Bücher der Reihe Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

Offers essays and dialogues by well-known Buddhist and Christian scholars on topics that were of primary interest to Frederick J. Streng, in whose honour the volume was created.

Early sources indicate that the Buddha was sometimes diverted from supramundane interests to dwell on a variety of politically-related matters. This title brings together contributions of various minds in the study of Buddhism in Southeast Asia expanding the nature of what is known as the 'Theravada'. It offers insights for scholars of Buddhism.

Offers cross-cultural insights into the transmission of Buddhist knowledge and the use of texts and images as ritual objects in the artistic and aesthetic traditions of Buddhist cultures. This book investigates the roles manuscripts and images play in the transmission of Buddhist texts and in fostering devotion among Buddhist communities.

Identifies what is meant by sati, usually translated as 'mindfulness', in early Buddhism, and examines its soteriological functions and its central role in the early Buddhist practice and philosophy. This book elucidates how mindfulness functions in the path to liberation from a psychological perspective.

Explores the British encounter with Buddhism in nineteenth century Sri Lanka, examining the way Buddhism was represented and constructed in the eyes of the British scholars, officials, travellers and religious seekers who first encountered it.

Presents the study of the important Mahayana Buddhist scripture Gandavyuha-sutra. This book provides a fresh approach to the study of Mahayana Buddhist sources, the 'systems approach', by which literature is viewed as embedded in a social system. It analyses the key themes of power, wealth and women to its social context in ancient India.

Presents a sophisticated study of some of the underlying assumptions involved in the study of Buddhism. Placing a distinct emphasis on Indian Buddhism, this book is suitable for those interested in Buddhism and India, and also scholars of religion and history.

Presents a logical examination of the metaphysical and ethical dimensions of early Buddhist literature. This book 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".

This book presents an analysis of one of the fundamental Mahayana Buddhist teachings, namely the three bodies of the Buddha (the Trikaya Theory), which is considered the foundation of Mahayana philosophy.

Including a foreword by the Dalai Lama, this book explores the interface between Buddhist studies and the uses of Buddhist principles and practices in psychotherapy and consciousness studies. It also presents a collection of articles that illustrate the potential of Buddhist informed social sciences in contemporary society.

The medieval period of Japanese religious history is commonly known as one in which there was a radical transformation of the religious culture. This book suggests an alternate approach to understanding the dynamics of that transformation. It also focuses on what Buddhism meant for medieval Japanese peoples themselves.

Contains works by scholars of Buddhism, themselves Buddhist, who seek to apply the critical tools of the academy to reassess the truth and transformative value of their tradition in its relevance to the contemporary world.

This work focuses on the relationship between identity and perception in early Buddhism, drawing out and explaining the way they relate in terms of experience. It presents a picture of these issues in the context of Buddhist teachings as a whole and suggests they represent what Buddha taught.

By providing an annotated translation of, and applying the methods of literary criticism to, a first-century account of the life of the saint Purna, this study introduces the reader to a genre which has played an essential role in Buddhist self-understanding for over 2000 years.

This work focuses on the Buddhist visual practices surrounding the visual representation of a single, central concept, "prajna" - or wisdom - in medieval north India.

The new Buddhist religious movements of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke, emerged Thailand in the 1970s at a time of political uncertainty. This book explores why they have come into being, what they have reacted against and what they offer to their members.

Explores the intimate relationship between Japanese institutional Buddhism and militarism during the Second World War.

This work traces Mi pham's position in his commentary on the Bodhicaryavatara, the attack of one of his opponents, and his response. It also indicates ways in which the controversy over the nature of awareness may be important within the context of rDzogs chen thought and practice.

Demonstrates how the four noble truths are used thorughout the Pali canon as a symbol of Buddha's enlightenment and as a doctrine within a larger network of Buddha's teachings.

This volume brings together the views of leading scholars on a range of controversial subjects including human rights, animal rights, ecology, abortion, euthanasia, and contemporary business practice.

This work examines the emergence of American Buddhism as a significant research field. Issues examined include: identity in Asian-American Buddhism; the new Buddhism; Buddhism and American culture; and the scholar's place in American Buddhist studies.

In this paper, Williams seeks to engage in a critical way with some central issues of Buddhist thought relating to the coherence of a reductionist model of the person. He argues for an irreducible subject-involvement of pain-statements.

The political, ethical and philosophical questions surrounding human rights are debated vigorously in political and intellectual circles throughout the world and now in this volume.

Combines the voices of scholars and practitioners in documenting and analysing Buddhist women's history. The book includes 26 articles - written by a range of Asian, Asian-American and Western Buddhists - which document the lives of women who have set in motion changes within Buddhist societies.

Presents Buddhist philosophy and practice as a resource for psychotherapy which is responsive to the needs for a three-way dialogue between Buddhism, psychotherapy and contemporary discourse.