The most complete and important book on the early history of Shin Buddhism to appear in English.... No other work in English combines the biography of the founder with such a detailed study of the complex development of Shin Buddhism from its simple beginnings as a small, rural primarily lay Buddhist movement in the 12th century to its rapid growth as a powerful urban religion in the 15th century."" - Choice

This text is a collection of essays by noted curriculum scholar and philosopher of education, David W. Jardine. It ranges over twenty?five years of work with teachers and students in schools. The main purpose of these essays is to provide teachers with new ways of thinking about their circumstances that side step some of the panic and exhaustion that is all too typical of many school settings. Using ideas and images from Buddhism, ecological thinking, and hermeneutics, the author shows how these lineages help with the practical work of thinking and acting differently regarding the knowledge entrusted to teachers and students in schools. It offers the image of living fields of relations as an alternative to the fragmented, industrial?assembly machinations that drive much curriculum thinking and practice. It roots this alternative in solid scholarly work, both inside and outside of the orbit of educational literature. This book can provide encouragement and example to those working in schools who have sensed the shifting of human consciousness and conscience over the past decades towards issues of sustainability, interrelatedness, diversity, ancestry, ecological well?being, and dependent co?arising. It provides solid classroom?based examples coupled with substantial scholarly delving into the roots of such work in long?standing streams of thinking that are born outside of the usual orbits of educational theory and practice, but that provide that practice with a refuge and a relief and an alternative. This book can also provide examples to those doing graduate work in education of how interpretive research into classrooms can be conducted, and how this work is must be solid, well?rooted, scholarly and meticulously thought out. It is useful as a handbook and sourcebook for interpretive research or hermeneutic research, and provides a wide array of sources and themes for the conduct of such work.

Knowing Body, Moving Mind investigates ritualizing and learning in introductory meditation classes at two Buddhist centers in Toronto, Canada. The centers, Friends of the Heart and Chandrakirti, are led and attended by Western (sometimes called "convert') Buddhists: that is, people from non-Buddhist familial and cultural backgrounds. Inspired by theories that suggest that rituals impart new knowledge or understanding, Patricia Campbell examines how introductory meditation students learn through formal Buddhist practice. Along the way, she also explores practitioners' reasons for enrolling in meditation classes, their interests in Buddhism, and their responses to formal Buddhist practices and to ritual in general.
Based on ethnographic interviews and participant-observation fieldwork, the text follows interview participants' reflections on what they learned in meditation classes and through personal practice, and what roles meditation and other ritual practices played in that learning. Participants' learning experiences are illuminated by an influential learning theory called Bloom's Taxonomy, while the rites and practices taught and performed at the centers are explored using performance theory, a method which focuses on the performative elements of ritual's postures and gestures. But the study expands the performance framework as well, by demonstrating that performative ritualizing includes the concentration techniques that take place in a meditator's mind.
Such techniques are received as traditional mental acts or behaviors that are standardized, repetitively performed, and variously regarded as special, elevated, spiritual or religious. Having established a link between mental and physical forms of ritualizing, the study then demonstrates that the repetitive mental techniques of meditation practice train the mind to develop new skills in the same way that physical postures and gestures train the body. The mind is thus experienced as both embodied and gestural, and the whole of the body as socially and ritually informed.

The six lectures that make up this book were delivered in March 2011 at London University's School of Oriental and Asian Studies as the Jordan Lectures on Comparative Religion. They revolve around the intersection of two ideas, nothingness and desire, as they apply to a re-examination of the questions of self, God, morality, property, and the East-West philosophical divide.

Dharma is central to all the major religious traditions which originated on the Indian subcontinent. Such is its importance that these traditions cannot adequately be understood apart from it. Often translated as "ethics," "religion," "law," or "social order," dharma possesses elements of each of these but is not confined to any single category familiar to Western thought. Neither is it the straightforward equivalent of what many in the West might usually consider to be "a philosophy". This much-needed analysis of the history and heritage of dharma shows that it is instead a multi-faceted religious force, or paradigm, that has defined and that continues to shape the different cultures and civilizations of South Asia in a whole multitude of forms, organizing many aspects of life. Experts in the fields of Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh studies here bring fresh insights to dharma in terms both of its distinctiveness and its commonality as these are expressed across, and between, the several religions of the subcontinent. Exploring ethics, practice, history and social and gender issues, the contributors engage critically with some prevalent and often problematic interpretations of dharma, and point to new ways of appreciating these traditions in a manner that is appropriate to and thoroughly consistent with their varied internal debates, practices and self-representations.

