The Irish Buddhist is the biography of an extraordinary Irish emigrant, sailor, and migrant worker who became a Buddhist monk and anti-colonial activist in early twentieth-century Asia. Born in Dublin in the 1850s, U Dhammaloka energetically challenged the values and power of the British Empire and scandalized the colonial establishment of the 1900s. He rallied Buddhists across Asia, set up schools, and argued down Christian missionaries-often using western atheist arguments. He was tried for sedition, tracked by police and intelligence services, and died at least twice. His story illuminates the forgotten margins and interstices of imperial power, the complexities of class, ethnicity and religious belonging in colonial Asia, and the fluidity of identity in the high Victorian period. Too often, the story of the pan-Asian Buddhist revival movement and Buddhism's remaking as a world religion has been told 'from above,' highlighting scholarly writers, middle-class reformers and ecclesiastical hierarchies. By turns fraught, hilarious, pioneering, and improbable, Dhammaloka's adventures 'from below' highlight the changing and contested meanings of Buddhism in colonial Asia. Through his story, authors Alicia Turner, Brian Bocking, and Laurence Cox offer a window into the worlds of ethnic minorities and diasporas, transnational networks, poor whites, and social movements. Dhammaloka's dramatic life rewrites the previously accepted story of how Buddhism became a modern global religion.

"A masterpiece. . . . It teaches us how not to fear and repress, but to rechannel and harness the most powerful energies of life toward freedom and bliss." --ROBERT THURMAN
It is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as if it is the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding. In his controversial defense of desire, he makes clear that it is the key to deepening intimacy with ourselves, each other, and our world.

Proposing that spiritual attainment does not have to be detached from intimacy or eroticism, "Open to Desire" begins with an exploration of the state of dissatisfaction that causes us to cling to irrational habits. Dr. Epstein helps readers overcome their own fears of desire so that they can more readily bridge the gap between self and other, cope with feelings of incompletion, and get past the perception of others as objects. Freed from clinging and shame, desire's spiritual potential can then be opened up.

A beautifully illustrated study of the caves at Dunhuang, exploring how this important Buddhist site has been visualized from its creation to today Situated at the crossroads of the northern and southern routes of the ancient silk routes in western China, Dunhuang is one of the richest Buddhist sites in the world, with more than 500 richly decorated cave temples constructed between the fourth and fourteenth centuries. The sculptures, murals, portable paintings, and manuscripts found in the Mogao and Yulin Caves at Dunhuang represent every aspect of Buddhism. From its earliest construction to the present, this location has been visualized by many individuals, from the architects, builders, and artists who built the caves to twentieth-century explorers, photographers, and conservators, as well as contemporary artists. Visualizing Dunhuang: Seeing, Studying, and Conserving the Caves is a paperback edition of the ninth volume of the magnificent nine-volume hardback set, and examines how the Lo Archive, a vast collection of photographs taken in the 1940s of the Mogao and Yulin Caves, inspires a broad range of scholarship. Lavishly illustrated with selected Lo Archive and modern photographs, the essays address three main areas-Dunhuang as historical record, as site, and as art and art history. Leading experts across three continents examine a wealth of topics, including expeditionary photography and cave architecture, to demonstrate the intellectual richness of Dunhuang. Diverse as they are in their subjects and methodologies, the essays represent only a fraction of what can be researched about Dunhuang. The high concentration of caves at Mogao and Yulin and their exceptional contents chronicle centuries of artistic styles, shifts in Buddhist doctrine, and patterns of political and private patronage-providing an endless source of material for future work. Contributors include Neville Agnew, Dora Ching, Jun Hu, Annette Juliano, Richard Kent, Wei-Cheng Lin, Cary Liu, Maria Menshikova, Jerome Silbergeld, Roderick Whitfield, and Zhao Shengliang. Published in association with the Tang Center for East Asian Art, Princeton University

Associated with the promotion of world peace, the Kalachakra -- or "Wheel of Time" -- tantra is one of the most detailed and encompassing systems of theory and practice within Tibetan Buddhism. "Kalachakra Tantra" contains a complete translation of the Kalachakra initiation ritual as conferred by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Toronto in April 2004, along with his commentary, and a comprehensive introduction by Professor Jeffrey Hopkins that explores the Kalachakra's rich symbolism, meaning, and history. The book also includes the Six-Session Yoga.

