Imagining Karma

Imagining Karma

Author: Gananath Obeyesekere

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2002-11-11

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 0520232208

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With 'Imagining Karma', Gananath Obeyesekere embarks on the comparison of rebirth concepts across a wide range of cultures. The book makes a case for disciplined comparison, a humane view of human nature, and a theoretical understanding of 'family resemblances' and differences across great cultural divides.


Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction

Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Damien Keown

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks

Published: 1996-10-03

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 0191606448

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This Very Short Introduction introduces the reader to the teachings of the Buddha and to the integration of Buddhism into daily life. What are the distinctive features of Buddhism? Who was the Buddha, and what are his teachings? How has Buddhist thought developed over the centuries, and how can contemporary dilemmas be faced from a Buddhist perspective? Words such as 'karma' and 'nirvana' have entered our vocabulary, but what do they mean? Damien Keown's book provides a lively, informative response to these frequently asked questions about Buddhism.


Rebirth

Rebirth

Author: Roger R. Jackson

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2022-03-22

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1611809029

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"What was the historical context for the Buddha's teachings on rebirth? What is reborn? Do all Buddhist traditions agree about what happens after death? Is it necessary to believe in rebirth to consider oneself a Buddhist? All these questions will be addressed in this short, reliable, and accessible introduction to Rebirth across Buddhist history and traditions. The book will also cover contemporary refutations of rebirth in secular Buddhist contexts as well as western scientific attempts to document reincarnation in conversation with Buddhist beliefs"--


Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction

Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Damien Keown

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2005-06-23

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 0191577944

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The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed a growing interest in Buddhism, and it continues to capture the imagination of many in the West who see it as either an alternative or a supplement to their own religious beliefs. Numerous introductory books have appeared in recent years to cater for this growing interest, but almost none devotes attention to the specifically ethical dimension of the tradition. For complex cultural and historical reasons, ethics has not received as much attention in traditional Buddhist thought as it has in the West, and publications on the subject are few and far between. Here, Damien Keown, author of Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction , illustrates how Buddhism might approach a range of fascinating moral issues ranging from abortion and suicide to cloning. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.


Reincarnation in America

Reincarnation in America

Author: Lee Irwin

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2017-07-31

Total Pages: 475

ISBN-13: 1498554083

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Reincarnation in America: An Esoteric History surveys the complex history of reincarnation theories across multiple fields of discourse in a pre-American context, ranging from early Greek traditions to Medieval Christian theories, Renaissance esotericism, and European Kabbalah, all of which had adherents that brought those theories to America. Rebirth theories are shown in all these groups to be highly complex and often disjunctive with mainstream religions even though members of conventional religions frequently affirm the possibility of rebirth. As a history of an idea, reincarnation theory is a current, vital belief pattern that cuts across a wide spectrum of social, cultural, and scientific domains in a long, complex history not reducible to any specific religious or theoretical explanation. This book is cross-disciplinary and multicultural, linking religious studies perspectives with science based research; it draws upon many distinct disciplines and avoids reduction of reincarnation to any specific theory. The underlying thesis is to demonstrate the complexity of reincarnation theories; what is unique is the historical overview and the gradual shift away from religious theories of rebirth to new theories that are therapeutic and trans-traditional.


Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation

Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation

Author: Ian Stevenson

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 1980

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9780813908724

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Cases of responsive xenoglossy thus add to the evidence concerning the survival of human personality after death.


Greater Magadha

Greater Magadha

Author: Johannes Bronkhorst

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 9004157190

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Through a detailed analysis of the available cultural and chronological data, this book overturns traditional ideas about the cultural history of India and proposes a different picture instead. The idea of a unilinear development out of Brahmanism, in particular, is challenged.


Land of No Buddha

Land of No Buddha

Author: Richard P. Hayes

Publisher: Windhorse Publications

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9781899579129

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Writing with a perspective that comes from more than twenty years of study and practice, Richard Hayes casts a critical eye over modern society and the teachings of Buddhism as they flow into the West.


The Apotheosis of Captain Cook

The Apotheosis of Captain Cook

Author: Gananath Obeyesekere

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-07-13

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1400843847

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Here Gananath Obeyesekere debunks one of the most enduring myths of imperialism, civilization, and conquest: the notion that the Western civilizer is a god to savages. Using shipboard journals and logs kept by Captain James Cook and his officers, Obeyesekere reveals the captain as both the self-conscious civilizer and as the person who, his mission gone awry, becomes a "savage" himself. In this new edition of The Apotheosis of Captain Cook, the author addresses, in a lengthy afterword, Marshall Sahlins's 1994 book, How "Natives" Think, which was a direct response to this work.


Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy

Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy

Author: Matthew R. Dasti

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 019992273X

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Focusing on the rich and variegated cluster of Indic philosophical traditions as they developed from the late Vedic period up to the pre-modern period, this book offers an understanding, according to each school, of the nature of free will and agency.