The book offers a novel introduction to the use of mindfulness skills in communication in a range of settings.

Why did some Buddhist translators in China interpolate terms designating an agent which did not appear in the original texts? The Chinese made use of raw material imported from India; however, they added some seasoningsA" peculiar to China and developed their own recipesA" about how to construct the ideas of Buddhism. While Indian Buddhists constructed their ideas of self by means of empiricism, anti-Brahmanism and analytic reasoning, the Chinese Buddhists constructed their ideas of self by means of non-analytic insights, utilising pre-established epistemology and cosmogony. Furthermore, many of the basic renderings had specific implications that were peculiar to China. For example, while shen in philosophical Daoism originally signified an agent of thought, which disintegrates after bodily death, Buddhists added to it the property of permanent existence. Since many Buddhists in China read the reinterpreted term shen with the implications of the established epistemology and cosmogony, they came to develop their own ideas of self. After the late 6C, highly educated Buddhist theorists came to avoid including the idea of an imperishable soul in their doctrinal system. However, the idea of a permanent agent of perception remained vividly alive even during the development of Chinese Buddhism after the 7C.

This volume includes two memoirs. In the Sign of the Golden Wheel tells the story of the `middle period' of the fourteen years Sangharakshita was based in the Indian hill station, Kalimpong. It is a crucial time for Buddhism as the whole Asian world is preparing to celebrate 2,500 years of Buddhism, and Sangharakshita's abundant energies are brought into play in diverse ways. His commitment to spreading the Dharma as widely as he can and to serving the (few) existing Buddhists in India takes him far afield: from tea estates in Assam to a film studio in Bombay, from the Maha Bodhi Society in Calcutta - he becomes the inspired editor of the internationally read Maha Bodhi Journal - to Kasturchand Park in Nagpur where he speaks to hundreds of thousands of bereaved followers of the great Dr Ambedkar. Whether describing great events of international import or those of more local significance, such as the funeral of Miss Barclay's cat, the flowing prose descriptions of people, places and events bring it all vividly to life. And through it all the enlightening, inspiring and moving reflections on life, the Dharma, poetry, friendship - and himself. Precious Teachers covers the last period of Sangharakshita's time in Kalimpong. Here too are vivid encounters with people - a damsel in distress, a dakini, a transsexual and many others. At the forefront, though, are Sangharakshita's Buddhist teachers: the Tibetans Jamyang Khyentse Rimpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rimpoche, Dudjom Rimpoche, Kachu Rimpoche, Chattrul Sangye Dorje and Dhardo Rimpoche, and Chinese Yogi Chen. He recalls their meetings, his abhisekas or initiations, and the friendship that developed with Dhardo Rimpoche. In the background are events of international significance: the Chinese in Tibet, and the oppression of Buddhists in Vietnam. The memoir concludes with a letter from the English Sangha Trust inviting Sangharakshita back to the West....

This book provides a philosophical account of the normative status of killing in Buddhism. Its argument theorises on relevant Buddhist philosophical grounds the metaphysical, phenomenological and ethical dimensions of the distinct intentional classes of killing, in dialogue with some elements of Western philosophical thought. In doing so, it aims to provide a descriptive account of the causal bases of intentional killing, a global justification and elucidation of Buddhist norms regarding killing, and an intellectual response to and critique of alternative conceptions of such norms presented in recent Buddhist Studies scholarship. It examines early and classical Buddhist accounts of the evaluation of killing, systematising and rationally assessing these claims on both Buddhist and contemporary Western philosophical grounds. The book provides the conceptual foundation for the discussion, engaging original reconstructive philosophical analyses to both bolster and critique classical Indian Buddhist positions on killing and its evaluation, as well as contemporary Buddhist Studies scholarship concerning these positions. In doing so, it provides a systematic and critical account of the subject hitherto absent in the field. Engaging Buddhist philosophy from scholastic dogmatics to epistemology and metaphysics, this book is relevant to advanced students and scholars in philosophy and religious studies.

