Cetana and the Dynamics of Volition in Theravada Buddhism

Cetana and the Dynamics of Volition in Theravada Buddhism PDF Author: Nalini Devdas
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120833635
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 543

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Book Description
What do the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism have to say about the most basic psychological processes through which alternatives are assessed, purposes are developed, and goal-oriented acts are initiated? How can Theravada make volitional endeavour central to Buddhist practice, while denying the existence of a self who wills? How can the text emphasize ethical striving, and yet uphold the principle that all physical and mental acts arise through causes and conditions? This book adds another perspective to Theravada scholarship by exploring various subtle Pali terms that seek to display the nuances of human motivation. Cetana is shown to be the purposive impetus that links ethically good and bad attitudes of mind with corresponding acts of body, speech, and mind. The argument is made that Theravada does not posit a controlling will, but seek to establish the possibility of changing attitudes, purposes, and acts through holistic methods of training. Theravada maintains that changes in attitude are possible because the mind has the capacity to observe its own processes of conditioning, and is able to greatly diversify its responses to its own concepts and to factors in its environment.

Cetana and the Dynamics of Volition in Theravada Buddhism

Cetana and the Dynamics of Volition in Theravada Buddhism PDF Author: Nalini Devdas
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120833635
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 543

Get Book Here

Book Description
What do the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism have to say about the most basic psychological processes through which alternatives are assessed, purposes are developed, and goal-oriented acts are initiated? How can Theravada make volitional endeavour central to Buddhist practice, while denying the existence of a self who wills? How can the text emphasize ethical striving, and yet uphold the principle that all physical and mental acts arise through causes and conditions? This book adds another perspective to Theravada scholarship by exploring various subtle Pali terms that seek to display the nuances of human motivation. Cetana is shown to be the purposive impetus that links ethically good and bad attitudes of mind with corresponding acts of body, speech, and mind. The argument is made that Theravada does not posit a controlling will, but seek to establish the possibility of changing attitudes, purposes, and acts through holistic methods of training. Theravada maintains that changes in attitude are possible because the mind has the capacity to observe its own processes of conditioning, and is able to greatly diversify its responses to its own concepts and to factors in its environment.

Moral Struggle and Religious Ethics

Moral Struggle and Religious Ethics PDF Author: David A. Clairmont
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444393634
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Moral Struggle and Religious Ethics offers a comparative discussion of the challenges of living a moral religious life. This is illustrated with a study of two key thinkers, Bonaventure and Buddhaghosa, who influenced the development of moral thinking in Christianity and Buddhism respectively. Provides an important and original contribution to the comparative study and practice of religious ethics Moves away from a comparison of theories by discussing the shared human problem of moral weakness Offers an fresh approach with a comparison of the understanding of the problem of moral weakness between the two key thinkers, Bonaventure and Buddhaghosa Written by a highly respected academic in the dynamic and fast-growing field of comparative religious ethics

Collected Wheel Publications Volume XV

Collected Wheel Publications Volume XV PDF Author: Various Authors
Publisher: Buddhist Publication Society
ISBN: 9552403693
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
This book contains fifteen numbers of the renowned Wheel Publication series, dealing with various aspects of the Buddha’s teaching. Wheel Publication No. 216: The Buddhist Attitude to Other Religions by K. N. Jayatilleke; 217-220: An Analysis of the Pali Canon by Russell Webb; 221-224: Kamma and Its Fruit by Leonard A. Bullen, Nina van Gorkom,Bhikkhu Nanajivako, Nyanaponika Thera,Francis Story; 225: Buddhism and Sex by M. O'C. Walshe; 226-230: A Technique of Living by Leonard A. Bullen;

Rethinking the Buddha

Rethinking the Buddha PDF Author: Eviatar Shulman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110706239X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Shulman traces the development of the four noble truths, which in fact originated as observations to be cultivated during meditation.

