhist Christians are irrational, religiously schizophrenic or spiritually superficial; or whether the thought and practice of Buddhism and Christianity can be reconciled in a way that makes possible deep commitment to both. Finally, the book considers whether the influence of Buddhist Christians on each of these traditions is something to be regretted or celebrated.

Author: Roger Jackson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136830057
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
Scholars of Buddhism, themselves Buddhist, here seek to apply the critical tools of the academy to reassess the truth and transformative value of their tradition in its relevance to the contemporary world.