Pruning the Bodhi Tree
Pruning the Bodhi Tree

Author: Jamie Hubbard

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1997-07-01

Total Pages: 548

ISBN-13: 9780824819491

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What is Buddhism? According to Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shiro, the answer lies in neither Ch’an nor Zen; in neither the Kyoto school of philosophy nor the non-duality taught in the Vimalakirti Sutra. Hakamaya contends that “criticism alone is Buddhism.” This volume introduces and analyzes the ideas of “critical Buddhism” in relation to the targets of its critique and situates those ideas in the context of current discussions of postmodern academic scholarship, the separation of the disinterested scholar and committed religious practitioner, and the place of social activism within the academy. Essays critical of the received traditions of Buddhist thought—many never before translated—are presented and then countered by the work of respected scholars, both Japanese and Western, who take contrary positions.

Pruning the Bodhi Tree
Pruning the Bodhi Tree

Author: Jamie Hubbard

Publisher:

Published: 1997-07

Total Pages: 556

ISBN-13:

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What is Buddhism? According to Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shiro, the answer lies in neither Ch’an nor Zen; in neither the Kyoto school of philosophy nor the non-duality taught in the Vimalakirti Sutra. Hakamaya contends that “criticism alone is Buddhism.” This volume introduces and analyzes the ideas of “critical Buddhism” in relation to the targets of its critique and situates those ideas in the context of current discussions of postmodern academic scholarship, the separation of the disinterested scholar and committed religious practitioner, and the place of social activism within the academy. Essays critical of the received traditions of Buddhist thought—many never before translated—are presented and then countered by the work of respected scholars, both Japanese and Western, who take contrary positions.

Critical Buddhism
Critical Buddhism

Author: James Mark Shields

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-22

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1317157605

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In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the relative calm world of Japanese Buddhist scholarship was thrown into chaos with the publication of several works by Buddhist scholars Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shiro, dedicated to the promotion of something they called Critical Buddhism (hihan bukkyo). In their quest to re-establish a "true" - rational, ethical and humanist - form of East Asian Buddhism, the Critical Buddhists undertook a radical deconstruction of historical and contemporary East Asian Buddhism, particularly Zen. While their controversial work has received some attention in English-language scholarship, this is the first book-length treatment of Critical Buddhism as both a philosophical and religious movement, where the lines between scholarship and practice blur. Providing a critical and constructive analysis of Critical Buddhism, particularly the epistemological categories of critica and topica, this book examines contemporary theories of knowledge and ethics in order to situate Critical Buddhism within modern Japanese and Buddhist thought as well as in relation to current trends in contemporary Western thought.

What's Wrong with Mindfulness (And What Isn't)
What's Wrong with Mindfulness (And What Isn't)

Author: Barry Magid

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2016-10-18

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1614293074

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Mindfulness seems to be everywhere—but are we sure that's a good thing? Teachers Sallie Jiko Tisdale, Gil Fronsdal, Norman Fischer, and more explain how removing mindfulness from Buddhism may set a dangerous precedent. Mindfulness is in fashion. Oprah loves it, Google teaches it to employees—it has become widespread as a cure-all for stress, health problems and psychological difficulties, interpersonal trouble, and existential anxiety. However, when its proponents try to make it more accessible by severing it from its Buddhist roots, they run the risk of leeching mindfulness of its transformative power. Taught outside of its ethical and spiritual context it becomes a mere means to an end, rather than a way of life. Mindfulness is in danger of being co-opted into the spiritual equivalent of fast food: “McMindfulness.” Instead of being better people, we just become better employees, better consumers. The Zen teachers gathered here ask a bold question: Is universal mindfulness really a good thing? Ranging from thoughtful critiques to personal accounts of integrating mindfulness into daily life, each chapter offers insights to ground mindfulness in a deeper understanding of both where it comes from, and where it might be headed. With contributions from Marc Poirer, Robert Meikyo Rosenbaum, Barry Magid, Hozan Alan Senauke, Sallie Jiko Tisdale, Gil Fronsdal, Max Erdstein, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, Janet Jiryu Abels, Grace Schireson, Sojun Mel Weitsman, and Robert Sharf.

The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics
The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics

Author: Daniel Cozort

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-03-08

Total Pages: 705

ISBN-13: 0191063169

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Many forms of Buddhism, divergent in philosophy and style, emerged as Buddhism filtered out of India into other parts of Asia. Nonetheless, all of them embodied an ethical core that is remarkably consistent. Articulated by the historical Buddha in his first sermon, this moral core is founded on the concept of karma—that intentions and actions have future consequences for an individual—and is summarized as Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood, three of the elements of the Eightfold Path. Although they were later elaborated and interpreted in a multitude of ways, none of these core principles were ever abandoned. The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics provides a comprehensive overview of the field of Buddhist ethics in the twenty-first century. The Handbook discusses the foundations of Buddhist ethics focusing on karma and the precepts looking at abstinence from harming others, stealing, and intoxication. It considers ethics in the different Buddhist traditions and the similarities they share, and compares Buddhist ethics to Western ethics and the psychology of moral judgments. The volume also investigates Buddhism and society analysing economics, environmental ethics, and Just War ethics. The final section focuses on contemporary issues surrounding Buddhist ethics, including gender, sexuality, animal rights, and euthanasia. This groundbreaking collection offers an indispensable reference work for students and scholars of Buddhist ethics and comparative moral philosophy.

