Provides a clear and comprehensive introduction ideal for students approaching World Religions for the first time. The newly revised textbook introduces the reader to the world's religions in historical context, illustrating the complex dynamic of each religion over time, while also presenting current beliefs, practices and group formations. Written by experts in the field this book is an engaging introduction that covers all of the important topics required and covered on World Religions courses. It has been updated to include a new chapter on religion and violence. With pedagogical features such as four-colour images, further reading, chapter overviews, chapter summaries and a glossary this is an ideal introductory textbook.

This collection of original essays explores metaethical views from outside the mainstream European tradition. The guiding motivation is that important discussions about the ultimate nature of morality can be found far beyond ancient Greece and modern Europe. The volume's aim is to show how rich the possibilities are for comparative metaethics, and how much these comparisons offer challenges and new perspectives to contemporary analytic metaethics. Representing five continents, the thinkers discussed range from ancient Egyptian, ancient Chinese, and the Mexican (Aztec) cultures to more recent thinkers like Augusto Salazar Bondy, Bimal Krishna Matilal, Nishida Kitaro, and Susan Sontag. The philosophical topics discussed include religious language, moral discovery, moral disagreement, essences' relation to evaluative facts, metaphysical harmony and moral knowledge, naturalism, moral perception, and quasi-realism. This volume will be of interest to anyone interested in metaethics or comparative philosophy.

The saga of the seventh-century Chinese monk Xuanzang, who completed an epic sixteen-year journey to discover the heart of Buddhism at its source in India, is a splendid story of human struggle and triumph. One of China's great heroes, Xuanzang is introduced here for the first time to Western readers in this richly illustrated book.

Naturalism, Human Flourishing, and Asian Philosophy: Owen Flanagan and Beyond is an edited volume of philosophical essays focusing on Owen Flanagan's naturalized comparative philosophy and moral psychology of human flourishing. Flanagan is a philosopher well-known for his naturalized approach to philosophical issues such as meaning, physicalism, causation, and consciousness in the analytic school of Western philosophy. Recently, he develops his philosophical interest in Asian philosophy and discusses diverse philosophical issues of human flourishing, Buddhism and Confucianism from comparative viewpoints. The current volume discusses his philosophy of human flourishing and his naturalized approaches to Buddhism and Confucianism. The volume consists of five sections with eleven chapters written by leading experts in the fields of philosophy, religion, and psychology. The first section is an introduction to Flanagan's philosophy. The introductory chapter provides a general overview of Flanagan's philosophy, i.e., his philosophy of naturalization, comparative approach to human flourishing, and detailed summaries of the following chapters. In the second section, the three chapters discuss Flanagan's naturalized eudaimonics of human flourishing. The third section discusses Flanagan's naturalized Buddhism. The fourth section analyzes Flanagan's interpretation of Confucian philosophy (specifically Mencius's moral sprouts), from the viewpoint of moral modularity and human flourishing. The fifth section is Flanagan's responses to the comments and criticisms developed in this volume.

Learn how to create a tranquil outdoor space at home with this practical and inspiring guide! With instructive drawings and step-by-step techniques, Inside Your Japanese Garden walks you through designing and creating your very own Japanese garden. From small projects like benches and gates, to larger undertakings like bridges and mud walls, this book provides a wide variety of ways to enhance the space around your home, no matter the size. Instructions on how to work with stone, mud and bamboo--as well as a catalogue of the 94 plant varieties used in the gardens shown in the book--round out this complete guide. This book also features 19 gardens that author Sadao Yasumoro has designed and built in Japan, and some--like those at Visvim shop in Tokyo and at Yushima Tenjin in Tokyo--are open to the public. From small tsuboniwa courtyard gardens to a large backyard stroll garden with water features, stairs and walls, these real-life inspirations will help spark your own garden plan. These inspirational garden projects include: Tea Garden for an Urban Farmhouse featuring a clay wall with a split-bamboo frame and a stone base The Landslide That Became a Garden with a terraced slope, trees, bushes, long grasses and moss A Buddha's Mountain Retreat of Moss and Stone with vertical-split bamboo and brushwood fencing Paradise in an Urban Jungle with a pond, Japanese-style bridge, and stone lanterns Each garden is beautifully photographed by Hironori Tomino and many have diagrams and drawings to show the essential elements used in the planning and construction.

