Narrating Karma and Rebirth

Narrating Karma and Rebirth PDF Author: Naomi Appleton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107033934
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book explores how multi-life stories served to construct, communicate, and challenge ideas about karma and rebirth within early South Asia.

Narrating Karma and Rebirth

Narrating Karma and Rebirth PDF Author: Naomi Appleton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107033934
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book explores how multi-life stories served to construct, communicate, and challenge ideas about karma and rebirth within early South Asia.

Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative

Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative PDF Author: Naomi Appleton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317055748
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Taking a comparative approach which considers characters that are shared across the narrative traditions of early Indian religions (Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism) Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative explores key religious and social ideals, as well as points of contact, dialogue and contention between different worldviews. The book focuses on three types of character - gods, heroes and kings - that are of particular importance to early South Asian narrative traditions because of their relevance to the concerns of the day, such as the role of deities, the qualities of a true hero or good ruler and the tension between worldly responsibilities and the pursuit of liberation. Characters (incuding character roles and lineages of characters) that are shared between traditions reveal both a common narrative heritage and important differences in worldview and ideology that are developed in interaction with other worldviews and ideologies of the day. As such, this study sheds light on an important period of Indian religious history, and will be essential reading for scholars and postgraduate students working on early South Asian religious or narrative traditions (Jain, Buddhist and Hindu) as well as being of interest more widely in the fields of Religious Studies, Classical Indology, Asian Studies and Literary Studies.

Many Buddhas, One Buddha

Many Buddhas, One Buddha PDF Author: Naomi Appleton
Publisher: Equinox Publishing (UK)
ISBN: 9781781798980
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"Many Buddhas, One Buddha introduces a significant section of the important early Indian Buddhist text known as the Avadåanaâsataka, or "One Hundred Stories", and explores some of its perspectives on buddhahood. This text, composed in Sanskrit and dating to perhaps the third to fifth centuries of the Common Era, is affiliated with the Sarvåastivåada or Måulasarvåastivåada, and thus provides important evidence of the ideas and literatures of lost non-Mahåayåana schools of Indian Buddhism. The text is a rich literary composition, in mixed prose and verse, and includes some elaborate devotional passages that illuminate early Indian perspectives on the Buddha and on the role of avadÄ p1 sna texts. The book introduces the first four chapters of the Avadåanaâsataka through key themes of these stories, such as predictions and vows, preparations for buddhahood, the relationship between âSåakyamuni and other buddhas, and the relationship between full buddhahood and pratyekabuddhahood. The study of these stories closes with an argument about the structural design of the text, and what this tells us about attitudes towards different forms of awakening. The second part of the book then presents a full English translation of stories 1-40"--

Buddhism and Law

Buddhism and Law PDF Author: Rebecca Redwood French
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521515793
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
This volume challenges the concept of Buddhism as an apolitical religion without implications for law.

Rebirth as Doctrine and Experience

Rebirth as Doctrine and Experience PDF Author: Francis Story
Publisher: Buddhist Publication Society
ISBN: 9552401763
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Francis Story's interest in cases of rebirth memories finally led him to assist Dr. Ian Stevenson in tracing, investigating, and studying such cases in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and India. The present book contains Story’s essays on the theme of rebirth as well as case studies that he undertook in collaboration with Professor Stevenson, the foremost American investigator of reported rebirth memories. These case studies, which make fascinating reading, lend strong evidential support to the hypothesis of rebirth and thus help to illuminate the ultimate questions concerning human destiny after death.

Miyazawa Kenji's Ten Japanese Stories for Children

Miyazawa Kenji's Ten Japanese Stories for Children PDF Author: Kenji Miyazawa
Publisher: Northern Book Centre
ISBN: 9788172111762
Category : Children's stories, Japanese
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
Miyazawa Kenji is perhaps the most widely researched Japanese writer presently, not only by Japanese scholars but also by foreign scholars of Japanese literature worldwide. The relevance and meaning of Kenji's works to the contemporary world have increased manifold over the years and the researchers throughout the world unanimously agree to the truth that his works stand for the betterment and benefit of the mankind as a whole. This universality of his works appeals to the psyche of every human being on this earth, irrespective his/her age, race, gender, language or nationality. Ten of his representative short stories in English translation are introduced in this volume for my young fellow countrymen. Each of these ten stories enwrapped in Indian/Buddhist ideology bears a different colour and style, depicting through animals and birds the intricate human society, agonized by discrimination, infighting, deceit, fraud, muscle power, betrayal, arrogance, life and rebirth, cause and effect and lack of mutual love and concern. In CHILDREN OF THE GINGKO TREE, the true picture of this transient world is depicted through the separation of beloved ones. Nothing is permanent in this world. In THE WILD GOOSE CHILD, the concept of Karma, Cause and Effect, Rebirth and ultimate attainment of Nirvana through penitence are described. In THE EARTH GOD AND THE FOX, a triangular relationship of three characters, namely, the Earth God, the Fox and the beautiful Birch Tree unfolds the selfish, impatient and cruel mentality of man, who has no place in his mind for love, sympathy or fellow feeling towards others. In WILDCAT AND THE ACORNS, the fight among the acorns for superiority is depicted so realistically and vividly that it reflects the true daily life of human beings. In THE LION KING Kenji is narrating how effectively the ruler of the wild kingdom, the lion, maintain the law and order in his domain. This is a classic example of wise and prudent actions by the animals, something which is lacked by the human beings. In THREE FROGS AND A RUBBER SHOE, jealous and wickedness of human mind are depicted through the vicious actions of Bun and Ben frogs. However, one cannot escape from the retribution of his actions. In THE SHELL FIRE, Kenji is depicting the importance of selfless affection and love towards fellow beings. The Shell Fire in our hearts will glow brilliantly only if we have a kind, merciful and loving heart towards others. In THE NIGHTHAWK STAR, the author is depicting the successful life of a meek and weak nighthawk who attained his goal through sheer determination and strong will power, overcoming the social discrimination and willful threat from the mighty hawk. In THE RESTAURANT OF MANY ORDERS, how the greed and wickedness of a man make him selfish and blind towards the suffering of others and lead him to the brink of destruction is narrated. In CHESTNUT TREE AND MONKEY CHAIRS, the fantasy of a young boy, where the boy himself has become the subject for classical deception by the tiny monkies , is narrated.

