Jan Westerhoff
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199732692
- eISBN:
- 9780199777365
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732692.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism, Philosophy of Religion
The Vigrahavyāvartanī is a short work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna. In this text, which is written in a lively question-and-answer style he addresses a number of ...
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The Vigrahavyāvartanī is a short work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna. In this text, which is written in a lively question-and-answer style he addresses a number of objections (coming both from Buddhists and from non-Buddhists) which have been put forward against his theory of emptiness discussed in his main work, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Vigrahavyāvartanī is especially noteworthy for its treatment of topics which Nāgārjuna does not much discuss elsewhere, in particular questions of epistemology and the philosophy of language. The purpose of this book is to unlock the philosophical contents of the texts by providing a comprehensive commentary on Nāgārjuna’s arguments as well as a somewhat more general discussion of the philosophical points these raise. It is divided into three sections: the introduction, the translation, and the commentary. The introduction discusses the history of the text and gives a survey of the presently available editions and translations. I then address the question of the authenticity of the Vigrahavyāvartanī, discussing in detail some of the arguments put forward in the secondary literature which attempt to show that the text was not composed by Nāgārjuna. This is followed by some notes on the peculiar structure of the Vigrahavyāvartanī. Here I also explain why I chose to arrange the text differently in the translation and in the commentary. The introduction is concluded by a synopsis which gives a brief survey of the contents of the ten sections into which I have divided the text. The translation is based on the most recent edition of the Sanskrit text (Yonezawa 2008). All explanatory notes, discussions of variant readings and so forth have been left to the commentary. The commentary contains the entire text of the Vigrahavyāvartanī, though in an arrangement which differs from the one followed in the translation. My remarks on a specific section of the text usually follow this section directly, distinguished by a different typeface. The commentary divides Nāgārjuna’s text into ten main thematic units: (1) The status of the theory of emptiness; (2) Epistemology; (3) Intrinsically good things; (4) Names without objects; (5) Extrinsic substances; (6) Negation and existence; (7) The mirage analogy; (8) Emptiness and reasons; (9) Negation and temporal relations; (10) ConclusionLess
The Vigrahavyāvartanī is a short work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna. In this text, which is written in a lively question-and-answer style he addresses a number of objections (coming both from Buddhists and from non-Buddhists) which have been put forward against his theory of emptiness discussed in his main work, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Vigrahavyāvartanī is especially noteworthy for its treatment of topics which Nāgārjuna does not much discuss elsewhere, in particular questions of epistemology and the philosophy of language. The purpose of this book is to unlock the philosophical contents of the texts by providing a comprehensive commentary on Nāgārjuna’s arguments as well as a somewhat more general discussion of the philosophical points these raise. It is divided into three sections: the introduction, the translation, and the commentary. The introduction discusses the history of the text and gives a survey of the presently available editions and translations. I then address the question of the authenticity of the Vigrahavyāvartanī, discussing in detail some of the arguments put forward in the secondary literature which attempt to show that the text was not composed by Nāgārjuna. This is followed by some notes on the peculiar structure of the Vigrahavyāvartanī. Here I also explain why I chose to arrange the text differently in the translation and in the commentary. The introduction is concluded by a synopsis which gives a brief survey of the contents of the ten sections into which I have divided the text. The translation is based on the most recent edition of the Sanskrit text (Yonezawa 2008). All explanatory notes, discussions of variant readings and so forth have been left to the commentary. The commentary contains the entire text of the Vigrahavyāvartanī, though in an arrangement which differs from the one followed in the translation. My remarks on a specific section of the text usually follow this section directly, distinguished by a different typeface. The commentary divides Nāgārjuna’s text into ten main thematic units: (1) The status of the theory of emptiness; (2) Epistemology; (3) Intrinsically good things; (4) Names without objects; (5) Extrinsic substances; (6) Negation and existence; (7) The mirage analogy; (8) Emptiness and reasons; (9) Negation and temporal relations; (10) Conclusion
David L. McMahan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195183276
- eISBN:
- 9780199870882
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183276.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book elucidates the complex cross-cultural genealogy of themes, ideas, and practices crucial to the creation of a new hybrid form of Buddhism that has emerged within the last 150 years. Buddhism ...
