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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Oriental religions > Confucianism
The Essential Mengzi offers a representative selection from Bryan
Van Norden's acclaimed translation of the full work, including the
most frequently studied passages and covering all of the work's
major themes. An appendix of selections from the classic commentary
of Zhu Xi--one of the most influential and insightful interpreters
of Confucianism--keyed to relevant passages, provides access to the
text and to its reception and interpretation. Also included are a
general Introduction, timeline, glossary, and selected
bibliography.
Confucianism is the foundation of Chinese culture, just as
Christianity is the foundation of Western culture. The father-son
relationship is at the center of Confucian thinking and the ethical
natural relationship is the model for other familial, social, and
political relationships. The divine father-son relationship between
God and Jesus is at the center of Christian consideration and
likewise is the model of Christian familial, social, and political
relationships. To date, scholarship has opined that the Confucian
father-son relationship established on a consanguineous basis has
no comparable aspects with the spiritual based Christian divine
father-son relationship. The author provides a compelling argument,
backed up by focused scriptural and religious readings, to overturn
this longstanding perception. The particular appeal of this book is
to offer a religious and cultural comparative study from this most
cardinal and crucial relationship, through the study of Xunzi and
Paul, two r
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have
transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have
inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have
enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched
lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the
great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas
shook civilization and helped make us who we are.;Perhaps the most
widely read thinker of all time, Confucius transformed Chinese
philosophy with his belief that the greatest goal in life was
pursuit of The Way': a search for virtue not as a means to rewards
in this world or the next, but as the pinnacle of human existence.
Engaging in existential discourse beyond the European tradition,
this book turns to Asian philosophies to reassess vital questions
of life's purpose, death's imminence, and our capacity for living
meaningfully in conditions of uncertainty. Inspired by the dilemmas
of European existentialism, this cross-cultural study seeks
concrete techniques for existential practice via the philosophies
of East Asia. The investigation begins with the provocative
writings of twentieth-century Korean Buddhist nun Kim Iryop, who
asserts that meditative concentration conducts a potent energy
outward throughout the entire karmic network, enabling the radical
transformation of our shared existential conditions. Understanding
her claim requires a look at East Asian sources more broadly.
Considering practices as diverse as Buddhist merit-making
ceremonies, Confucian/Ruist methods for self-cultivation, the
ritual memorization and recitation of texts, and Yijing divination,
the book concludes by advocating a speculative turn. This
'speculative existentialism' counters the suspicion toward
metaphysics characteristic of twentieth-century European
existential thought and, at the same time, advances a program for
action. It is not a how-to guide for living, but rather a
philosophical methodology that takes seriously the power of mental
cultivation to transform the meaning of the life that we share.
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