Storytelling as Narrative Practice

Storytelling as Narrative Practice PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004393935
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Telling stories is one of the fundamental things we do as humans. Yet in scholarship, stories considered to be “traditional”, such as myths, folk tales, and epics, have often been analyzed separately from the narratives of personal experience that we all tell on a daily basis. In Storytelling as Narrative Practice, editors Elizabeth Falconi and Kathryn Graber argue that storytelling is best understood by erasing this analytic divide. Chapter authors carefully examine language use in-situ, drawing on in-depth knowledge gained from long-term fieldwork, to present rich and nuanced analyses of storytelling-as-narrative-practice across a diverse range of global contexts. Each chapter takes a holistic ethnographic approach to show the practices, processes, and social consequences of telling stories.

Amaravati

Amaravati PDF Author: Jas Elsner
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1789149088
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 718

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Book Description
A visual exploration of the Buddhist stupa or reliquary mounds at one of ancient India’s most remarkable monuments at Amarāvatī. In this book, Jaś Elsner presents a fresh perspective on the rich visual culture of ancient South Asia, connecting the stupa’s artistic innovations with advancements in Buddhist philosophy and practice. He offers new insights into early Buddhist art in South India, as well as a new understanding of the relationship between early Buddhism and its material culture. The photographs collected here, particularly those featuring objects from the British Museum in London, reveal in detail how the stupa communicated Buddhist teachings and practices to its followers, making this book an invaluable resource for students and scholars alike.

Visions of the Buddha

Visions of the Buddha PDF Author: Eviatar Shulman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197587887
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Visions of the Buddha offers a ground-breaking approach to the nature of the early discourses of the Buddha, the most foundational scriptures of Buddhist religion. Although the early discourses are commonly considered to be attempts to preserve the Buddha's teachings, Shulman demonstrates that these texts are full of creativity, and that their main aim is to beautify the image of the wonderous Buddha. While the texts surely care for the early teachings and for the Buddha's philosophy or his guidelines for meditation, and while at times they may relate real historical events, they are no less interested in telling good stories, in re-working folkloric materials, and in the visionary contemplation of the Buddha in order to sense his unique presence. The texts can thus be, at times, a type of meditation. Eviatar Shulman frames the early discourses as literary masterpieces that helped Buddhism achieve the wonderful success it has obtained. Much of the discourses' masterful storytelling was achieved through a technique of composition defined here as the play of formulas. In the oral literature of early Buddhism, texts were composed of formulas, which are repeated within and between texts. Shulman argues that the formulas are the real texts of Buddhism, and are primary to full discourses. Shaping texts through the play of formulas balances conservative and innovative tendencies within the tradition, making room for creativity within accepted forms and patterns. The texts we find today are thus versions--remnants--chosen by history of a much more vibrant and dynamic creative process.

Parables in Changing Contexts

Parables in Changing Contexts PDF Author: Marcel Poorthuis
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004417524
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
In Parables in Changing Contexts, new venues in the comparative study of parables are addressed by scholars of Judaism, New Testament, Buddhism and Islam. Essays cover parables in the synoptic Gospels, Rabbinic midrash, and parabolic tales and fables in the Babylonian Talmud. Three essays address parables in Islam and Buddhism. The volume shows how parables are suitably adapted in terms of form and rhetoric to enhance religious identity formation. Parables serve as media, as sensational forms making the sacred present, albeit encoded or riddled, in all cases invoking the listener’s active interpretative participation and cultural imagination. Adapting a multidisciplinary approach to these gems of storytelling, parables in a particular way provide new insights in the cultures that produced them.