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This book elucidates the complex cross-cultural genealogy of themes, ideas, and practices crucial to the creation of a new hybrid form of Buddhism that has emerged within the last 150 years. Buddhism modernism is not just Buddhism that happens to exist in the modern world but a distinct form of Buddhism constituted by cross-fertilization with western ideas and practices. Using primarily examples that have shaped western articulations of Buddhism, the book shows how modern representations of Buddhism have not only changed the way the tradition is understood, but have also generated new forms of demythologized, detraditionalized, and deinstitutionalized Buddhism. The book creates a lineage of Buddhist modernism that includes liberal borrowing from scientific vocabulary in reformulations of Buddhist concepts of causality, interdependence, and meditation. It also draws upon Romantic and Transcendentalist conceptions of cosmology, creativity, spontaneity, and the interior depths of the human being. Additionally, Buddhist modernism reconfigures Buddhism as a kind of psychology or interior science, drawing both upon analytic psychology and current trends in neurobiology. In its novel approaches to meditation and mindfulness, as well as political activism, it draws heavily from western individualism, distinctively modern modes of world-affirmation, liberal political sensibilities, and modernist literary sources. The book also examines this uniquely modern Buddhism as it moves into postmodern iterations and enters the currents of global communication, media, and commerce.Less
This book elucidates the complex cross-cultural genealogy of themes, ideas, and practices crucial to the creation of a new hybrid form of Buddhism that has emerged within the last 150 years. Buddhism modernism is not just Buddhism that happens to exist in the modern world but a distinct form of Buddhism constituted by cross-fertilization with western ideas and practices. Using primarily examples that have shaped western articulations of Buddhism, the book shows how modern representations of Buddhism have not only changed the way the tradition is understood, but have also generated new forms of demythologized, detraditionalized, and deinstitutionalized Buddhism. The book creates a lineage of Buddhist modernism that includes liberal borrowing from scientific vocabulary in reformulations of Buddhist concepts of causality, interdependence, and meditation. It also draws upon Romantic and Transcendentalist conceptions of cosmology, creativity, spontaneity, and the interior depths of the human being. Additionally, Buddhist modernism reconfigures Buddhism as a kind of psychology or interior science, drawing both upon analytic psychology and current trends in neurobiology. In its novel approaches to meditation and mindfulness, as well as political activism, it draws heavily from western individualism, distinctively modern modes of world-affirmation, liberal political sensibilities, and modernist literary sources. The book also examines this uniquely modern Buddhism as it moves into postmodern iterations and enters the currents of global communication, media, and commerce.
Nicholas Sims-Williams (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
The recent developments in our understanding of the history of the Indo-Iranian languages and their speakers are surveyed and assessed in this book by a group of linguists and archaeologists. In the ...
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The recent developments in our understanding of the history of the Indo-Iranian languages and their speakers are surveyed and assessed in this book by a group of linguists and archaeologists. In the last few years, the materials available for the study of the older Indo-Iranian languages have increased dramatically: there have been discoveries of birch-bark scrolls bearing Buddhist texts in the Gandhari language of north-west India, and of leather documents in Bactrian, the ancient language of northern Afghanistan. Previously known data has been exploited in new ways using innovative techniques for compiling, manipulating, and disseminating electronic text and digital images. And archaeological finds in India, Pakistan, and Central Asia, including the ‘Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex’, have given rise to new hypotheses concerning the history and pre-history of the Indo-Iranian peoples. The volume also pays tribute to the pioneering work of the philologist Sir Harold Bailey (1899–1996).Less
The recent developments in our understanding of the history of the Indo-Iranian languages and their speakers are surveyed and assessed in this book by a group of linguists and archaeologists. In the last few years, the materials available for the study of the older Indo-Iranian languages have increased dramatically: there have been discoveries of birch-bark scrolls bearing Buddhist texts in the Gandhari language of north-west India, and of leather documents in Bactrian, the ancient language of northern Afghanistan. Previously known data has been exploited in new ways using innovative techniques for compiling, manipulating, and disseminating electronic text and digital images. And archaeological finds in India, Pakistan, and Central Asia, including the ‘Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex’, have given rise to new hypotheses concerning the history and pre-history of the Indo-Iranian peoples. The volume also pays tribute to the pioneering work of the philologist Sir Harold Bailey (1899–1996).
