Download or read book The Two Truths Debate written by Sonam Thakchoe and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-01-26 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All lineages of Tibetan Buddhism today claim allegiance to the philosophy of the Middle Way, the exposition of emptiness propounded by the second-century Indian master Nagarjuna. But not everyone interprets it the same way. A major faultline runs through Tibetan Buddhism around the interpretation of what are called the two truths--the deceptive truth of conventional appearances and the ultimate truth of emptiness. An understanding of this faultline illuminates the beliefs that separate the Gelug descendents of Tsongkhapa from contemporary Dzogchen and Mahamudra adherents. The Two Truths Debate digs into the debate of how the two truths are defined and how they are related by looking at two figures, one on either side of the faultline, and shows how their philosophical positions have dramatic implications for how one approaches Buddhist practice and how one understands enlightenment itself.

Download or read book An Introduction to Mah y na Buddhism written by William McGovern and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-10-18 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Montgomery McGovern’s Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism was one of the first books on Mahayana Buddhism written for a Western audience. It predates influential English language overviews of Buddhism by D. T. Suzuki, A. Watts, and W. Rahula. The author was born in New York City in 1897 and spent his latter teenage years (1914-1917) training at the Nishi Hongwanji Mahayana Buddhist monastery in Kyoto, Japan. He founded the Mahayana Association at age eighteen and edited and published the journal "Mahayanist" while completing his studies at the monastery. Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism was written as part of a thesis which secured him his Buddhist degree and an honorary ordination as a Buddhist priest. Intended as a simplified and introductory text for a lay audience, the book reflects the unique perspective of a Westerner trained in Japan at a time when Mahayana Buddhism was little known in the West. Referencing Buddhist literature, it gives a short history of Buddhism and the divergence of schools of Buddhist philosophy, introduces the four noble truths, the philosophy of Karma, the nature of Buddhahood, reincarnation and the road to nirvana, Buddhist cosmology, and psychological and philosophical elements of Buddhist teachings. Although the divisions of non Mahayana Buddhist sects and philosophy described may be considered dated, Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism remains significant for its historical value in presenting Eastern religious and philosophical thought to Westerners at a pivotal time in history.

Download or read book Mipham s Beacon of Certainty written by John W. Pettit and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-02-08 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries, Dzogchen - a special meditative practice to achieve spontaneous enlightenment - has been misinterpreted by both critics and malinformed meditators as being purely mystical and anti-rational. In the grand spirit of Buddhist debate, 19th century Buddhist philosopher Mipham wrote Beacon of Certainty, a compelling defense of Dzogchen philosophy that employs the very logic it was criticized as lacking. Through lucid and accessible textural translation and penetrating analysis, Pettit presents Mipham as one of Tibet's greatest thinkers.

Download or read book Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism written by Robert H. Sharf and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2005-11-30 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The issue of sinification—the manner and extent to which Buddhism and Chinese culture were transformed through their mutual encounter and dialogue—has dominated the study of Chinese Buddhism for much of the past century. Robert Sharf opens this important and far-reaching book by raising a host of historical and hermeneutical problems with the encounter paradigm and the master narrative on which it is based. Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism is, among other things, an extended reflection on the theoretical foundations and conceptual categories that undergird the study of medieval Chinese Buddhism. Sharf draws his argument in part from a meticulous historical, philological, and philosophical analysis of the Treasure Store Treatise (Pao-tsang lun), an eighth-century Buddho-Taoist work apocryphally attributed to the fifth-century master Seng-chao (374–414). In the process of coming to terms with this recondite text, Sharf ventures into all manner of subjects bearing on our understanding of medieval Chinese Buddhism, from the evolution of T’ang "gentry Taoism" to the pivotal role of image veneration and the problematic status of Chinese Tantra. The volume includes a complete annotated translation of the Treasure Store Treatise, accompanied by the detailed exegesis of dozens of key terms and concepts.

Download or read book Svatantrika Prasangika Distinction written by Georges B.J. Dreyfus and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-01-30 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Madhyamaka, or "Middle Way," philosophy came to Tibet from India and became the basis of all of Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetans, however, differentiated two streams of Madhyamaka philosophy--Svatantrika and Prasangika. In this collection, leading scholars in the field address the distinction on various levels, including the philosophical import for both Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka and the historical development of the distinction itself.

Download or read book A Popular Dictionary of Buddhism written by Christmas Humphreys and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-11-21 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dictionary and a glossary of terms plus brief biographies of eminent Buddhists and scholars from both East and West.

Download or read book nyav da the M dhyamika Thought written by Kewal Krishan Mittal and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributed papers presented at all India seminar.

Download or read book Dictionary of Buddhism written by Soka Gakkai and published by Motilal Banarsidass. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 1000 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anyone reading English translations of Buddhist texts will encounter a host of names, terms, and phrases whose meanings are not clear even though they appear in English. Buddhism is famous for its specialized terminology and translation alone may not communicate its full meaning. East Asian Buddhist diction is layered with several languages -Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Japanese -and the only way to make one's way through this linguistic maze without getting lost is with the aid of a good dictionary. The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, a revised and expanded version of A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts (1983), is a welcome addition that serves this purpose. Written clearly for the general reader, the Dictionary contains over 2,700 entries. While it is designed primarily for use with the Soka Gakkai's translations of Nichiren's works, the Dictionary contains a wealth of terms found in all other traditions of Buddhism. Definitions are given for technical terms, historical figures, doctrinal texts, institutions, and place names. The entries provide complete cross-references so that readers may know and further pursue meanings of term equivalents as rendered in other ways or languages. Ten appendixes provide maps and world lists that enable the reader to find terms in English, Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, or Japanese. Like all Buddhist masters, Nichiren presented his particular message in the wider context of other Buddhist teachings and practices. To know the particular, one must also understand the general context, and the Dictionary, in addressing both levels, provides essential knowledge not only for students of Nichiren Buddhism but for anyone reading Buddhist texts.