This book examines the importance of the topic of 'feeling tone' (vedana) as it appears in early Buddhist texts and practice, and also within contemporary, secular, mindfulness-based interventions. The volume aims to highlight the crucial nature of the 'feeling tone' or 'taste of experience' in determining mental reactivity, behaviour, character, and ethics. In the history of Buddhism, and in its reception in contemporary discourse, vedana has often been a much-neglected topic, with greater emphasis being accorded to other meditational focuses, such as body and mind. However, 'feeling tone' (vedana) can be seen as a crucial pivotal point in understanding the cognitive process, both in contemporary mindfulness and meditation practice within more traditional forms of Buddhism. The taste of experience, it is claimed, comes as pleasant, unpleasant, and neither pleasant nor unpleasant - and these 'tones' or 'tastes' inevitably follow from humans being embodied sensory beings. That experience comes in this way is unavoidable, but what follows can be seen in terms of reactivity or responsiveness. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Buddhism.

`It is its spiritual background which gives to Sangharakshita's poetry its depth and emotional appeal. It rests on the inner parallelism between the most fundamental human emotions and the highest experiences on the path of liberation and enlightenment, the relationship between love and wisdom, the individual and the universal, the moods of Nature and the moods of the human heart.' - Lama Anagarika Govinda In his preface to the Complete Poems published in 1994 Sangharakshita wrote that his poems 'constitute a sort of spiritual autobiography, sketchy indeed, but perhaps revealing, or at least suggesting, aspects of my life that would not otherwise be known'. He wrote many more poems after that, and more from his early years have come to light. This volume contains all of them, offering a truly complete collection, and also includes six short stories, written over many years and some of them previously unpublished, also shedding new light on the imagination and perceptions of their author. The volume is prefaced by a foreword and two essays introducing the poems in different ways, and also contains edited versions of two talks Sangharakshita gave about specific poems, and a sequence of conversations about his poetry that were recorded towards the end of his life.

These dialogues with child, adolescent and adult psychotherapists and child psychiatrists focus on their personal as well as professional experiences. All the contributors have a long-standing practice of Buddhism or other forms of meditation. The relevance of this to their clinical work with infants, children, adolescents, families and adults is described. Buddhist principles such as suffering, impermanence, non-attachment, no-self and the Four Noble Truths influence the contributors' practice of psychotherapy with children and with the child in the adult. Similarities and differences between the two traditions of Buddhism and psychotherapy are highlighted in these dialogues, which are embedded in deep, personal and transforming experiences that are shared by the authors.

This visually stunning catalogue presents c. 300 iconographical materials and texts from the Tibetan collections of the Royal Library and National Museum of Denmark. Most of the entries describe such iconographical materials as mandalas, elemental divination paintings, ritual "tsakli" cards and prayer flags. Unique handwritten meditation manuals, a Mongolian Book of the Dead, illuminated manuscripts as well as philosophical and medical works are also featured. Together remarkable materials, which represent rare and unique forms of communication between man and nature in written and iconographical forms, play a central role in the performance of Buddhist and shamanistic rituals. Designed especially as an essential source of reference for scholars working on the religious and cultural history of Tibet, the catalogue includes over 250 colour illustrations that help identify much of the material listed.

This book traces the archaeological trajectory of the expansion of Buddhism and its regional variations in South Asia. Focusing on the multireligious context of the subcontinent in the first millennium BCE, the volume breaks from conventional studies that pose Buddhism as a counter to the Vedic tradition to understanding the religion more integrally in terms of dhamma (teachings of the Buddha), dana (practice of cultivating generosity) and the engagement with the written word. The work underlines that relic and image worship were important features in the spread of Buddhism in the region and were instrumental in bringing the monastics and the laity together. Further, the author examines the significance of the histories of monastic complexes (viharas, stupas, caityas) and also religious travel and pilgrimage that provided connections across the subcontinent and the seas. An interdisciplinary study, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars in South Asian studies, religion, especially Buddhist studies, history and archaeology.