Ron Johnston (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265277
- eISBN:
- 9780191754203
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265277.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This volume collects together lectures by distinguished scholars. One lecture examines medieval religious relics, focusing on what they actually comprised and asking how these paltry items came to be ...
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This volume collects together lectures by distinguished scholars. One lecture examines medieval religious relics, focusing on what they actually comprised and asking how these paltry items came to be so highly valued. Another lecture takes the authentic medieval Welsh literary corpus associated with Owain Glyndwr, consisting in the main of bardic eulogies rather than prophecies, and examines them in their historical context. A lecture on Alexander Pope asks what part Shaftesbury's polite wit, Mandeville's cynicism, and Augustan sentimentalism played in the poetry of England's greatest satirist. Another lecture focuses on the Romantic poets' fascination with the lens-made and projected images that the modern world has come to think of as the virtual image. A further lecture examines the choices made by young musicians in Renaissance Italy. The next lecture examines how the paradoxical doctrine of ‘the one and the multiple’ was translated into visual language in Chinese Buddhist art. In some cases, groups related to certain numbers bearing metaphorical significances; while in others, objects were simply replicated in large numbers to create a sense of awe. The final lecture explores the way the natural history of the Americas was exported to 16th-century northern European scientists and how they reacted intellectually and politically.Less
This volume collects together lectures by distinguished scholars. One lecture examines medieval religious relics, focusing on what they actually comprised and asking how these paltry items came to be so highly valued. Another lecture takes the authentic medieval Welsh literary corpus associated with Owain Glyndwr, consisting in the main of bardic eulogies rather than prophecies, and examines them in their historical context. A lecture on Alexander Pope asks what part Shaftesbury's polite wit, Mandeville's cynicism, and Augustan sentimentalism played in the poetry of England's greatest satirist. Another lecture focuses on the Romantic poets' fascination with the lens-made and projected images that the modern world has come to think of as the virtual image. A further lecture examines the choices made by young musicians in Renaissance Italy. The next lecture examines how the paradoxical doctrine of ‘the one and the multiple’ was translated into visual language in Chinese Buddhist art. In some cases, groups related to certain numbers bearing metaphorical significances; while in others, objects were simply replicated in large numbers to create a sense of awe. The final lecture explores the way the natural history of the Americas was exported to 16th-century northern European scientists and how they reacted intellectually and politically.
Dale Wright
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195382013
- eISBN:
- 9780199870332
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195382013.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
In classical Mahayana Buddhism, the “six perfections—pāramitā—define the meaning of human enlightenment. Buddhist enlightenment is understood to be a particular way of being in the world, a way of ...
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In classical Mahayana Buddhism, the “six perfections—pāramitā—define the meaning of human enlightenment. Buddhist enlightenment is understood to be a particular way of being in the world, a way of being in which six distinct dimensions of human character have been cultivated to the level of excellence—generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, and wisdom. In this book, Dale Wright explores each of these six dimensions of character and the kinds of self‐cultivation that Buddhists correlate with them in order to assess the “six perfections” as ethical ideals suitable for contemporary global culture. Each chapter takes up one of the six perfections and is divided into two sections. The first section describes how each of the six perfections was understood in classical Mahayana Buddhist sutras and philosophical works. The second section takes that traditional Buddhist account of ethics up into current consideration, asking: what would each of these “perfections” need to look like today in order to be considered an ideal dimension of human character? What role would generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, or wisdom play in the lives of people who we would most admire in our own contemporary setting? The aim of the book is to develop a philosophy of self‐cultivation using these Buddhist resources as its point of departure.Less
In classical Mahayana Buddhism, the “six perfections—pāramitā—define the meaning of human enlightenment. Buddhist enlightenment is understood to be a particular way of being in the world, a way of being in which six distinct dimensions of human character have been cultivated to the level of excellence—generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, and wisdom. In this book, Dale Wright explores each of these six dimensions of character and the kinds of self‐cultivation that Buddhists correlate with them in order to assess the “six perfections” as ethical ideals suitable for contemporary global culture. Each chapter takes up one of the six perfections and is divided into two sections. The first section describes how each of the six perfections was understood in classical Mahayana Buddhist sutras and philosophical works. The second section takes that traditional Buddhist account of ethics up into current consideration, asking: what would each of these “perfections” need to look like today in order to be considered an ideal dimension of human character? What role would generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, or wisdom play in the lives of people who we would most admire in our own contemporary setting? The aim of the book is to develop a philosophy of self‐cultivation using these Buddhist resources as its point of departure.