What is Buddhist Feminism? This book examines reasons why Buddhism and feminism may seem to be incompatible, and shows that Buddhist and feminist philosophies can work together to challenge patriarchal structures. Current scholarship usually compares Buddhism and feminism to judge their compatibility, rather than describing a Buddhist Feminist perspective or method. Sokthan Yeng instead looks for a pattern that connects Buddhist and feminist traditions. In particular, she explores possible exchanges between feminist and Buddhist philosophies which highlight how they each contribute to a more nuanced understanding of anger. Yeng explores how a Buddhist feminist approach would allow women's anger to be transformed from that which is outside the bounds of philosophy into that which contributes to philosophical discourse in the East and West, and between the two.

This book explores the value impact that theist and other worldviews have on our world and its inhabitants. Providing an extended defense of anti-theism - the view that God's existence would (or does) actually make the world worse in certain respects - Lougheed explores God's impact on a broad range of concepts including privacy, understanding, dignity, and sacrifice. The second half of the book is dedicated to the expansion of the current debate beyond monotheism and naturalism, providing an analysis of the axiological status of other worldviews such as pantheism, ultimism, and Buddhism. A lucid exploration of contemporary and relevant questions about the value impact of God's existence, this book is an invaluable resource for scholars interested in axiological questions in the philosophy of religion.

The Pali tradition presents a diverse and often contradictory picture of women. This book examines women's roles as they are described in the Pali canon and its commentaries. Taking into consideration the wider socio-religious context and drawing from early brahmanical literature and epigraphical findings, it contrasts these descriptions with the doctrinal account of women's spiritual abilities. The book explores gender in the Pali texts in order to delineate what it means to be a woman both in the context in which the texts were composed and in the context of their ultimate goal - that of achieving escape from the round of rebirths. The critical investigation focuses on the internal relationships and dynamics of one tradition and employs a novel methodology, which the author calls "critical sympathy". This assumes that the tradition's teaching is valid for all, in particular that its main goal, nibbana, is accessible to all human beings. By considering whether and how women's roles fit within this path, the author examines whether women have spiritual agency not only as bhikkhunis (Buddhist nuns), but also as wives and mothers. It offers a new understanding that focuses on how the tradition construes women's traditional roles within an interdependent community. It aims to understand how what many scholars have seen as contradictory and inconsistent characterizations of women in Buddhism have been accepted and endorsed by the Pali tradition. With an aim to show that the Pali canon offers an account of women that is doctrinally coherent and consistent with its sociological facts, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Buddhism and Asian Religion.

This book approaches the Dhamma, the Buddha's teaching, from a Buddhistic perspective, viewing various individual teachings presented in hundreds of early discourses of Pali canon, comprehending them under a single systemic thought of a single individual called the Buddha. It explicates the structure of this thought, going through various contextual teachings and teaching categories of the discourses, treating them as necessary parts of a liberating thought that constitutes the right view of one who embraces the Buddha's teaching as his or her sole philosophy of life. It interprets the diverse individual dhammas as being in congruence with each other; and as contributory to forming the whole of the Buddha's teaching, the Dhamma. By exploring some selected topics such as ignorance, configurations, not-self, and nibbana in thirteen chapters, the book enables readers to understand the whole (the Dhamma) in relation to the parts (the dhammas), and the parts in relation to the whole, while realizing the importance of studying every single dhamma category or topic not for its own sake but for understand the entirety of the teaching. This way of viewing and explaining the teachings of the discourses enables readers to clearly comprehend the teaching of the Buddha in early Buddhism.

Essentially a lively, accessible, and informative introduction to Buddhism, Introducing Buddhism simply presents the life story of the Buddha and the essential teachings of Buddhism, then encourages us to examine them for ourselves. Chris Pauling explores the three traditional strands of the Buddhist path--ethics, meditation, and wisdom--as well as the various approaches to Buddhist practice that the main traditions have developed through the ages--devotion, study, work, and reflection. He also includes a brief history of Buddhism and takes a refreshing look at common questions about such matters as karma and rebirth and whether Buddhists believe in God.

