What does it mean to be a Western Buddhist? For the predominantly Anglo-Australian affiliates of two Western Buddhist centres in Australia, the author proposes an answer to this question, and finds support for it from interviews and her own participant-observation experience. Practitioners' prior experiences of experimentation with spiritual groups and practices - and their experiences of participation, practice and self-transformation - are examined with respect to their roles in practitioners' appropriation of the Buddhist worldview, and their subsequent commitment to the path to enlightenment. Religious commitment is experienced as a decision-point, itself the effect of the individual's experimental immersion in the Centre's activities. During this time the claims of the Buddhist worldview are tested against personal experience and convictions. Using rich ethnographic data and Lofland and Skonovd's experimental conversion motif as a model for theorizing the stages of involvement leading to commitment, the author demonstrates that this study has a wider application to our understanding of the role of alternative religions in western contexts.

The Buddha left his home and family and enjoined his followers to go forth and become homeless. With a traditionally celibate clergy, Asian Buddhism is often regarded as a world-renouncing religion inimical to family life. This edited volume counters this view, showing how Asian Buddhists in a wide range of historical and geographical circumstances relate as kin to their biological families and to the religious families they join. Using contemporary and historical case studies as well as textual examples, contributors explore how Asian Buddhists invoke family ties in the intentional communities they create and use them to establish religious authority and guard religious privilege. The language of family and lineage emerges as central to a variety of South and East Asian Buddhist contexts. With an interdisciplinary, Pan-Asian approach, "Family in Buddhism" challenges received wisdom in religious studies and offers new ways to think about family and society."

During the first half of this century the forests of Thailand were home to wandering ascetic monks. They were Buddhists, but their brand of Buddhism did not copy the practices described in ancient doctrinal texts. Their Buddhism found expression in living day-to-day in the forest and in contending with the mental and physical challenges of hunger, pain, fear, and desire. Combining interviews and biographies with an exhaustive knowledge of archival materials and a wide reading of ephemeral popular literature, Kamala Tiyavanich documents the monastic lives of three generations of forest-dwelling ascetics and challenges the stereotype of state-centric Thai Buddhism. Although the tradition of wandering forest ascetics has disappeared, a victim of Thailand's relentless modernization and rampant deforestation, the lives of the monks presented here are a testament to the rich diversity of regional Buddhist traditions. The study of these monastic lineages and practices enriches our understanding of Buddhism in Thailand and elsewhere.

Exploring the interactions of the Buddhist world with the dominant cultures of Iran in pre- and post-Islamic times, this book demonstrates that the traces and cross-influences of Buddhism have brought the material and spiritual culture of Iran to its present state. Even after the term 'Buddhism' was eradicated from the literary and popular languages of the region, it has continued to have a significant impact on the culture as a whole. In the course of its history, Iranian culture adopted and assimilated a system of Buddhist art, iconography, religious symbolism, literature, and asceticism due to the open border of eastern Iran with the Buddhist regions, and the resultant intermingling of the two worlds.

In From Outcasts to Emperors, David Quinter illuminates the Shingon Ritsu movement founded by the charismatic monk Eison (1201-90) at Saidaiji in Nara, Japan. The book's focus on Eison and his disciples' involvement in the cult of Manjusri Bodhisattva reveals their innovative synthesis of Shingon esotericism, Buddhist discipline (Ritsu; Sk. vinaya), icon and temple construction, and social welfare activities as the cult embraced a spectrum of supporters, from outcasts to warrior and imperial rulers. In so doing, the book redresses typical portrayals of "Kamakura Buddhism" that cast Eison and other Nara Buddhist leaders merely as conservative reformers, rather than creative innovators, amid the dynamic religious and social changes of medieval Japan.

Not Seeing Snow: Muso Soseki and Medieval Japanese Zen offers a detailed look at a crucial yet sorely neglected figure in medieval Japan. It clarifies Muso 's far-reaching significance as a Buddhist leader, waka poet, landscape designer, and political figure. In doing so, it sheds light on how elite Zen culture was formed through a complex interplay of politics, religious pedagogy and praxis, poetry, landscape design, and the concerns of institution building. The appendix contains the first complete English translation of Muso 's personal waka anthology, Sho gaku Kokushishu.

What we need to know about meditation and mindfulness to eliminate "stress" in our lives is contained in this book. This book follows and discusses the Satipatthana meditation scheme (pronunciation: sati-PA'-tana), too often neglected in the West. Many additional details about Buddhism are discussed including the very nature of spirituality. This as a mysterious human capacity in the way that electricity or mechanics are for most people -- but more like a puzzle, once understood it becomes useful. Reading this is a way of doing Buddhism as long as the reader continues meditation. The virtue of participating in chanting and other rituals is also explained. This is intended as a thorough, well documented and simply written presentation. Teachings about Purification, Anapanasati, Heart, Precious Bodhicitta, Realization, Enlightenment and many other "technical" Buddhist concepts are described. There is an extensive glossary and bibliography.