Jan Westerhoff
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195375213
- eISBN:
- 9780199871360
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195375213.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book contains a discussion of thought of the 2nd-century Indian Buddhist philosophy Nāgārjuna, the founder of the ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamaka) school of Buddhist thought. The discussion is based on ...
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This book contains a discussion of thought of the 2nd-century Indian Buddhist philosophy Nāgārjuna, the founder of the ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamaka) school of Buddhist thought. The discussion is based on Nāgārjuna’s main philosophical works preserved either in the original Sanskrit or in Tibetan translation. It offers a synoptic presentation of the main philosophical topics Nāgārjuna investigates, focusing on the central notion of emptiness (sūnyatā). Particular emphasis is put on an analysis of the philosophical content of Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka. Apart from discussing the soundness of Nāgārjuna’s arguments for particular conclusions the book also examines to which extent Nāgārjuna’s philosophy forms a coherent philosophical system rather than a collection of individual ideas.Less
This book contains a discussion of thought of the 2nd-century Indian Buddhist philosophy Nāgārjuna, the founder of the ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamaka) school of Buddhist thought. The discussion is based on Nāgārjuna’s main philosophical works preserved either in the original Sanskrit or in Tibetan translation. It offers a synoptic presentation of the main philosophical topics Nāgārjuna investigates, focusing on the central notion of emptiness (sūnyatā). Particular emphasis is put on an analysis of the philosophical content of Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka. Apart from discussing the soundness of Nāgārjuna’s arguments for particular conclusions the book also examines to which extent Nāgārjuna’s philosophy forms a coherent philosophical system rather than a collection of individual ideas.
Mark L. Blum
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195125245
- eISBN:
- 9780199833993
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019512524X.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This is a facsimile (in Japanese) of the 1814 xylograph of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō on Pure Land school of Buddhism upon which the translation in Part II is based. Appendix A gives a concordance ...
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This is a facsimile (in Japanese) of the 1814 xylograph of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō on Pure Land school of Buddhism upon which the translation in Part II is based. Appendix A gives a concordance between the pages of the translation and those of the facsimile.Less
This is a facsimile (in Japanese) of the 1814 xylograph of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō on Pure Land school of Buddhism upon which the translation in Part II is based. Appendix A gives a concordance between the pages of the translation and those of the facsimile.
Mark L. Blum
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195125245
- eISBN:
- 9780199833993
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019512524X.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This is a facsimile (in Japanese) of the 1814 xylograph of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō on Pure Land school of Buddhism upon which the translation in Part II is based, Appendix A gives a concordance ...
More
This is a facsimile (in Japanese) of the 1814 xylograph of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō on Pure Land school of Buddhism upon which the translation in Part II is based, Appendix A gives a concordance between the pages of the translation and those of the facsimile.Less
This is a facsimile (in Japanese) of the 1814 xylograph of Gyōnen's Jōdo Hōmon Genrushō on Pure Land school of Buddhism upon which the translation in Part II is based, Appendix A gives a concordance between the pages of the translation and those of the facsimile.
Susanne Mrozik
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195305005
- eISBN:
- 9780199785681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305005.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter begins with an explanation of the purpose of the book, which is to offer a new approach to the study of Buddhist ethics by asking what we can learn about Buddhist ethics if we make the ...
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This chapter begins with an explanation of the purpose of the book, which is to offer a new approach to the study of Buddhist ethics by asking what we can learn about Buddhist ethics if we make the body the focus of ethical inquiry. It then discusses the two main goals of the study, methodological and theoretical perspectives, literary genre of the text, and the historical origins of the Compendium of Training. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.Less
This chapter begins with an explanation of the purpose of the book, which is to offer a new approach to the study of Buddhist ethics by asking what we can learn about Buddhist ethics if we make the body the focus of ethical inquiry. It then discusses the two main goals of the study, methodological and theoretical perspectives, literary genre of the text, and the historical origins of the Compendium of Training. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.
Susanne Mrozik
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195305005
- eISBN:
- 9780199785681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305005.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter summarizes the arguments of the book and considers their ethical implications for both medieval and contemporary readers of the Compendium of Training. It employs a feminist hermeneutics ...
