Japanese film is enduringly fascinating, challenging and rewarding. This book provides a cultural, historical and philosophical study of Japanese film, from the silent era to the present, focusing on its expansive consciousness. The author examines masterpieces by Yasujir? Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Nagisa Oshima and many other directors, discussing their influence on the Japanese culture of esoteric Zen Buddhism and relating them to recent neuroscientific theories of brain trauma.

Throughout the history of Buddhism, little has been said prior to the Twentieth Century that explicitly raises the question whether we have free will, though the Buddha rejected fatalism and some Buddhists have addressed whether karma is fatalistic. Recently, however, Buddhist and Western philosophers have begun to explicitly discuss Buddhism and free will. This book incorporates Buddhist philosophy more explicitly into the Western analytic philosophical discussion of free will, both in order to render more perspicuous Buddhist ideas that might shed light on the Western philosophical debate, and in order to render more perspicuous the many possible positions on the free will debate that are available to Buddhist philosophy. The book covers: Buddhist and Western perspectives on the problem of free will The puzzle of whether free will is possible if, as Buddhists believe, there is no agent/self Theravada views Mahayana views Evidential considerations from science, meditation, and skepticism The first book to bring together classical and contemporary perspectives on free will in Buddhist thought, it is of interest to academics working on Buddhist and Western ethics, comparative philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, agency, and personal identity.

Theravada Buddhism has experienced a powerful and far-reaching revival in modern Nepal, especially among the Newar Buddhist laity, many of whom are reorganizing their lives according to its precepts, practices and ideals. This book documents these far-reaching social and personal transformations and links them to political, economic and cultural shifts associated with late modernity, and especially neoliberal globalization. Nepal has changed radically over the last century, particularly since the introduction of liberal democracy and an open-market economy in 1990. The rise of lay vipassana meditation has also dramatically impacted the Buddhist landscape. Drawing on recently revived understandings of ethics as embodied practices of self-formation, the author argues that the Theravada turn is best understood as an ethical movement that offers practitioners ways of engaging, and models for living in, a rapidly changing world. The book takes readers into the Buddhist reform from the perspectives of its diverse practitioners, detailing devotees' ritual and meditative practices, their often conflicted relations to Vajrayana Buddhism and Newar civil society, their struggles over identity in a formerly Hindu nation-state, and the political, cultural, institutional and moral reorientations that becoming a "pure Buddhist"-as Theravada devotees understand themselves-entails. Based on more than 20 years of anthropological fieldwork, this book is an important contribution to scholarly debates over modern Buddhism, ethical practices, and the anthropology of religion. It is of interest to students and scholars of Asian Religion, Anthropology, Buddhism and Philosophy.

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. Topics include interreligious dialogue, ultimate reality, nature and ecology, social and political issues of liberation, and ultimate transformation or liberation.

This is an interdisciplinary and holistic survey of Pali Buddhism, covering philological, indigenous and philosophical approaches in a single volume. The work is divided into three main sections: Philological Foundations; Insiders' Understandings; and Philosophical Implications.

Using a commentary on the influential text, the Manjusri-namasamgiti, 'The Chanting of the Names of Manjusri', this book deals with Buddhist tantric meditation practice and its doctrinal context in early-medieval India. The commentary was written by the 8th-9th century Indian tantric scholar Vilasavajra, and the book contains a translation of the first five chapters. The translation is extensively annotated, and accompanied by introductions as well as a critical edition of the Sanskrit text based on eight Sanskrit manuscripts and two blockprint editions of the commentary's Tibetan translation. The commentary interprets its root text within an elaborate framework of tantric visualisation and meditation that is based on an expanded form of the Buddhist Yoga Tantra mandala, the Vajradhatu-mandala. At its heart is the figure of Manjusri, no longer the familiar bodhisattva of wisdom, but now the embodiment of the awakened non-dual gnosis that underlies all Buddhas as well their activity in the cosmos. The book contributes to our understanding of the history of Indian tantric Buddhism in a period of significant change and innovation. With its extensively annotated translation and lengthy introductions the book is designed to appeal not only to professional scholars and research students but also to contemporary Buddhists.

