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.

First published in 1990, East of Existentialism was written to explore new perspectives on eternal questions such as 'Who am I?', 'Why am I here?', and 'Where am I going?'. The book brings together insights from existentialism in the West and Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the East, and presents practical case studies throughout to show the student how apparently abstruse themes relate to real-life situations. Divided into three parts, the first considers major Western contributions to the themes of human nature and destiny. The central section examines the connection between existentialism in the West and dominant philosophical schools in India and China. The last three chapters explore the relevance of Eastern ideas to Western thought, not only to provide philosophical theory but also to offer a greater understanding of moral and social dilemmas and of practical living. A full glossary explains the technical terms used in the book. East of Existentialism will appeal to those with an interest in philosophy and religious studies.

The eagerly awaited Complete Works of Sangharakshita begins with Volume 9 on Dr Ambedkar and the revival of Buddhism. One of the most far-reaching of Sangharakshita's contributions to modern Buddhism was giving shape to the Buddhist conversion movement begun by the great Indian statesman and reformer, Dr B.R. Ambedkar. In 1956, along with hundreds of thousands of his followers, Ambedkar renounced the Hindu caste system - according to which they were condemned to be 'untouchable' - and converted to Buddhism, thus beginning a new life.The first part of this volume tells the story of how Ambedkar overcame the suffering and struggle of his early years to become the shaper of the Indian constitution and the leader of his people to a new life; and how, following Ambedkar's untimely death, Sangharakshita took on the challenge of teaching Buddhism to the new community of Buddhists.The second part is a collection of 36 edited talks, many published here for the first time, from Sangharakshita's tour of the Buddhist communities in India in 1981-2. Wherever and in whatever circumstances you live, there is much here to bring new life and depth to your Buddhist practice.

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

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.

Buddhism is not a way of harmony and cosmic unity, as Westerners tend to think. Although Buddhism is a rapidly rising religion in the West, few Westerners know what Buddhism is like from the inside. Steve, who made the journey from Buddhism to Christ, explains the Buddhist mind-set and worldview, and makes useful points of comparison. He sets out the concerns, fears, and stresses that Buddhists experience, and helps Christians understand what they truly have to offer.

Studded with stories, parables, and illuminating observations, this book is remarkably easy to read and told by an engaging and original guide.

"A groundbreaking book . . . I was challenged afresh and stirred in my heart to confidently take the next step in reaching Buddhists with the Gospel."
--from the foreword by Dr. Wayne Cordeiro, Pacific Rim Bible College, Hawaii

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.

Sangharakshita read the Diamond Sutra for the first time the summer he turned seventeen. It seemed to awaken him to something whose existence he had forgotten, and he joyfully embraced those profound teachings 'with an unqualified acceptance'. This experience decided the whole future direction of his life.In this first volume of memoirs he describes how, from a working-class childhood in the London suburb of Tooting, he came, a twenty-four-year-old Buddhist novice monk, to Kalimpong in the eastern Himalayas. Sangharakshita paints a vivid picture of the people, the places and the experiences that shaped his life: his childhood, his army days, and the gurus he met during his years as a wandering ascetic staying in the caves and ashrams of India. He moves between the ordinary and the extraordinary, from the mundane to the sublime; his narrative takes in the psychological and aesthetic, the philosophical and spiritual. His experiences are both universal - love and loss, comedy and tragedy - and unique to what is an exceptional life.

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 book is intended to encourage the use of comparative theology in contemporary Buddhist-Christian dialogue as a new approach that would truly respect each religious tradition's uniqueness and make dialogue beneficial for all participants interested in a real theological exchange. As a result of the impasse reached by the current theologies of religions (exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism) in formulating a constructive approach in dialogue, this volume assesses the thought of the founding fathers of an academic Buddhist-Christian dialogue in search of clues that would encourage a comparativist approach. These founding fathers are considered to be three important representatives of the Kyoto School - Kitaro Nishida, Keiji Nishitani, and Masao Abe - and John Cobb, an American process theologian. The guiding line for assessing their views of dialogue is the concept of human perfection, as it is expressed by the original traditions in Mahayana Buddhism and Orthodox Christianity. Following Abe's methodology in dialogue, an Orthodox contribution to comparative theology proposes a reciprocal enrichment of traditions, not by syncretistic means, but by providing a better understanding and even correction of one's own tradition when considering it in the light of the other, while using internal resources for making the necessary corrections.

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

Buddhist Folk Tales is a wonderful collection of ancient and modern stories from the Buddhist tradition. From short, snappy tales to longer narratives, they will entertain and tantalise the emotions. Laugh, sigh and cry at stories about previous lives, why the Monkey King wanted to be Master of the Universe, the grimace that comes with the phrase 'out of the mouths of babes', and ever-endearing mother love. This is a book to treasure, and read time and again.

'The natural sympathy and understanding of people everywhere must be the soil in which the new humanism can thrive.' For Daisaku Ikeda, whose words these are, education has long been one of the fundamental priorities of his work and teaching. His emphasis on the intellectual legacy bequeathed to humanity by the great teachers of civilization is in this volume encapsulated by the notion of a 'new humanism': a significant residue ofwisdom that in the right circumstances may be passed on to future generations, expanding horizons, making connections between different cultures and encouraging fresh insights and new discoveries across the globe. These circumstances are perhaps most fully realised in the context of universities. In promoting his core values of education and peace, the author has delivered lectures and speeches at more than twenty-five academies, colleges and research institutes worldwide. This stimulating collection, which includes the author's most recent lectures, ranges widely across topics as diverse as art, religion, culture and time, and draws creatively on the sages of ancient India, China and Japan as well as on visionary thinkers from every nation, including Tolstoy, Victor Hugo and Gandhi.