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This chapter summarizes the arguments of the book and considers their ethical implications for both medieval and contemporary readers of the Compendium of Training. It employs a feminist hermeneutics of recovery and suspicion to suggest how an early medieval Indian Buddhist discourse on bodies can offer intellectual resources for contemporary scholars and practitioners.Less
This chapter summarizes the arguments of the book and considers their ethical implications for both medieval and contemporary readers of the Compendium of Training. It employs a feminist hermeneutics of recovery and suspicion to suggest how an early medieval Indian Buddhist discourse on bodies can offer intellectual resources for contemporary scholars and practitioners.
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195166415
- eISBN:
- 9780199784783
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195166418.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book provides accurate, accessible translations of three classics of medieval Indian Buddhist mysticism: the “couplet-treasuries” of the great tantric masters Saraha, Kanha, and Tilopa. Since ...
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This book provides accurate, accessible translations of three classics of medieval Indian Buddhist mysticism: the “couplet-treasuries” of the great tantric masters Saraha, Kanha, and Tilopa. Since their composition around 1000 CE, these poems have exerted a powerful influence on spiritual life, as well as poetry and song, in India, Nepal, and Tibet. The book offers new translations of the poetry aiming to capture the sense and spirit of the poems in the original. It also offers an introduction that summarizes the latest scholarship, situating the poems in their historical context.Less
This book provides accurate, accessible translations of three classics of medieval Indian Buddhist mysticism: the “couplet-treasuries” of the great tantric masters Saraha, Kanha, and Tilopa. Since their composition around 1000 CE, these poems have exerted a powerful influence on spiritual life, as well as poetry and song, in India, Nepal, and Tibet. The book offers new translations of the poetry aiming to capture the sense and spirit of the poems in the original. It also offers an introduction that summarizes the latest scholarship, situating the poems in their historical context.
Susanne Mrozik
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195305005
- eISBN:
- 9780199785681
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305005.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book investigates the diverse roles bodies play in Buddhist ethical development. Traditionally, Buddhists assumed a close connection between body and morality. Thus, Buddhist literature contains ...
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This book investigates the diverse roles bodies play in Buddhist ethical development. Traditionally, Buddhists assumed a close connection between body and morality. Thus, Buddhist literature contains descriptions of living beings that stink with sin, are disfigured by vices, or are perfumed and adorned with virtues. Taking an influential early medieval Indian Mahayana Buddhist text — nullantideva's Compendium of Training (nulliknullasamuccaya) — as a case study, this book demonstrates that Buddhists regarded ethical development as a process of physical and moral transformation. This book chooses the Compendium of Training because it quotes from over one hundred Buddhist scriptures, allowing a broader Buddhist interest in the ethical significance of bodies to be revealed. The text is a training manual for bodhisattvas, especially monastic bodhisattvas. In it, bodies function as markers of, and conditions for, one's own ethical development. Most strikingly, bodies also function as instruments for the ethical development of others. When living beings come into contact with the virtuous bodies of bodhisattvas, they are transformed physically and morally for the better. This book explores both the centrality of bodies to the bodhisattva ideal and the corporeal specificity of that ideal. Arguing that the bodhisattva ideal is an embodied ethical ideal, the book poses an array of fascinating questions: what does virtue look like? What kinds of physical features constitute virtuous bodies? What kinds of bodies have virtuous effects on others?Less
This book investigates the diverse roles bodies play in Buddhist ethical development. Traditionally, Buddhists assumed a close connection between body and morality. Thus, Buddhist literature contains descriptions of living beings that stink with sin, are disfigured by vices, or are perfumed and adorned with virtues. Taking an influential early medieval Indian Mahayana Buddhist text — nullantideva's Compendium of Training (nulliknullasamuccaya) — as a case study, this book demonstrates that Buddhists regarded ethical development as a process of physical and moral transformation. This book chooses the Compendium of Training because it quotes from over one hundred Buddhist scriptures, allowing a broader Buddhist interest in the ethical significance of bodies to be revealed. The text is a training manual for bodhisattvas, especially monastic bodhisattvas. In it, bodies function as markers of, and conditions for, one's own ethical development. Most strikingly, bodies also function as instruments for the ethical development of others. When living beings come into contact with the virtuous bodies of bodhisattvas, they are transformed physically and morally for the better. This book explores both the centrality of bodies to the bodhisattva ideal and the corporeal specificity of that ideal. Arguing that the bodhisattva ideal is an embodied ethical ideal, the book poses an array of fascinating questions: what does virtue look like? What kinds of physical features constitute virtuous bodies? What kinds of bodies have virtuous effects on others?