Target exam success with My Revision Notes. Our updated approach to revision will help students learn, practise and apply their skills and understanding. Coverage of key content is combined with practical study tips and effective revision strategies to create a revision guide students can rely on to build both knowledge and confidence. My Revision Notes: A-level Religious Studies Buddhism will help students to: - Plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner - Consolidate your knowledge by working through clear and focused content coverage - Test understanding and identify areas for improvement with regular tasks and answers - Improve exam technique through practice questions, expert tips and examples of typical mistakes to avoid

In The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism, Hugh Nicholson examines the role of social identity processes in the development of two religious concepts: the Christian doctrine of Consubstantiality and the Buddhist doctrine of No-self. Consubstantiality, the claim that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, forms the basis of the doctrine of the Trinity, while No-self, the claim that the personality is reducible to its impersonal physical and psychological constituents, is a defining tenet of Theravada Buddhism. Both doctrines are massively counterintuitive in that they violate our basic assumptions and understandings about the world. While cognitive approaches to the study of religion have explained why these doctrines have difficulty taking root in popular religious thought, they are largely silent on the question of why these concepts have developed in the first place. Nicholson aims to fill this gap by examining the historical development of these two concepts. Nicholson argues that both of these doctrines were the products of hegemonic struggles in which one faction tried to get the upper hand over the other by maximizing the contrast with the dominant subgroup. Thus the "pro-Nicene" theologians of the fourth century developed the concept of Consubstantiality in an effort to maximize, against their "Arian" rivals, the contrast with Christianity's archetypal "other," Judaism. Similarly, the No-self doctrine stemmed from an effort to maximize, against the so-called Personalist schools of Buddhism, the contrast with Brahmanical Hinduism, symbolized by its doctrine of the deathless self. In this way, Nicholson demonstrates how, to the extent that religious traditions are driven by social identity processes, they back themselves into doctrinal positions that they must then retrospectively justify.

Dwight Goddard's collection of translations of a cross-section of Buddhist traditions was a fundamental part of the importation of Buddhism into the USA and then, through the work of the Beat Poets that the book influenced, throughout the West as a whole. Goddard had originally been an engineer but after his wife's death, when he was twenty-nine years old, he entered the Hartford Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1894 and was sent to China as a Congregational missionary. He was interested in non-Christian religions and as a result of this curiosity began to study various denominations of Buddhism. In 1928, at the age of sixty-seven, Goddard encountered Japanese Zen Buddhism for the first time while in New York City. He was so impressed with it that he moved to Japan where he met D. T. Suzuki and studied for eight months with him at the Yamazaki Taiko Roshi of Shokoku Monastery in Kyoto. His time spent in China and Japan made him feel that lay religious practice was not enough and would lead to worldly distractions and he decided to establish a male-only monastic movement named, 'the Followers of Buddha'. It was situated on forty acres in southern California adjacent to the Santa Barbara National Forest and also on rural land in Thetford, Vermont. The religious 'followers' who participated in the fellowship commuted between the centers in a van, spending winters in California and summers in Vermont. The venture was short lived and closed due to lack of followers. His book, A Buddhist Bible, was published in 1932. Translated from writings Goddard found of worth in the traditions of Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, Tibetan and other Buddhists schools of thought, the book soon became popular and it contributed to the spread of Buddhism in the USA in the 1930's and 1940's. But it was in the 1950's that A Buddhist Bible was to make its most lasting impact. By the end of 1953 the famous writer Jack Kerouac had been living with fellow 'Beat Poets' Neal and Carolyn Cassady in a menage a trois situation and the relationship had become untenable for all of those concerned. It had become obvious that it was time for Jack to move on and Neal recommended that Jack read A Buddhist Bible as a way of finding some much-needed spiritual inspiration. Legend has it that Kerouac headed down to the San Jose library and stole a copy before heading back 'out on the road'! It was natural that Kerouac, who had always battled with his Catholic ideologies and his lifestyle of heavy drinking and womanizing, would find some peace through the principles of Buddhism and this came out in his seminal The Dharma Bums which detailed Kerouac and fellow Beat Gary Snyder's differing takes on the Buddhist way of life. Although at first dismissive of his fellow Beats new found outlook, Allen Ginsberg soon followed suit and A Buddhist Bible, together with the collective writings of the Beat Generation on Buddhism, had a big influence on the American generations that followed. Dwight Goddard was unaware of his new-found fame as he died on his seventy-eighth birthday in 1939.