Inoue Enryo
Inoue Enryo

Author: Rainer Schulzer

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 2019-02-01

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 1438471874

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The first comprehensive treatment of Inoue Enry?, a pioneer of modern Buddhism and a key figure in the reception of Western philosophy in East Asia. Rainer Schulzer provides the first comprehensive study, in English, of the modern Japanese philosopher Inoue Enry? (1858–1919). Enry? was a key figure in several important intellectual trends in Meiji Japan, including the establishment of academic philosophy, the public campaign against superstition, the permeation of imperial ideology, and the emergence of modern Japanese Buddhism. As one of the most widely read intellectuals of his time and one of the first Japanese authors ever translated into Chinese, an understanding of Enry?’s work and influence is indispensable for understanding modern East Asian intellectual history. His role in spreading the terminology of modern East Asian humanities reveals how later thinkers such as Nishida Kitar? and Suzuki T. Daisetsu emerged; while his key principles, Love of Truth and Protection of Country, illustrate the tensions inherent in Enry?’s enlightenment views and his dedication to the rise of the Japanese empire. The book also presents a systematic reconstruction of what was the first attempt to give Buddhism a sound philosophical foundation for the modern world. “This book is filled with interesting and important details about the unfolding of Enry?’s life and the formation of his major works. Schulzer also develops broader themes in terms of Japan’s intellectual and sociopolitical encounters with the West in light of the advent of its modern self-definition in the context of being part of a global arena for the first time.” — Steven Heine, author of From Chinese Chan to Japanese Zen: A Remarkable Century of Transmission and Transformation

Earthing the Cosmic Christ of Ephesians--The Universe, Trinity, and Zhiyi's Threefold Truth, Volume 2
Earthing the Cosmic Christ of Ephesians--The Universe, Trinity, and Zhiyi's Threefold Truth, Volume 2

Author: John P. Keenan

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-09-09

Total Pages: 421

ISBN-13: 166670850X

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This is volume 2 of a wide-ranging interfaith reading of the Letter to the Ephesians—a New Testament text whose words have inspired and enhanced Christian spiritual life and liturgy over the centuries. Unfortunately, at the same time, Ephesians has provided apparent scriptural support to those who would defend slavery, patriarchy, misogyny, and the physical power of Christ over the cosmos. How on earth are today’s Christians to receive and understand such a text as this? Earthing the Cosmic Christ of Ephesians: The Universe, Trinity, and Zhiyi’s Threefold Truth draws upon a broad array of scientific, theological, and philosophical thinkers who enable us both to marvel at today’s ever-expanding knowledge of our vast cosmos and to appreciate the importance of the Ephesian letter in the canon of our Christian scriptures, even while we acknowledge the archaic geocentric cosmology that underlies its claims about the cosmic Christ and reject its accommodation to the patriarchal, misogynistic, and slaveholding norms of its first-century culture. Throughout this reading of Ephesians, we look to Chinese Buddhist master Zhiyi and his “threefold truth” to enhance our understanding of trinity and the nascent trinitarian themes within this letter. As a whole, this work constitutes a new appreciation for Ephesians as well as a twenty-first century apologetic for doctrinal humility and for theologizing within a global theological commons.

Introduction to Buddhist East Asia
Introduction to Buddhist East Asia

Author: Robert H. Scott

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2023-03-01

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 143849243X

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This anthology provides an accessible introduction to East Asian Buddhism, focusing specifically on China, Korea, and Japan. It begins with a detailed historical introduction that includes an overview of the development of the various schools of Buddhism in East Asia and traces the transmission of Buddhism from Northwest India to China in the first century CE, and then to Korea and Japan in the fourth and sixth centuries CE. The first part of the book contains five chapters that offer creative pedagogies that can help college professors infuse East Asian Buddhism into their courses. The second part includes six interdisciplinary chapters that explore thematic links between East Asian Buddhism and religious studies, philosophy, film studies, literature, and environmental studies.

Nietzsche and Other Buddhas
Nietzsche and Other Buddhas

Author: Jason M. Wirth

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2019-03-04

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 025303972X

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“A tour de force that both challenges and expands our understanding of the very practice of philosophy . . . and comparative philosophy in particular” (Joseph Markowski, Reading Religion). In Nietzche and Other Buddhas, author Jason M. Wirth brings major East Asian Buddhist thinkers into radical dialogue with key Continental philosophers through a series of exercises that pursue what is traditionally called comparative or intercultural philosophy. In the process, he reflects on what makes such exercises possible and intelligible. The primary questions Wirth asks are: How does this particular engagement and confrontation challenge and radicalize what is sometimes called comparative or intercultural philosophy? How does this task reconsider what is meant by philosophy? The confrontations that Wirth sets up between Dogen, Hakuin, Linji, Shinran, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, James, and Deleuze consider the nature of philosophy—and especially comparative philosophy—from a global perspective. This global perspective in turn opens up a new and challenging space of thought within and between the cutting edges of Western Continental philosophy and East Asian Buddhist practice.

Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood
Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood

Author: Jamie Hubbard

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2001-01-01

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780824823450

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The San-chieh (Three Levels) was a popular and influential Chinese Buddhist movement during the Sui and T'ang periods, counting powerful statesmen, imperial princes, and even an empress, Empress Wu, among its patrons. In spite, or perhaps because, of its proximity to power, the San-chieh movement ran afoul of the authorities, and its teaching and texts were officially proscribed numerous times over a several-hundred-year history. This study of the San-chieh movement uses manuscripts discovered at Tun-huang to examine the doctrine and institutional practices of this movement in the larger context of Mahayana doctrine and practice.