This book provides an outline and critical discussion of the characteristics of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) research. Since the first reports on the use of mindfulness practices in health interventions, a large body of research literature has emerged to document the effectiveness of MBIs for reducing psychological distress and to increase well-being. The integration of mindfulness into very diverse psychological theories makes it a unique concept in psychology that has generated a large amount of interest both in academic research but also the broader media. With this growing literature, mindfulness researchers have also recognised the need to be more critical of its developments, such as how MBIs are presented to the public or what types of research methods are used to test claims of an MBI's effectiveness. This book examines the large variety of approaches in which MBIs have been studied, including an outline of the philosophical underpinnings of MBI research, definition and measurement of mindfulness, the use of qualitative and quantitative research methods, research design, and research that addresses cultural and religious factors. The book contributes to increased awareness of the current direction of MBI research and thus seeks to contribute to further methodological refinement and sophistication of the research field. This book on the characteristics of research on MBIs is a must read for any researcher or practitioner interested in this fascinating topic.

There is a fine art to presenting complex ideas with simplicity and insight, in a manner that both guides and inspires. In Taking the Path of Zen Robert Aitken presents the practice, lifestyle, rationale, and ideology of Zen Buddhism with remarkable clarity.

The foundation of Zen is the practice of zazen, or mediation, and Aitken Roshi insists that everything flows from the center. He discusses correct breathing, posture, routine, teacher-student relations, and koan study, as well as common problems and milestones encountered in the process. Throughout the book the author returns to zazen, offering further advice and more advanced techniques. The orientation extends to various religious attitudes and includes detailed discussions of the Three Treasures and the Ten Precepts of Zen Buddhism.
Taking the Path of Zen will serve as orientation and guide for anyone who is drawn to the ways of Zen, from the simply curious to the serious Zen student.

Tibetan yoga is the hidden treasure at the heart of the Tibetan Tantric Buddhist tradition: a spiritual and physical practice in pursuit of an expanded experience of the human body and its energetic and cognitive potential. Ian A. Baker progressively introduces the core principles and practices of Tibetan yoga in this pioneering overview. In addition to meditations, visualizations and practices for the breath and body, these include elements rather less familiar to yoga initiates in the West, including sexual yoga; dream yoga or lucid dreaming; and yoga practices enhanced by psychoactive plant or mineral substances. Baker draws on contemporary scientific research and contemplative and humanitarian traditions to enable the reader to understand these practices. The book includes ethnographic photography and works of Himalayan art that have never been published before, as well as illustrations of yogic practice and theory from historical books of instruction.

2020 American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis (ABAPsa) book award winner! If, when a patient enters therapy, there is an underlying yearning to discover a deeper sense of meaning or purpose, how might a therapist rise to such a challenge? As both Carl Jung and Wilfred Bion observed, the patient may be seeking something that has a spiritual as well as psychotherapeutic dimension. Presented in two parts, The Search for Meaning in Psychotherapy is a profound inquiry into the contemplative, mystical and apophatic dimensions of psychoanalysis. What are some of the qualities that may inspire processes of growth, healing and transformation in a patient? Part One, The Listening Cure: Psychotherapy as Spiritual Practice, considers the confluence between psychotherapy, spirituality, mysticism, meditation and contemplation. The book explores qualities such as presence, awareness, attention, mindfulness, calm abiding, reverie, patience, compassion, insight and wisdom, as well as showing how they may be enhanced by meditative and spiritual practice. Part Two, A Ray of Divine Darkness: Psychotherapy and the Apophatic Way, explores the relevance of apophatic mysticism to psychoanalysis, particularly showing its inspiration through the work of Wilfred Bion. Paradoxically using language to unsay itself, the apophatic points towards absolute reality as ineffable and unnameable. So too, Bion observed, psychoanalysis requires the ability to dwell in mystery awaiting intimations of ultimate truth, O, which cannot be known, only realised. Pickering reflects on the works of key apophatic mystics including Dionysius, Meister Eckhart and St John of the Cross; Buddhist teachings on meditation; Sunyata and Dzogchen; and Levinas' ethics of alterity. The Search for Meaning in Psychotherapy will be of great interest to both trainees and accomplished practitioners in psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, psychotherapy and counselling, as well as scholars of religious studies, those in religious orders, spiritual directors, priests and meditation teachers.