Bimal Krishna Matilal
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198239765
- eISBN:
- 9780191680014
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198239765.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This book is a defence of the form of realism which stands closest to that upheld by the Nyāya–Vaíṣsika school in classical India. The book presents the Nyāya view and critically examines it against ...
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This book is a defence of the form of realism which stands closest to that upheld by the Nyāya–Vaíṣsika school in classical India. The book presents the Nyāya view and critically examines it against that of its traditional opponent, the Buddhist version of phenomenalism and idealism. This reconstruction of Nyāya arguments meets not only traditional Buddhist objections but also those of modern sense-data representationalists.Less
This book is a defence of the form of realism which stands closest to that upheld by the Nyāya–Vaíṣsika school in classical India. The book presents the Nyāya view and critically examines it against that of its traditional opponent, the Buddhist version of phenomenalism and idealism. This reconstruction of Nyāya arguments meets not only traditional Buddhist objections but also those of modern sense-data representationalists.
Webb Keane
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691167732
- eISBN:
- 9781400873593
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691167732.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
The human propensity to take an ethical stance toward oneself and others is found in every known society, yet we also know that values taken for granted in one society can contradict those in ...
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The human propensity to take an ethical stance toward oneself and others is found in every known society, yet we also know that values taken for granted in one society can contradict those in another. Does ethical life arise from human nature itself? Is it a universal human trait? Or is it a product of one's cultural and historical context? This book offers a new approach to the empirical study of ethical life that reconciles these questions, showing how ethics arise at the intersection of human biology and social dynamics. Drawing on the latest findings in psychology, conversational interaction, ethnography, and history, the book takes readers from inner city America to Samoa and the Inuit Arctic to reveal how we are creatures of our biology as well as our history—and how our ethical lives are contingent on both. The book looks at Melanesian theories of mind and the training of Buddhist monks, and discusses important social causes such as the British abolitionist movement and American feminism. It explores how styles of child rearing, notions of the person, and moral codes in different communities elaborate on certain basic human tendencies while suppressing or ignoring others. Certain to provoke debate, the book presents an entirely new way of thinking about ethics, morals, and the factors that shape them.Less
The human propensity to take an ethical stance toward oneself and others is found in every known society, yet we also know that values taken for granted in one society can contradict those in another. Does ethical life arise from human nature itself? Is it a universal human trait? Or is it a product of one's cultural and historical context? This book offers a new approach to the empirical study of ethical life that reconciles these questions, showing how ethics arise at the intersection of human biology and social dynamics. Drawing on the latest findings in psychology, conversational interaction, ethnography, and history, the book takes readers from inner city America to Samoa and the Inuit Arctic to reveal how we are creatures of our biology as well as our history—and how our ethical lives are contingent on both. The book looks at Melanesian theories of mind and the training of Buddhist monks, and discusses important social causes such as the British abolitionist movement and American feminism. It explores how styles of child rearing, notions of the person, and moral codes in different communities elaborate on certain basic human tendencies while suppressing or ignoring others. Certain to provoke debate, the book presents an entirely new way of thinking about ethics, morals, and the factors that shape them.
Susanne Mrozik
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195305005
- eISBN:
- 9780199785681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305005.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter outlines what the Compendium of Training calls the “vital points” of the bodhisattva discipline, demonstrating the centrality of body to the bodhisattva ideal. It includes an analysis of ...
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This chapter outlines what the Compendium of Training calls the “vital points” of the bodhisattva discipline, demonstrating the centrality of body to the bodhisattva ideal. It includes an analysis of the text's Sanskrit vocabulary for body as well as consideration of what the concept of body meant to a medieval Indian Buddhist audience.Less
This chapter outlines what the Compendium of Training calls the “vital points” of the bodhisattva discipline, demonstrating the centrality of body to the bodhisattva ideal. It includes an analysis of the text's Sanskrit vocabulary for body as well as consideration of what the concept of body meant to a medieval Indian Buddhist audience.
