Buddhist Cosmology

Buddhist Cosmology PDF Author: Akira Sadakata
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This extensively researched and illustrated volume offers Western readers a rare introduction to Buddhism's complex and fascinating views about the structure of the universe. The book begins by clearly explaining classical cosmology, with its symmetrical, India-centered universe and multitudinous heavens and hells, and illuminates the cosmos's relation to the human concerns of karma, transmigration, and enlightenment. It moves on to discuss the Mahayana conception of the universe as a lotus flower containing uncountable realms, each with its own buddha. Then, examining changes in the notions of hell and the gods, the author traces Buddhism's gradual shift from a religion to a mythology. Throughout, treatment of Buddhism's historical, geographical, and doctrinal origins complements detailed cosmological descriptions. Finally, the author shows us how this ancient philosophy resembles the modern scientific view of the cosmos, and how even today it can help us lead more fulfilling lives.

Buddhist Cosmology

Buddhist Cosmology PDF Author: Akira Sadakata
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book Here

Book Description
This extensively researched and illustrated volume offers Western readers a rare introduction to Buddhism's complex and fascinating views about the structure of the universe. The book begins by clearly explaining classical cosmology, with its symmetrical, India-centered universe and multitudinous heavens and hells, and illuminates the cosmos's relation to the human concerns of karma, transmigration, and enlightenment. It moves on to discuss the Mahayana conception of the universe as a lotus flower containing uncountable realms, each with its own buddha. Then, examining changes in the notions of hell and the gods, the author traces Buddhism's gradual shift from a religion to a mythology. Throughout, treatment of Buddhism's historical, geographical, and doctrinal origins complements detailed cosmological descriptions. Finally, the author shows us how this ancient philosophy resembles the modern scientific view of the cosmos, and how even today it can help us lead more fulfilling lives.

The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; According to Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda Sources

The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; According to Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda Sources PDF Author: Punnadhammo Mahathero
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781791731946
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
An encyclopedic survey of Buddhist cosmology and mythology according to the Pali canon and commentaries. Covers the nature of the universe, of time and of the various classes of beings inhabiting the various realms and levels of the cosmos.

Early Buddhist Metaphysics

Early Buddhist Metaphysics PDF Author: Noa Ronkin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134283121
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
This book provides a philosophical account of the major doctrinal shift in the history of early Theravada tradition in India: the transition from the earliest stratum of Buddhist thought to the systematic of the Pali Abhidhamma movement.

Once Upon a Future Time

Once Upon a Future Time PDF Author: Jan Nattier
Publisher: Jain Publishing Company
ISBN: 0895819260
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
An in-depth study of Buddhist theories of the decline and disappearance of their own religion. Nattier's work challenges previous assumptions on this topic and focuses on the critical study of the "Kausambi Story, " a Buddhist prophecy of decline, in its Tibetan, Central Asian, and Chinese variants.

Jātaka Tales

Jātaka Tales PDF Author: Henry Thomas Francis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 528

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Book Description


The Dawn of Abhidharma

The Dawn of Abhidharma PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Abhidharma
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
This book is a companion to Bhikkhu Anālayo's previous study of the Genesis of the Bodhisattva ideal. In the present book he turns to another important aspect in the development of Buddhist thought: the beginnings of the Abhidharma. Anālayo shows that the two main modes generally held in academic circles to explain the arising of the Abhidharma -- the use of lists (mātṛkā) and the question-and-answer format -- are formal elements that in themselves are not characteristic of Abhidharma thought. Going beyond the notion that the coming into being of the Abhidharma can be located in such formal aspects, he shows how the attempt to provide a comprehensive map of the teachings gradually led to the arising of new terminology and new ideas. He identifies the notion of the supramundane path as an instance where fully fledged Abhidharma thought manifests in the discourses. Anālayo concludes that what characterizes the Abhidharma is not the mere use of dry lists and summaries, but rather a mode of thought that has gone further (abhi- ) than the Dharma taught in the early discourses in general.

Common Ground Between Islam and Buddhism

Common Ground Between Islam and Buddhism PDF Author: Reza Shah-Kazemi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
"[Common Ground is] ... an earnest attempt to help Muslims to see Buddhism as a true religion, and Buddhists to see Islam as an authentic Dharma."--Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali (from his Foreword) --Book Jacket.

Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism PDF Author: Paul Williams
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134250576
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
Originating in India, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, becoming the prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. Over the last twenty-five years Western interest in Mahayana has increased considerably, reflected both in the quantity of scholarly material produced and in the attraction of Westerners towards Tibetan Buddhism and Zen. Paul Williams’ Mahayana Buddhism is widely regarded as the standard introduction to the field, used internationally for teaching and research and has been translated into several European and Asian languages. This new edition has been fully revised throughout in the light of the wealth of new studies and focuses on the religion’s diversity and richness. It includes much more material on China and Japan, with appropriate reference to Nepal, and for students who wish to carry their study further there is a much-expanded bibliography and extensive footnotes and cross-referencing. Everyone studying this important tradition will find Williams’ book the ideal companion to their studies.

The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasūtrālaṁkāra)

The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasūtrālaṁkāra) PDF Author: Vasubandhu
Publisher: American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)
ISBN: 1935011219
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra) was transmitted from the bodhisattva Maitreyanātha to Āryā Āsaṅga, the fourth-century Indian Buddhist scholar-adept. The most foundational of the set of the famous Five Teachings of Maitreya, theDiscourse Literature is considered the wellspring of what the Tibetans call the “magnificent deeds trend of the path,” the compassion side, which balances the “profound view trend of the path,” the wisdom side. The Discourse Literature is also considered to be metaphysically aligned with and foundational for the Idealist (Vijñānavādin) school of Mahāyāna thought. Translated from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese by Lobsang Jamspal, Robert Thurman, and the AIBS team, the present work contains a fully annotated, critical English rendition of theDiscourse Literature along with its commentary (bhāṣya) by Āsaṅga’s brother, Vasubandhu. It also includes an introduction covering essential historical and philosophical topics, a bibliography, and a detailed index. This long-awaited work is the founding cornerstone of the AIBS Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series.

Esoteric Theravada

Esoteric Theravada PDF Author: Kate Crosby
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1611807948
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
A groundbreaking exploration of a practice tradition that was nearly lost to history. Theravada Buddhism, often understood as the school that most carefully preserved the practices taught by the Buddha, has undergone tremendous change over time. Prior to Western colonialism in Asia—which brought Western and modernist intellectual concerns, such as the separation of science and religion, to bear on Buddhism—there existed a tradition of embodied, esoteric, and culturally regional Theravada meditation practices. This once-dominant traditional meditation system, known as borān kammatthāna, is related to—yet remarkably distinct from—Vipassana and other Buddhist and secular mindfulness practices that would become the hallmark of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. Drawing on a quarter century of research, scholar Kate Crosby offers the first holistic discussion of borān kammatthāna, illuminating the historical events and cultural processes by which the practice has been marginalized in the modern era.