An Analysis of the Pali Canon and a Reference Table of Pali Literature

An Analysis of the Pali Canon and a Reference Table of Pali Literature PDF Author: Russell Webb
Publisher: Buddhist Publication Society
ISBN: 9552403766
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
An Analysis of the Pali Canon is a comprehensive overview of the contents of the works that make up the Tipitaka, the Canon of the Theravada school of Buddhism. It also contains an index of the suttas and sections of the Tipitaka, as well as an extensive bibliography of the translations of canonical works and secondary literature. The second part of this book, A Reference Table of Pali Literature, is an extensive list of all the works composed in the Indic language known as Pali. It lists all the works of the Tipitaka, the commentaries and subcommentaries, historical chronicles, works on medicine, cosmology, grammar, law, astrology, Bible translations, etc. It also gives data on the authors, time of composition, country of origin and includes references to secondary literature that provide more information on the works listed. This book is an essential resource for students and researchers of the Tipitaka and other Pali literature.

Dissertation Abstracts International

Dissertation Abstracts International PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 644

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Book Description


Indian National Bibliography

Indian National Bibliography PDF Author: B. S. Kesavan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 746

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Book Description


The Indian National Bibliography

The Indian National Bibliography PDF Author: B. S. Kesavan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 646

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Book Description


Love and Sympathy in Theravāda Buddhism

Love and Sympathy in Theravāda Buddhism PDF Author: Harvey B. Aronson
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
ISBN: 9788120814035
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Love and Sympathy in Theravada Buddhism discusses the context and contents of the Theravada teachings on love, sympathy, and the collective meditative set of four sublime attitudes (brahmavihara) universal love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. The presentation is based upon the first four of the five collections of Buddha's discourses, a stylistically homogeneous compilation of the earliest strata of Theravada scripture compiled before 350 B.C. After discussing the Pali material relevant to these topics in the first five chapters of this work, the author includes a detailed examination and critique of their position in Chapter Six. His concern is with the motives to social action as well as the psychological and soteriological import of the Theravada teachings on love, sympathy, and the sublime attitudes. Only through seeing these facets can the unique vision of Theravada Buddhism be appreciated.

Theravada Traditions

Theravada Traditions PDF Author: John Clifford Holt
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824872452
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
Theravada Traditions offers a unique comparative approach to understanding Buddhism: it examines popular rituals of central importance in the predominantly Theravada Buddhist cultures of Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Instead of focusing on how religious ideas have impacted the ideals of government or ethical practice, author John Holt tries to ascertain how important changes, or shifts, in the trajectories of the political economies of societies have impacted the character of religious cultures. Each of the five chapters focuses on a particular rite and provides detailed historical, political, or social context: Holt shows how worship of the Phra Bang Buddha image in the annual pi mai or New Year’s rites in Luang Phrabang, Laos, has changed dramatically since the 1975 communist revolution and the subsequent opening up of the country to tourism; he describes how, in the face of insurrections and a prolonged civil war, the annual asala perahara processions in Kandy, Sri Lanka, have come to reflect a robust assertion of a Sinhala Buddhist nationalist identity; how ordination rites among Thai Buddhists reflect the manner in which Thai culture has been ever more “commodified” in the context of its dramatically developing economy; and how in tightly controlled Myanmar the kathina rite, the act of giving new robes to members of the sangha after the completion of the rain-retreat season, transformed into a season of campaigning for gift-giving and merit-making; finally, he demonstrates how, in light of the devastating losses inflicted by the Khmer Rouge, pchum ben, the annual rite of caring ritually for one’s deceased kin, became the most popular and perhaps most emotionally observed of all rites in the Khmer calendar year. In short, Theravada Traditions illustrates how popular, public ritual performance, far from being static, clearly indexes patterns of social and political change. Broad but deep, rigorous yet accessible, this rich, innovative volume provides a provocative introduction to the practice of Theravada Buddhism and the nature of social change in contemporary Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.