Download or read book Environmental Ethics in Buddhism written by Pragati Sahni and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-09-12 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental Ethics in Buddhism presents a logical and thorough examination of the metaphysical and ethical dimensions of early Buddhist literature. The author determines the meaning of nature in the early Buddhist context from general Buddhist teachings on dhamma, paticcasamuppada, samsara and the cosmogony of the Agganna Sutta. Consequently, the author shows that early Buddhism can be understood as an environmental virtue ethics. To illustrate this dimension, the Jatakas are used as a source. These are a collection of over five hundred folk tales, which also belong to early Buddhist literature. This work gives an innovative approach to the subject, which puts forward a distinctly Buddhist environmental ethics that is in harmony with traditional teachings as well as adaptable and flexible in addressing environmental problems.
Download or read book Virtuous Bodies written by Susanne Mrozik and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-07-20 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Virtuous Bodies breaks new ground in the field of Buddhist ethics by investigating the diverse roles bodies play in ethical development. Traditionally, Buddhists assumed a close connection between body and morality. Thus Buddhist literature contains descriptions of living beings that stink with sin, are disfigured by vices, or are perfumed and adorned with virtues. Taking an influential early medieval Indian Mah=ay=ana Buddhist text-'S=antideva's Compendium of Training ('Sik,s=asamuccaya)-as a case study, Susanne Mrozik demonstrates that Buddhists regarded ethical development as a process of physical and moral transformation. Mrozik chooses The Compendium of Training because it quotes from over one hundred Buddhist scriptures, allowing her to reveal a broader Buddhist interest in the ethical significance of bodies. The text is a training manual for bodhisattvas, especially monastic bodhisattvas. In it, bodies function as markers of, and conditions for, one's own ethical development. Most strikingly, bodies also function as instruments for the ethical development of others. When living beings come into contact with the virtuous bodies of bodhisattvas, they are transformed physically and morally for the better. Virtuous Bodies explores both the centrality of bodies to the bodhisattva ideal and the corporeal specificity of that ideal. Arguing that the bodhisattva ideal is an embodied ethical ideal, Mrozik poses an array of fascinating questions: What does virtue look like? What kinds of physical features constitute virtuous bodies? What kinds of bodies have virtuous effects on others? Drawing on a range of contemporary theorists, this book engages in a feminist hermeneutics of recovery and suspicion in order to explore the ethical resources Buddhism offers to scholars and religious practitioners interested in the embodied nature of ethical ideals.
Download or read book Buddhist Ethics A Very Short Introduction written by Damien Keown and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2005-06-23 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Character Strengths and Virtues written by Christopher Peterson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 828 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. They approach good character in terms of separate strengths- authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on- each of which exists in degrees.
Download or read book Why Buddhism is True written by Robert Wright and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of America’s most brilliant writers, a New York Times bestselling journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. At the heart of Buddhism is a simple claim: The reason we suffer—and the reason we make other people suffer—is that we don’t see the world clearly. At the heart of Buddhist meditative practice is a radical promise: We can learn to see the world, including ourselves, more clearly and so gain a deep and morally valid happiness. In this “sublime” (The New Yorker), pathbreaking book, Robert Wright shows how taking this promise seriously can change your life—how it can loosen the grip of anxiety, regret, and hatred, and how it can deepen your appreciation of beauty and of other people. He also shows why this transformation works, drawing on the latest in neuroscience and psychology, and armed with an acute understanding of human evolution. This book is the culmination of a personal journey that began with Wright’s landmark book on evolutionary psychology, The Moral Animal, and deepened as he immersed himself in meditative practice and conversed with some of the world’s most skilled meditators. The result is a story that is “provocative, informative and...deeply rewarding” (The New York Times Book Review), and as entertaining as it is illuminating. Written with the wit, clarity, and grace for which Wright is famous, Why Buddhism Is True lays the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age and shows how, in a time of technological distraction and social division, we can save ourselves from ourselves, both as individuals and as a species.
Download or read book Love Your Enemies written by Sharon Salzberg and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2023-08-01 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coping with anger and pain is more challenging than ever in these times—and more necessary. Two acclaimed Buddhist teachers offer strategies and wisdom in a book that’s been called “possibly the most inspiring and liberating meditation on love ever written.” When people and circumstances upset us, how do we deal with them? Often, we feel victimized. We become hurt, angry, and defensive. We end up seeing others as enemies, and when things don’t go our way, we become enemies to ourselves. But what if we could move past this pain, anger, and defensiveness? Inspired by Buddhist philosophy, this book introduces us to the four kinds of enemies we encounter in life: the outer enemy, people, institutions, and situations that mean to harm us; the inner enemy, anger, hatred, fear, and other destructive emotions; the secret enemy, self-obsession that isolates us from others; and the super-secret enemy, deep-seated self-loathing that prevents us from finding inner freedom and true happiness. In this practical guide, we learn not only how to identify our enemies, but more important, how to transform our relationship to them. Love Your Enemies teaches us how to . . . · break free from the mode of “us” versus “them” thinking · develop compassion, patience, and love · accept what is beyond our control · embrace lovingkindness, right speech, and other core concepts First published in 2013, Love Your Enemies is, more than ever, required reading for navigating our world. Throughout, authors Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman draw from ancient spiritual wisdom and modern psychology to help you find peace within yourself and with the world. * Includes new prefaces from both authors *
Download or read book Ethics for the New Millennium written by Dalai Lama and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2001-05-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Don't miss His Holiness the Dalai Lama's classic book, The Art of Happiness, or his newest, The Book of Joy, named one of Oprah's Favorite Things. In a difficult, uncertain time, it takes a person of great courage, such as the Dalai Lama, to give us hope. Regardless of the violence and cynicism we see on television and read about in the news, there is an argument to be made for basic human goodness. The number of people who spend their lives engaged in violence and dishonesty is tiny compared to the vast majority who would wish others only well. According to the Dalai Lama, our survival has depended and will continue to depend on our basic goodness. Ethics for the New Millennium presents a moral system based on universal rather than religious principles. Its ultimate goal is happiness for every individual, irrespective of religious beliefs. Though he himself a practicing Buddhist, the Dalai Lama's teachings and the moral compass that guides him can lead each and every one of us—Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, or atheist—to a happier, more fulfilling life.