Places the controversy initiated by the Tibetan Tsong kha pa - who elaborated on one of the eight difficult points in understanding Madhyamaka philosophy - in its Indian and Tibetan context.

Both Buddhism and dance invite the practitioner into present-moment embodiment. The rise of Western Buddhism, sacred dance and dance/movement therapy, along with the mindfulness meditation boom, has created opportunities for Buddhism to inform dance aesthetics and for Buddhist practice to be shaped by dance. This collection of new essays documents the innovative work being done at the intersection of Buddhism and dance. The contributors-scholars, choreographers and Buddhist masters-discuss movement, performance, ritual and theory, among other topics. The final section provides a variety of guided practices.

Drawing from more than a decade of field and archival research, this monograph concerns Cambodian cultural history and historiography, with an ultimate aim of broadening and deepening bases for understanding the Cambodian Theravadin politico-cultural complex. The book takes the form of an interdisciplinary analysis of performative and representational strategies for constituting social collectivities, largely developed at Angkor. The analysis involves extended close readings of a wide range of cultural artefacts including epigraphic and manuscript texts, sculpture and ritual practices. The author proposes a critical re-evaluation of dominant paradigms of Cambodian historiography in view of engendering new histories, or hybrid histories, which make room for previously absent perspectives and voices, while developing new theoretical tools engaging with and partially derived from "indigenous" narrative practices in the broadest sense. In this history-making process the historical event is shown to never be entirely separable from its aesthetic representation. Particular attention is paid to the roles of sexual difference in such (re)constructions of history. The book presents a theory of power capable of accounting for the historical phenomena by which vernacular cultures appropriate, subvert and submit to cosmopolitan forces. It charts out a novel approach to the study of classical Southeast Asian materials, and is of interest to students and scholars of Asian Art, Religion and Philosophy, Buddhism and Southeast Asian History.

Padmasambhava, the Indian mystic and tantric Buddhist master, is second only to Buddha Shakyamuni as the most famous personage in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism. In the ninth century, he made the journey across the Himalayan Mountains to establish Buddhism for the people in that country. Now, more than 1,000 years later, we are able to hear and be touched by his voice as contained within this collection of oral advice. The selections in Dakini Teachings are timely advice - short, direct instructions relating to the three levels of Buddhist practice: Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The main emphasis of Padmasambhava's teaching is that spiritual knowledge must be personalized and not remain as mere theory. The book includes an introductory discourse by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and a short biography of Padmasambhava by Jamgon Kongtrul the First.

First published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Prosperity is guaranteed by God Himself revealed through His Word. Most Christians believe that God wants them to prosper, and rightly so. This is because in the Bible God tells us He not only wants us to prosper but also that He plans for us to prosper. Yet prosperity has eluded so many, not because of lack of desire but because of lack of understanding. In search of this dilemma, they look for Scriptures to guide them. They find that the answer is not found in one topic or one scripture but scattered throughout the Bible in over 1,500 Scriptures dealing directly with the subject. There are approximately 1,000 more dealing indirectly with prosperity in some form. My research has taken me through all of those Scriptures and put together an understanding that is easy to follow from one chapter to another, revealing in Scripture in such a way that answers any question you may be facing in your own life that may be preventing you from achieving true prosperity. There are many misconceptions and teachings on the prosperity doctrine that miss the mark and turn off many believers and nonbelievers alike. This book reveals the false teachings of prosperity and how to detect the difference at a glance. No matter where you are in your Christian walk there is something here for you. Remember, it is what you learn after you know it all that makes the biggest difference in your life. If you do not consider yourself a Christian, don't let that deter you from reading this book. After reading this book, you may just want to become one. Don't waste another minute. We know that God never lies, God never fails, and God truly wants you to prosper. Suggested Reading Trust God for Your Finances by Jack Hartman The Generosity Factor by Ken J. Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy The Blessed Life by Robert Morris