In a world seemingly moving at hyperspeed, it can be daunting to simply slow down -- or stop -- even briefly to try to make sense of things. Meditation has been proven to help. But exactly what is it? Why practice it? Which techniques are best? This popular guide answers these and many more questions for anyone who wants to begin -- or is struggling to maintain -- a meditation practice. Written by a Western Buddhist nun with solid experience in both the practice and teaching of meditation, "How to Meditate contains a wealth of practical advice on a variety of authentic techniques, from what to do with the mind, to how to sit, to visualizations and other traditional practices. Best of all, McDonald's warm, encouraging approach is as close to the intimacy of private instruction as a book can be.

This book, written with hospital spiritual care providers in mind, investigates how to expand the field and scope of compassion within the hospital context, for the spiritual care and safety of transgender patients. Written by a law-educated pastoral counselor, it advocates for chaplain legal literacy, and explains the consequences of spiritual care providers not knowing more about the law. It explores the current political and legal situation transgender hospital patients find themselves in, and especially how these new policies put transgender people at risk when they are in a hospital setting. Pamela Ayo Yetunde offers Buddhist-Christian activist interreligious dialogue methods to promote deeper understanding of how spiritual practices can cultivate empathy for transgender patients.

Sister Chan Khong's autobiography tells the story of her spiritual and personal odyssey through the many years of her life. The book's centerpiece is her moving account of her return to Vietnam, her homeland, after 40 years of exile. She describes in refreshing detail her emotional reactions, the reunions with many old friends and fellow activists, and her impression of the "new Vietnam" where Buddhists still struggle for religious freedom. Often compared to "The Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, " this memoir connects to larger themes, especialy when the author discusses the life and teaching of her fellow exile, Thich Nhat Hanh, gives an overview of the development of the European and American peace and human rights movements, and introduces readers to the Vietnamese style of Buddhism. "Learning True Love" is a testament to the power of tenacity and faith.

In many ways, Buddhism has become the global religion of the modern world. For its contemporary followers, the ideal of enlightenment promises inner peace and worldly harmony. And whereas other philosophies feel abstract and disembodied, Buddhism offers meditation as a means to realize this ideal. If we could all be as enlightened as Buddhists, some imagine, we could live in a much better world. For some time now, however, this beatific image of Buddhism has been under attack. Scholars and practitioners have criticized it as a Western fantasy that has nothing to do with the actual experiences of Buddhists. Avram Alpert combines personal experience and readings of modern novels to offer another way to understand modern Buddhism. He argues that it represents a rich resource not for attaining perfection but rather for finding meaning and purpose in a chaotic world. Finding unexpected affinities across world literature-Rudyard Kipling in colonial India, Yukio Mishima in postwar Japan, Bessie Head escaping apartheid South Africa-as well as in his own experiences living with Tibetan exiles, Alpert shows how these stories illuminate a world in which suffering is inevitable and total enlightenment is impossible. Yet they also give us access to partial enlightenments: powerful insights that become available when we come to terms with imperfection and stop looking for wholeness. A Partial Enlightenment reveals the moments of personal and social transformation that the inventions of modern Buddhism help make possible.

Wondrous Brutal Fictions presents eight seminal works from the seventeenth-century Japanese sekkyo and ko-joruri puppet theaters, many translated into English for the first time. Both poignant and disturbing, they range from stories of cruelty and brutality to tales of love, charity, and outstanding filial devotion, representing the best of early Edo-period literary and performance traditions and acting as important precursors to the Bunraku and Kabuki styles of theater. As works of Buddhist fiction, these texts relate the histories and miracles of particular buddhas, bodhisattvas, and local deities. Many of their protagonists are cultural icons, recognizable through their representation in later works of Japanese drama, fiction, and film. The collection includes such sekkyo "sermon-ballad" classics as Sansho Dayu, Karukaya, and Oguri, as well as the "old joruri" plays Goo-no-hime and Amida's Riven Breast. R. Keller Kimbrough provides a critical introduction to these vibrant performance genres, emphasizing the role of seventeenth-century publishing in their spread. He also details six major sekkyo chanters and their playbooks, filling a crucial scholarly gap in early Edo-period theater. More than fifty reproductions of mostly seventeenth-century woodblock illustrations offer rich, visual foundations for the critical introduction and translated tales. Ideal for students and scholars of medieval and early modern Japanese literature, theater, and Buddhism, this collection provides an unprecedented encounter with popular Buddhist drama and its far-reaching impact on literature and culture.