Download or read book The Shape of Ancient Thought written by Thomas McEvilley and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-02-07 with total page 1015 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning thirty years of intensive research, this book proves what many scholars could not explain: that today’s Western world must be considered the product of both Greek and Indian thought—Western and Eastern philosophies. Thomas McEvilley explores how trade, imperialism, and migration currents allowed cultural philosophies to intermingle freely throughout India, Egypt, Greece, and the ancient Near East. This groundbreaking reference will stir relentless debate among philosophers, art historians, and students.

Download or read book Moonshadows written by Cowherds (Authors) and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Moonshadows, the Cowherds, a team of ten scholars of Buddhist Studies, address the nature of conventional truth as it is understood in the Madhyamaka tradition deriving from Nagarjuna and Candrakarti. Moonshadows combines textual scholarship with philosophical analysis to elucidate the metaphysical, epistemological and ethical consequences of this doctrine.

Download or read book Peacock in the Poison Grove written by Michael J Sweet and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intro -- Title Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Historical and Thematic Introduction -- Notes to Historical Introduction -- Introduction to Mind-Training Practice -- Part 1: The Wheel-Weapon Mind Training -- Part 2: The Poison-Destroying Peacock Mind Training -- Index -- Copyright

Download or read book Linguistic Strategies in Daoist Zhuangzi and Chan Buddhism written by Youru Wang and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-12-08 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the first systematic attempt to probe the linguistic strategies of Daoist Zhuangzi and Chan Buddhism, this book investigates three areas: deconstructive strategy, liminology of language, and indirect communication. It bases these investigations on the critical examination of original texts, placing them strictly within soteriological contexts. Whilst focusing on language use, the study also reveals some important truths about these two traditions and challenges many conventional understandings of them. Responding to recent critiques of Daoist and Chan Buddhist thought, it brings these two traditions into a constructive dialogue with contemporary philosophical reflection. It discovers Zhuangzian and Chan perspectives and sheds light on issues such as the relationship between philosophy and non-philosophy, de-reification of words, relativising the limit of language, structure of indirect communication, and use of paradox, tautology and poetic language.

Download or read book Buddhists Brahmins and Belief written by Dan Arnold and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2008-02-18 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief, Dan Arnold examines how the Brahmanical tradition of Purva Mimamsa and the writings of the seventh-century Buddhist Madhyamika philosopher Candrakirti challenged dominant Indian Buddhist views of epistemology. Arnold retrieves these two very different but equally important voices of philosophical dissent, showing them to have developed highly sophisticated and cogent critiques of influential Buddhist epistemologists such as Dignaga and Dharmakirti. His analysis—developed in conversation with modern Western philosophers like William Alston and J. L. Austin—offers an innovative reinterpretation of the Indian philosophical tradition, while suggesting that pre-modern Indian thinkers have much to contribute to contemporary philosophical debates. In logically distinct ways, Purva Mimamsa and Candrakirti's Madhyamaka opposed the influential Buddhist school of thought that emphasized the foundational character of perception. Arnold argues that Mimamsaka arguments concerning the "intrinsic validity" of the earliest Vedic scriptures are best understood as a critique of the tradition of Buddhist philosophy stemming from Dignaga. Though often dismissed as antithetical to "real philosophy," Mimamsaka thought has affinities with the reformed epistemology that has recently influenced contemporary philosophy of religion. Candrakirti's arguments, in contrast, amount to a principled refusal of epistemology. Arnold contends that Candrakirti marshals against Buddhist foundationalism an approach that resembles twentieth-century ordinary language philosophy—and does so by employing what are finally best understood as transcendental arguments. The conclusion that Candrakirti's arguments thus support a metaphysical claim represents a bold new understanding of Madhyamaka.

Download or read book Wind Horse written by Ronald M. Davidson and published by Jain Publishing Company. This book was released on 2005 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book D gen on Meditation and Thinking written by Hee-Jin Kim and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2010-03-10 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty years after the publication of his classic work Dōgen Kigen—Mystical Realist, Hee-Jin Kim reframes and recasts his understanding of Dōgen's Zen methodology in this new book. Through meticulous textual analyses of and critical reflections on key passages primarily from Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, Kim explicates hitherto underappreciated aspects of Dōgen's religion, such as the ambiguity of delusion and also of enlightenment, intricacies of negotiating the Way, the dynamic functions of emptiness, the realizational view of language, nonthinking as the essence of meditation, and a multifaceted conception of reason. Kim also responds to many recent developments in Zen studies that have arisen in both Asia and the West, especially Critical Buddhism. He brings Dōgen the meditator and Dōgen the thinker into relief. Kim's study clearly demonstrates that language, thinking, and reason constitute the essence of Dōgen's proposed Zen praxis, and that such a Zen opens up new possibilities for dialogue between Zen and contemporary thought. This fresh assessment of Dōgen's Zen represents a radical shift in our understanding of its place in the history of Buddhism.

Download or read book Asian Philosophies written by John M. Koller and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With an inside view from an expert in the field, solid scholarship, and a clear and engaging writing style, Asian Philosophies invites students and professors to think along with the great thinkers of the Asian traditions. John M. Koller is a scholar and teacher who has devoted his life to understanding Asian thought and practice. He wrote this text to give students and professors access to the rich philosophical and religious ideas of both South and East Asia.

Download or read book The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism written by S錹ka Gakkai and published by 聖教新聞社. This book was released on 2002-11 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 約2700語を収録した創価学会版「英文仏教辞典」。