Pali is one of the Middle Indian idioms and the classical language of Theravada Buddhism. It is therefore important both to linguists and students of Buddhism. This introductory book centres on a collection of original texts, each selected as an especially important and beautiful formulation of a Buddhist idea. By means of a vocabulary, translation and commentary, each text is explained so concretely that it can be read with little preparation. Detailed explanations are provided for the many technical terms, which have frustrated so many western explorers of Buddhism. For reference, a grammar is provided. Sanskrit parallels to many of the words are given, as well as a special chapter comparing the two languages.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Healing the Heart and Mind with Mindfulness is a practical book that provides strategies using mindfulness to manage stress, anxiety and depression, as well as ways to cultivate psychological wellbeing. Uniquely, it combines a traditional Buddhist approach to mindfulness with contemporary psychology and current perspectives. Drawing on the author's many years of clinical experience as a psychologist as well as his personal experience in Buddhist meditation practices, it outlines how the Buddha's four applications of mindfulness can provide a pathway to psychological wellbeing, and how this can be used personally or with clinical populations. This accessible, user friendly book provides strategies for healing the heart and mind. Malcolm Huxter introduces mindfulness as it is presented in Buddhist psychology and guides the reader through meditations in a systematic way. The practices are clearly explained and supported by relevant real life stories. Being aware that mindfulness and meditation are simple but not easy, Huxter guides the reader from the basics of mindfulness and meditation through to the more refined aspects. He provides a variety of different exercises and guided meditations so that individuals are able to access what suits them. The guided meditations can be streamed or accessed as free audio downloads. Healing the Heart and Mind with Mindfulness is aimed at anyone who wishes to use mindfulness practices for psychological freedom. This book provides insight and clarity into the clinical and general applications of Buddhist mindfulness and will be of interest to mental health practitioners, students of mindfulness, professional mindfulness coaches and trainers, researchers and academics wishing to understand Buddhist mindfulness and the general public.

Scholars of Buddhism, themselves Buddhist, here 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.

The governance arrangements put in place for Siberia and Mongolia after the collapse of the Qing and Russian Empires were highly unusual, experimental and extremely interesting. The Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic established within the Soviet Union in 1923 and the independent Mongolian People's Republic established a year later were supposed to represent a new model of transnational, post-national governance, incorporating religious and ethno-national independence, under the leadership of the coming global political party, the Communist International. The model, designed to be suitable for a socialist, decolonised Asia, and for a highly diverse population in a strategic border region, was intended to be globally applicable. This book, based on extensive original research, charts the development of these unusual governance arrangements, discusses how the ideologies of nationalism, socialism and Buddhism were borrowed from, and highlights the relevance of the subject for the present day world, where multiculturality, interconnectedness and interdependency become ever more complicated.

The Return of the Buddha traces the development of Buddhist archaeology in colonial India, examines its impact on the reconstruction of India's Buddhist past, and the making of a public and academic discourse around these archaeological discoveries. The book discusses the role of the state and modern Buddhist institutions in the reconstitution of national heritage through promulgation of laws for the protection of Buddhist monuments, acquiring of land around the sites, restoration of edifices, and organization of the display and dissemination of relics. It also highlights the engagement of prominent Indian figures, such as Nehru, Gandhi, Ambedkar, and Tagore, with Buddhist themes in their writings. Stressing upon the lasting legacy of Buddhism in independent India, the author explores the use of Buddhist symbols and imagery in nation-building and the making of the constitution, as also the recent efforts to resurrect Buddhist centers of learning such as Nalanda. With rich archival sources, the book will immensely interest scholars, researchers and students of modern Indian history, culture, archaeology, Buddhist studies, and heritage management.

This is one of the oldest collections of Buddhist discourses in the Pali canon; by far one of the most popular as well as the most important. Written in a mixture of prose and verse, it presents a code of conduct and provides the basis for a system of moral philosophy. A prime source work.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First published in 1989. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Book & Slipcase. The reader's regular perusal, and intelligent contemplation of the spiritual 'Plums' that are strewn about in these books, promises to help the spiritualising process in all serious students of esoteric lore, as well as all seekers of God, to become ever more firmly rooted (mind and heart) in the Divine.