On a beautiful spring day in 2002, Lee Carlson's life was transformed forever when he was hit by a careless, speeding driver. Father, husband, writer, son all that was about to change. Several days later he woke up in a hospital with a new identity: Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor. Unfortunately he knew all about Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI. Just months before, his mother had fallen down a flight of basement stairs, crushing her brain and leaving her unable to walk, speak or feed herself. Passage to Nirvana tells the story of one person's descent into the hell of losing everything: family, home, health, even the ability to think and the slow climb back to a normal life. Told in a unique creative style brought on by the author's brain injury, combining short poems and essays in an interwoven, exuberant narrative, Passage to Nirvana recounts one person s struggle and ultimate joy at building a new life. The story takes the reader through Intensive Care Units, doctors offices and a profusion of therapy centers, eventually winding its way to sunlit oceans, quiet Zen meditation halls, white beaches, azure skies and a sailboat named Nirvana. Passage to Nirvana is a memoir, a treasury of Zen teachings and a sailor s yarn all rolled into one. Passage to Nirvana is an illustrative tale about finding a path to happiness after a traumatic life event, a book that will teach you about the Poetry of Living.

Armenia is the oldest Christian country in the world and there are few countries which have made, for their size, such an outstanding contribution to civilization as Armenia has, while yet remaining virtually unknown to the Western world. The volumes in this set, written and translated by an acknowledged authority on history and religion in the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Georgia, as well as Russia itself: Examine the role played by an 18th Century Russian Radical in Tsarist Russia and his subsequent political legacy. Provide a translation of a legend important for theologians and scholars of comparative religion because through this legend the life of the Buddha and the ascetic ideal he exemplified significantly influenced the Christian West. Discuss the cultural, philosophic, religious and scientific contribution Armenia has made to the world. Provide a geographic and ethnic survey of Armenia and its people.

"All that I am, I am because of my mind."
Paavo Nurmi, Olympic runner with nine gold medals in track & field

All runners strive to get in the ?zone, ? but here they?ll learn to enter the ZEN ?zone?! By adopting Buddha's mindful approach, you will discover you can run longer, faster, and harder. This book shows how to align body and mind for success on?and off?the track! Iron Man triathlete and philosophy professor Larry Shapiro coaches you to:

• Walk the talk: Get out and run
• Practice mindfulness: Train harder
• Visualize success: Race the Zen way
• Accept and let go: Cope peacefully with injuries and aging

Explores a range of Buddhist perspectives in a distinctly American context.

Looks at Buddhist influences in American literature and how literature has shaped the reception of Buddhism in North America.

Dzogchen, meaning "great perfection" in Tibetan, is an advanced practice associated particularly with Bon, the native religion of Tibet, and Nynigma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Both these traditions describe their teaching as comprising nine Ways or paths of practice leading to enlightenment or realization, and in both classifications, Dzogchen is the ninth and highest Way. While its immediate associations are with these two traditions, Dzogchen is now taught in all Tibetan sects. In this book, Anne Klein, an American scholar of Buddhism, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, a native Tibetan who was the first to bring Dzogchen teachings to the west, provide a study and translation of the Authenticity of Open Awareness, a foundational text of the Bon Dzogchen tradition. This will be the first time any text from this tradition has been translated into any Western language, and as such will be a major contribution to the study of Tibetan religion and eastern thought more generally. Klein and Rinpoche also provide extensive introductory and explanatory material that situates the text in the context of Tibetan thought and makes it accessible to nonspecialists.

South Asian Buddhism presents a comprehensive historical survey of the full range of Buddhist traditions throughout South Asia from the beginnings of the religion up to the present. Starting with narratives on the Buddha's life and foundational teachings from ancient India, the book proceeds to discuss the rise of Buddhist monastic organizations and texts among the early Mainstream Buddhist schools. It considers the origins and development of Mahayana Buddhism in South Asia, surveys the development of Buddhist Tantra in South Asia and outlines developments in Buddhism as found in Sri Lanka and Nepal following the decline of the religion in India. Berkwitz also importantly considers the effects of colonialism and modernity on the revivals of Buddhism across South Asia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

South Asian Buddhism offers a broad, yet detailed perspective on the history, culture, and thought of the various Buddhist traditions that developed in South Asia. Incorporating findings from the latest research on Buddhist texts and culture, this work provides a critical, historically based survey of South Asian Buddhism that will be useful for students, scholars, and general readers.

An exploration of the rich complexity of the worship of the deity Inari in contemporary Japan. The work covers institutional and popular power in religion, the personal meaningfulness of religious figures and the communicative styles that preserve homogeneity in the face of factionalism.