Susanne Mrozik
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195305005
- eISBN:
- 9780199785681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305005.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter investigates how even an apparently negative discourse on bodies serves the Compendium of Training's purpose of producing bodhisattvas with bodies that have transformative effects on ...
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This chapter investigates how even an apparently negative discourse on bodies serves the Compendium of Training's purpose of producing bodhisattvas with bodies that have transformative effects on others. It shows that in spite of their differences, the ascetic and physiomoral discourses on bodies share the same end: producing bodhisattvas with bodies capable of ripening others. These are the bodies of well-disciplined monastics whose very features, postures, and movements instantiate for others their moral achievement. If these bodhisattvas reach the end of their path, they too will materialize the most virtuous body of all, namely, that of a buddha.Less
This chapter investigates how even an apparently negative discourse on bodies serves the Compendium of Training's purpose of producing bodhisattvas with bodies that have transformative effects on others. It shows that in spite of their differences, the ascetic and physiomoral discourses on bodies share the same end: producing bodhisattvas with bodies capable of ripening others. These are the bodies of well-disciplined monastics whose very features, postures, and movements instantiate for others their moral achievement. If these bodhisattvas reach the end of their path, they too will materialize the most virtuous body of all, namely, that of a buddha.
Ronald Y. Nakasone
David E. Guinn (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195178739
- eISBN:
- 9780199784943
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195178734.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter examines the structure and role of ambiguity in the Japanese Organ Transplant Law by looking at the Chinese Huayen Buddhist doctrine of dharmadhatu-pratityasamutpada (fajie yuanqi shuo) ...
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This chapter examines the structure and role of ambiguity in the Japanese Organ Transplant Law by looking at the Chinese Huayen Buddhist doctrine of dharmadhatu-pratityasamutpada (fajie yuanqi shuo) or universal dependent “coarising”, a major interpretation of the Buddha's pratityasamutpada, dependent-coarising or interdependence. Specifically, it will examine the nature of ambiguity through the zhuban yuanming jude men or “the attribute of the complete accommodation of principal and secondary dharmas” that Fazang (643-712) formulated. The interdependent and evolving Buddhist vision of reality causes ambiguity in decision making and action.Less
This chapter examines the structure and role of ambiguity in the Japanese Organ Transplant Law by looking at the Chinese Huayen Buddhist doctrine of dharmadhatu-pratityasamutpada (fajie yuanqi shuo) or universal dependent “coarising”, a major interpretation of the Buddha's pratityasamutpada, dependent-coarising or interdependence. Specifically, it will examine the nature of ambiguity through the zhuban yuanming jude men or “the attribute of the complete accommodation of principal and secondary dharmas” that Fazang (643-712) formulated. The interdependent and evolving Buddhist vision of reality causes ambiguity in decision making and action.
Taigen Dan Leighton
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320930
- eISBN:
- 9780199785360
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320930.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter discusses Mahāyāna imagery concerning earth and space, and their confluence and related Buddhist backgrounds on temporality, and how these may have served as a wider context for Dōgen's ...
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This chapter discusses Mahāyāna imagery concerning earth and space, and their confluence and related Buddhist backgrounds on temporality, and how these may have served as a wider context for Dōgen's worldview beyond the Lotus Sutra as his major Mahāyāna source. Discussions of the spatialization of time help further reveal how Dōgen's view of the spiritual potential of space and earth influenced his more celebrated teachings of being-time and his exhortations to inhabit time fully.Less
This chapter discusses Mahāyāna imagery concerning earth and space, and their confluence and related Buddhist backgrounds on temporality, and how these may have served as a wider context for Dōgen's worldview beyond the Lotus Sutra as his major Mahāyāna source. Discussions of the spatialization of time help further reveal how Dōgen's view of the spiritual potential of space and earth influenced his more celebrated teachings of being-time and his exhortations to inhabit time fully.
Roger R. Jackson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195166415
- eISBN:
- 9780199784783
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195166418.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
A translation of verses by Saraha is presented.
A translation of verses by Saraha is presented.
Roger R. Jackson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195166415
- eISBN:
- 9780199784783
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195166418.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
A translation of verses by Kānha is presented.
A translation of verses by Kānha is presented.