Dialogue is a recurring and significant component of Indian religious and philosophical literature. Whether it be as a narrative account of a conversation between characters within a text, as an implied response or provocation towards an interlocutor outside the text, or as a hermeneutical lens through which commentators and modern audiences can engage with an ancient text, dialogue features prominently in many of the most foundational sources from classical India. Despite its ubiquity, there are very few studies that explore this important facet of Indian texts. This book redresses this imbalance by undertaking a close textual analysis of a range of religious and philosophical literature to highlight the many uses and functions of dialogue in the sources themselves and in subsequent interpretations. Using the themes of encounter, transformation and interpretation - all of which emerged from face-to-face discussions between the contributors of this volume - each chapter explores dialogue in its own context, thereby demonstrating the variety and pervasiveness of dialogue in different genres of the textual tradition. This is a rich and detailed study that offers a fresh and timely perspective on many of the most well-known and influential sources from classical India. As such, it will be of great use to scholars of religious studies, Asian studies, comparative literature and literary theory.

Inspired by Buddhist teachings and psychoanalytic thought, this book explores gentleness as a way of being and a developmental achievement. It offers reflections on the unique position of "gentle people", as well as certain gentle layers of the psyche in general, as they meet the world. Examining the perceptual-sensory-conscious discrepancy that often exists between a gentle person and their surroundings, it follows the intricate relationship between sensitivity and fear, the need for self-holding, and the possibility of letting go. Incorporating theoretical investigation, clinical vignettes, and personal contemplation, the book looks into those states of mind and qualities of attention that may compose a favorable environment, internal and interpersonal, where gentleness can be delicately held. There, it is suggested, gentleness may gradually shed the fragility, confusion, and destructiveness that often get entangled with it, and serve as a valuable recourse. Offering a unique perspective on a topic rarely discussed, the book has broad appeal for both students and practitioners of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, as well as Buddhist practitioners and scholars.

Inspired by Buddhist teachings and psychoanalytic thought, this book explores gentleness as a way of being and a developmental achievement. It offers reflections on the unique position of "gentle people", as well as certain gentle layers of the psyche in general, as they meet the world. Examining the perceptual-sensory-conscious discrepancy that often exists between a gentle person and their surroundings, it follows the intricate relationship between sensitivity and fear, the need for self-holding, and the possibility of letting go. Incorporating theoretical investigation, clinical vignettes, and personal contemplation, the book looks into those states of mind and qualities of attention that may compose a favorable environment, internal and interpersonal, where gentleness can be delicately held. There, it is suggested, gentleness may gradually shed the fragility, confusion, and destructiveness that often get entangled with it, and serve as a valuable recourse. Offering a unique perspective on a topic rarely discussed, the book has broad appeal for both students and practitioners of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, as well as Buddhist practitioners and scholars.

Shaolin Monastery at Mount Song is considered the epicentre of the Chan school of Buddhism. It is also well known for its martial arts tradition and has long been regarded as a special cultural heritage site and an important symbol of the Chinese nation. This book is the first scholarly work in English to comprehensively examine the full history of Shaolin Monastery from 496 to 2016. More importantly, it offers a clear grasp of the origins and development of Chan Buddhism through an examination of Shaolin, and highlights the role of Shaolin and Shaolin kung fu in the construction of a national identity among the Chinese people in the past two centuries.

Having translated The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra, and following with The Platform Sutra, Red Pine now turns his attention to perhaps the greatest Sutra of all. The Lankavatara Sutra is the holy grail of Zen. Zen's first patriarch, Bodhidharma, gave a copy of this text to his successor, Hui-k'o, and told him everything he needed to know was in this book. Passed down from teacher to student ever since, this is the only Zen sutra ever spoken by the Buddha. Although it covers all the major teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, it contains but two teachings: that everything we perceive as being real is nothing but the perceptions of our own mind and that the knowledge of this is something that must be realized and experienced for oneself and cannot be expressed in words. In the words of Chinese Zen masters, these two teachings became known as  have a cup of tea" and  taste the tea."This is the first translation into English of the original text used by Bodhidharma, which was the Chinese translation made by Gunabhadra in 443 and upon which all Chinese Zen masters have relied ever since. In addition to presenting one of the most difficult of all Buddhist texts in clear English, Red Pine has also added summaries, explanations, and notes, including relevant Sanskrit terms on the basis of which the Chinese translation was made. This promises to become an essential text for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding or knowledge of Zen.