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.

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.

The Zhenzheng lun (T 2112, Treatise of Revealing the Correct) is a Chinese Buddhist apologetic treatise with a distinct anti-Daoist stance in three juan. It is organized as a dialogue between a Daoist, the "Venerable Obstructed by Customs" (zhisu gongzi ), and the Buddhist "Master Revealing the Correct" (zhenzheng xiansheng ) in which the former is gradually led towards an orthodox Buddhist understanding by the latter through the refutation of his various arguments against Buddhism. Composed in the late 7th century, the text was authored depending on the political interests and strategies of Wu Zhao (624-705), who in 690 was enthroned as Empress Wu Zetian . This study of Thomas Julch offers a richly annotated and complete translation of the Zhenzheng lun along with an introductory part that focuses on reconstructing the political and propagandistic circumstances relevant to the understanding of the Zhenzheng lun.

Buddhism is widely known to advocate a stance of total pacifism towards all sentient beings, and because of this, it is often thought that Buddhist doctrine would stipulate that non-violent food practices, such as vegetarianism, be mandatory. However, the Pali source materials do not encourage vegetarianism and most Buddhists do not practice it. Using research based on ethnographic evidence and interviews, this book discusses this issue by presenting an investigation of vegetarianism and animal ethics within a Buddhist cultural domain. Focusing on Sri Lanka, a place of great historical significance to Buddhism, the book looks at how lay Buddhists and the clergy came to understand the role of vegetarianism and animal ethics in Buddhism. It analyses whether the Buddha preached a view that encouraged vegetarianism, and how this squares with his pacifism towards animals. The book goes on to question how Buddhist food practices intersect with other secular activities such as traditional medicine, as well as discussing the wider implications of Buddhist animal pacifism including vegetarian political movements and animal rights groups. Shedding light on a subject that, until now, has only been tangentially treated by scholars, this interdisciplinary study will be of interest to those working in the fields of Buddhist Studies, Religion and Philosophy, as well as South Asian Studies.

Since the publication of Mark Siderits' important book in 2003, much has changed in the field of Buddhist philosophy. There has been unprecedented growth in analytic metaphysics, and a considerable amount of new work on Indian theories of the self and personal identity has emerged. Fully revised and updated, and drawing on these changes as well as on developments in the author's own thinking, Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy, second edition explores the conversation between Buddhist and Western Philosophy showing how concepts and tools drawn from one philosophical tradition can help solve problems arising in another. Siderits discusses afresh areas involved in the philosophical investigation of persons, including vagueness and its implications for personal identity, recent attempts by scholars of Buddhist philosophy to defend the attribution of an emergentist account of personhood to at least some Buddhists, and whether a distinctively Buddhist antirealism can avoid problems that beset other forms of ontological anti-foundationalism.

Written as a companion to Eliot's 3-volume Hinduism and Buddhism this text begins with an overview of Buddhism as practiced in India and China before presenting an in depth account of the history of Buddhism in Japan. It follows the development of the Buddhist movement in Japan from its official introduction in AD 552, through the Nara, Heian and Tokugawa periods, detailing the rises of the various Buddhist sects in Japan, including Nichiren and Zen. Thoroughly researched and well-written, it was the last work published by Eliot, one of the great scholars of Eastern religion and philosophy at the time.

This book offers a Buddhist perspective on the conflict between religion and science in contemporary western society. Examining Buddhist history, authors Francisca Cho and Richard K. Squier offer a comparative analysis of Buddhist and western scientific epistemologies that transcends the limitations of non-Buddhist approaches to the subject of religion and science. The book is appropriate for undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers interested in comparative religion or in the intersection of religion and science and Buddhist Studies.

This book offers a Buddhist perspective on the conflict between religion and science in contemporary western society. Examining Buddhist history, authors Francisca Cho and Richard K. Squier offer a comparative analysis of Buddhist and western scientific epistemologies that transcends the limitations of non-Buddhist approaches to the subject of religion and science. The book is appropriate for undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers interested in comparative religion or in the intersection of religion and science and Buddhist Studies.

The number of Buddhists in Australia has grown dramatically in recent years. In 2006, Buddhists accounted for 2.1 per cent of Australia's population, almost doubling the 1996 figures, and making it the fastest growing religion in the country. This book analyses the arrival and localisation of Buddhism in Australia in the context of the globalisation of Buddhism. Australia's close geographical proximity to Asia has encouraged an intense flow of people, ideas, practices and commodities from its neighbouring countries, while at the same time allowing the development of the religion to be somewhat different to its growth in other Western countries. The book seeks to explore the Buddhist experience in Australia, looking at the similarities and particularities of this experience in relation to other Western countries. The inception of Buddhism in Australia is investigated, and a voice is provided to people on the ground who have been fundamental in making this process possible. For the first time, academic analysis and practitioners' experience are juxtaposed to show the adaptations and challenges of Buddhism in Australia from above and below. This book is a unique and valuable contribution to the study of Buddhism in the West, globalization of religion, and studies in Asian Religion.