Download or read book An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics written by Peter Harvey and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000-06-22 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A systematic introduction to Buddhist ethics aimed at anyone interested in Buddhism.
Download or read book The Great Compassion written by Norm Phelps and published by Lantern Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism ought to be an animal rights religion par excellence. It has long held that all life forms are sacred and considers kindness and compassion the highest virtues. Moreover, Buddhism explicitly includes animals in its moral universe. Buddhist rules of conduct--including the first precept, "Do not kill"--apply to our treatment of animals as well as to our treatment of other human beings. Consequently, we would expect Buddhism to oppose all forms of animal exploitation, and there is, in fact, wide agreement that most forms of animal exploitation are contrary to Buddhist teaching. Yet many Buddhists eat meat--although many do not--and monks, priests, and scholars sometimes defend meat-eating as consistent with Buddhist teaching. The Great Compassion studies the various strains of Buddhism and the sutras that command respect for all life. Norm Phelps, a longtime student of Buddhism and an acquaintance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, answers the central questions of whether Buddhism demands vegetarianism and whether the Buddha ate meat. He is not afraid to examine anti-animal statements in Buddhist lore--particularly the issues of whether Buddhists in non-historically Buddhist countries need to keep or to jettison the practices of their historical homelands.
Download or read book Buddha Taught Nonviolence Not Pacifism written by Paul R. Fleischman and published by Pariyatti Publishing. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, this thought-provoking essay explores the Buddha's teaching to find one prescription: not war, not pacifism but nonviolence.
Download or read book Studies in Japanese Buddhism written by August Karl Reischauer and published by . This book was released on 1917 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Consequences of Compassion written by Charles Goodman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the theoretical structure of Buddhist accounts of morality, defends them against objections, and discusses their implications for free will, the justification of punishment, and other issues.
Download or read book Wayward Distractions written by Justin Thomas McDaniel and published by National University of Singapore Press. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays engaging with Buddhism in Thailand and the virtues of distraction and variety within the materialist turn in studies of religion. In Thailand, Buddhism is deeply integrated into national institutions and ideologies, making it tempting to think of Buddhism in Thailand as a textual, institutional, cultural, and conceptual whole. At the same time, religious expression in the country reflects anything but a single order. Often gaudy, cacophonous, variegated, and jumbled, diversity and apparent contradiction abound. A more open engagement with Buddhism in Thailand requires a willingness to be distracted, to step away from received hierarchies and follow the intriguing detail in the ornate design, the odd textual reference, and to prefer "thin description" over a search for meaning. Justin McDaniel's well-known book-length writings in Buddhist and Theravada studies cannot be fully understood without taking into account his shorter writings, what he calls his wayward distractions. Collected together for the first time, these essays cover subjects ranging from ornamental art to marriage and emotion, the role of Hinduism, neglected gender and ethnic diversity, Buddhist inflections in contemporary art practice, and the boundaries between the living, dead, and undead. These writings will be of importance to students of Theravada and Thailand, of religion in Southeast Asia and more generally, of the materialist turn in studies of religion.
Download or read book Buddhism A Very Short Introduction written by Damien Keown and published by Oxford Paperbacks. This book was released on 1996-10-03 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Bodhisattva s Brain written by Owen Flanagan and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2011-08-12 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating introduction to the intersection between religion, neuroscience, and moral philosophy asks: Can there be a Buddhism without karma, nirvana, and reincarnation that is compatible with the rest of knowledge? If we are material beings living in a material world—and all the scientific evidence suggests that we are—then we must find existential meaning, if there is such a thing, in this physical world. We must cast our lot with the natural rather than the supernatural. Many Westerners with spiritual (but not religious) inclinations are attracted to Buddhism—almost as a kind of moral-mental hygiene. But, as Owen Flanagan points out in The Bodhisattva's Brain, Buddhism is hardly naturalistic. In The Bodhisattva's Brain, Flanagan argues that it is possible to discover in Buddhism a rich, empirically responsible philosophy that could point us to one path of human flourishing. Some claim that neuroscience is in the process of validating Buddhism empirically, but Flanagan'’ naturalized Buddhism does not reduce itself to a brain scan showing happiness patterns. “Buddhism naturalized,” as Flanagan constructs it, offers instead a fully naturalistic and comprehensive philosophy, compatible with the rest of knowledge—a way of conceiving of the human predicament, of thinking about meaning for finite material beings living in a material world.
Download or read book The Buddha s Way of Virtue written by W. D. C. Wagiswara and published by . This book was released on 1912 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Virtues in Action written by M. Austin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-10-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades, many philosophers have considered the strengths and weaknesses of a virtue-centered approach to moral theory. Much less attention has been given to how such an approach bears on issues in applied ethics. The essays in this volume apply a virtue-centered perspective to a variety of contemporary moral issues, and in so doing offer a fresh and illuminating perspective. Some of the essays focus on a particular virtue and its application to one or more realms of applied ethics, such as temperance and sex or humility and environmental ethics. Other chapters focus on an issue in applied ethics and bring several virtues into a discussion of that issue or realm of life, such as sport, education, and business. Finally, several of the chapters engage relevant psychological research as well as current neuroscience, which enhances the strength of the philosophical arguments.