Sayings of the Buddha and other Masters will help people connect to a spiritual path and find their divinity. Each page contains inspiring quotes, sayings and insights, allowing the reader to dip in at any time. Great to place on your office desk, coffee table, bookshelf or by your bed. Quotations and sayings have been chosen from the likes of Milarepa, Longchenpa, his Holiness the 14th Dali Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and Sogyal Rinpoche. As well as wisdom from other great masters, teachers and writers such as Cicero, the Sufi poet Rumi, Lao Te Tzu, Mother Theresa and Shakespeare.

Sakya or Buddhist Origins by Mrs. Rhys Davids is as relevant today as it was in 1928, the year of its first publication. Time has added to its value. The remarkable progress in the realm of Science has not abated man's yearning for the call of the quest. As the title implies, its aim is to unravel the genuine message of Gotama, the Buddha, from the accretions in the Pali scriptures, by adopting the techniques of archaeologist. It is divided into two parts. Part one treats of the discovery , the reconstruction, the rehabilitation of that which, at its birth, was a new and true word from very man to very man, true always and everywhere. Part two tells how this gospel came to be dressed to suit a monastic set of ideals. An appendix dealing with Pali Pitakas is added. Over the years, in spite of a large number of books, the horizons of knowledge about Buddhism have remained stationary. This book takes a further step in widening that knowledge and thus provides an impetus for further research.

2020 American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis (ABAPsa) book award winner! If, when a patient enters therapy, there is an underlying yearning to discover a deeper sense of meaning or purpose, how might a therapist rise to such a challenge? As both Carl Jung and Wilfred Bion observed, the patient may be seeking something that has a spiritual as well as psychotherapeutic dimension. Presented in two parts, The Search for Meaning in Psychotherapy is a profound inquiry into the contemplative, mystical and apophatic dimensions of psychoanalysis. What are some of the qualities that may inspire processes of growth, healing and transformation in a patient? Part One, The Listening Cure: Psychotherapy as Spiritual Practice, considers the confluence between psychotherapy, spirituality, mysticism, meditation and contemplation. The book explores qualities such as presence, awareness, attention, mindfulness, calm abiding, reverie, patience, compassion, insight and wisdom, as well as showing how they may be enhanced by meditative and spiritual practice. Part Two, A Ray of Divine Darkness: Psychotherapy and the Apophatic Way, explores the relevance of apophatic mysticism to psychoanalysis, particularly showing its inspiration through the work of Wilfred Bion. Paradoxically using language to unsay itself, the apophatic points towards absolute reality as ineffable and unnameable. So too, Bion observed, psychoanalysis requires the ability to dwell in mystery awaiting intimations of ultimate truth, O, which cannot be known, only realised. Pickering reflects on the works of key apophatic mystics including Dionysius, Meister Eckhart and St John of the Cross; Buddhist teachings on meditation; Sunyata and Dzogchen; and Levinas' ethics of alterity. The Search for Meaning in Psychotherapy will be of great interest to both trainees and accomplished practitioners in psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, psychotherapy and counselling, as well as scholars of religious studies, those in religious orders, spiritual directors, priests and meditation teachers.

In this book, Vasubandhu's classic work Refutation of the Theory of a Self is translated and provided with an introduction and commentary. The translation, the first into a modern Western language from the Sanskrit text, is intended for use by those who wish to begin a careful philosophical study of Indian Buddhist theories of persons. Special features of the introduction and commentary are their extensive explanations of the arguments for the theories of persons of Vasubandhu and the Pudgalavadines, the Buddhist philosophers whose theory is the central target of Vasubandhu's refutation of the theory of a self.

The aim of this book is to address the relevance of Wilfrid Sellars' philosophy to understanding topics in Buddhist philosophy. While contemporary scholars of Buddhism often take Sellars as a touchstone for philosophical analysis, and while many take Sellars' corpus as their entree into current philosophical discourse, fewer contemporary philosophers have crossed the bridge in the other direction, using Sellarsian ideas as a way of entering into Buddhist philosophy. The essays in this volume, written by both philosophers and Buddhist Studies scholars, are divided into two sections organized around two of Sellars' essays that have been particularly influential in Buddhist Studies: "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" and "Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind." The chapters in Part I generally address questions concerning the two truths, while those in Part II concern issues in epistemology and philosophy of mind. The volume will be of interest to Sellars scholars, to scholars interested in the contemporary interaction of Buddhist philosophy and Western philosophy and to scholars of Buddhist Studies.