In the 1960s, Americans combined psychedelics with Buddhist meditation to achieve direct experience through altered states of consciousness. As some practitioners became more committed to Buddhism, they abandoned the use of psychedelics in favor of stricter mental discipline, but others carried on with the experiment, advancing a fascinating alchemy called psychedelic Buddhism. Many think exploration with psychedelics in Buddhism faded with the revolutionary spirit of the sixties, but the underground practice has evolved into a brand of religiosity as eclectic and challenging as the era that created it. Altered States combines interviews with well-known figures in American Buddhism and psychedelic spirituality-including Lama Surya Das, Erik Davis, Allan Badiner, Geoffrey Shugen Arnold Sensei, Rick Strassman, and Charles Tart-and personal stories of everyday practitioners to define a distinctly American religious phenomenon. The nuanced perspective that emerges, grounded in a detailed history of psychedelic religious experience, adds critical depth to debates over the controlled use of psychedelics and drug-induced mysticism. The book also opens new paths of inquiry into such issues as re-enchantment, the limits of rationality, the biochemical and psychosocial basis of altered states of consciousness, and the nature of subjectivity.

The Buddha and Aristotle offer competing visions of the best possible life to which human beings can aspire. In this volume, Seth Zuiho Segall compares Theravada and Mahayana accounts of enlightenment with Aristotelian and neo-Aristotelian accounts of eudaimonia, and proposes a syncretic model of eudaimonic enlightenment that, given prevalent Western beliefs about well-being and human flourishing, provides a credible new end-goal for modern Western Buddhist practice. He then demonstrates how this proposed synthesis is already deeply reflected in contemporary Western Buddhist rhetoric. Segall re-evaluates traditional Buddhist teachings on desire, attachment, aversion, nirvana, and selfhood from the eudaimonic enlightenment perspective, and explores the perspective's ethical and metaphysical implications.

The second volume of the fifteenth-century spiritual classic that condenses the enormous breadth of Buddhist teachings into one easy-to-follow meditation manual.
"The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment" (Tibetan title: "Lam rim chen mo") is one of the brightest jewels in the world's treasury of sacred literature, and certainly in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. The author, Tsong-kha-pa, completed this masterpiece in 1402 to help lead people along a series of progressive stages from this-worldly self-centeredness to cosmically altruistic expansiveness. For centuries it has continued to be essential reading for any student of Buddhist thought who wants to put the Buddha's teachings into practice.
Volume Two is the heart of the "Great Treatise." It explains how to train in the six perfections in order to develop the heart of compassion.

Living in a market-driven economy where short-term profit and economic growth appear to be the ultimate goal, this book explores how Buddhist teachings could bridge the divide between our spiritual and material needs and reconcile the tension between doing good for social interest and doing well for financial success. This book serves as a pioneering effort to systematically introduce Buddhist Economics as an interdisciplinary subject to audience with limited background in either Buddhism or economics. It elaborates some core concepts in Buddhist teachings, their relevance to economics, and means of achieving sustainability for individuals, society and the environment with the cultivation of ethical living and well-being. Through scholarly research from relevant fields including Buddhist studies, economics, behavioral finance, cognitive science, and psychology, this book illustrates the relevance of Buddhist values in the contemporary economy and society, as well as the efficacy of Buddhist perspectives on decision-making in daily life.

Einstein famously stated that there are only two ways to live: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is. When we're undefended, psychologically naked with nothing standing between us and our immediate experience, then everyday miracles are within reach. Opening to the moment unfolding right before our eyes, exactly as it is, becomes a doorway into a magical landscape. What Was in Buddha's Left Hand? inspires us to experience the world with refreshing openness and appreciation, where we might discover enlightenment where we least expect to find it.

Struggling with depression, anxiety, illness, an eating disorder, a difficult relationship, fear, self-hatred, addiction or anger? Renowned Buddhist leader Tsultrim Allione explains that the harder we fight our demons, the stronger they become. Offering Eastern answers to Western needs, Tsultrim seamlessly weaves traditions from Tibet and the Western world to offer a new and unique answer to the problems that plague us: that rather than attempt to purge them, we need to reverse our approach and nurture our demons. This powerful five-step practice forms a strategy for transforming negative emotions, relationships, fears, illness and self-defeating patterns. This will help you cope with the inner enemies that undermine our best intentions.