Heresy studies is a new interdisciplinary, supra-religious, and humanist field of study that focuses on borderlands of dogma, probes the intersections between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, and explores the realms of dissent in religion, art, and literature. Free from confessional agendas and tolerant of both religious and non-religious perspectives, heresy studies fulfill an important gap in scholarly inquiry and artistic production. Divided into four parts, the volume explores intersections between heresy and modern literature, it discusses intricacies of medieval heresies, it analyzes issues of heresy in contemporary theology, and it demonstrates how heresy operates as an artistic stimulant. Rather than treating matters of heresy, blasphemy, unbelief, dissent, and non-conformism as subjects to be shunned or naively championed, the essays in this collection chart a middle course, energized by the dynamics of heterodoxy, dissent, and provocation, yet shining a critical light on both the challenges and the revelations of disruptive kinds of thinking and acting.

Mindfulness-Based Wellbeing Enhancement (MBWE) integrates Mindfulness and Wellbeing to realize human flourishing and the attainment of happiness. This 9-session program, conducted over 8 weeks, enhances wellbeing, happiness and quality of life through self-understanding and self-awareness. The first part of the book is devoted to presenting mindfulness, wellbeing, the happiness paradigm and the curriculum of the Mindfulness-Based Wellbeing Enhancement (MBWE) program. It presents the foundations of mindfulness-based programs, and how mindfulness intersects with wellbeing. The authors argue, with the support of evidence, that mindfulness is well placed to promote human flourishing rather than limiting its relevance to stress reduction and preventing depression relapse. Several chapters are devoted to presenting the MBWE program comprehensively with weekly agendas, homework, handouts, facilitation guides and practice scripts. The second part of the book presents the evidence base of mindfulness, cultural adaptations for different populations, the therapeutic effectiveness of group learning inherent in Mindfulness-Based Programs and the often-untold history of mindfulness. The authors present the often-neglected Asian roots of Mindfulness and justify how secular Mindfulness, as taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn, is influenced by multiple wisdom traditions as opposed to it being a solely Buddhist practice. This book serves as a hands-on resource for trained mindfulness teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, counsellors, social workers, practitioners, educators, coaches, and consultants. It is also suitable for anyone who is interested in the appreciation of mindfulness and human flourishing.

Offers a comprehensive view of the emerging fields of secular-scientific mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning (MBTL) for professionals for use in a range of educational and clinical settings, including preK-12, higher education, adult and community education, social work, workplace education, medicine, psychology, and counselling. Provides intellectual depth, including addressing key critiques, while offering constructive support to practitioners and professionals in the full spectrum of skills and competencies required of secular-scientific mindfulness specialists, including an up-to-date competency framework. Presents a multi-disciplinary approach to secular-scientific mindfulness and its practices, with implications for teacher preparation and continuing education for a range of professions. These multi-disciplinary perspectives provide a fulsome view of mindfulness as it is unfolding in modern contexts, including the continuing dialogue with traditional Buddhist and classical Western philosophical sources; empirical perspectives from psychology and cognitive science, and practice-oriented scholarship from education, medicine, and social work.

Vibrantly engaging contemporary Buddhist lives, this book focuses on the material and financial relations of contemporary monks, temples, and laypeople. It shows that rather than being peripheral, economic exchanges are key to religious debate in Buddhist societies. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in countries ranging from India to Japan, including all three major Buddhist traditions, the book addresses the flows of goods and services between clergy and laity, the management of resources, the treatment of money, and the role of the state in temple economies. Along with documenting ritual and economic practices, these accounts deal with the moral challenges that Buddhist adherents are facing today, thereby bringing lived experience to the study of an often-romanticized religion.

This book explores the reciprocity between Buddhist, Derridean, and Foucauldian understandings about ethics, subjectivity, and ontological contingency, to investigate the ethical and political potential of insight meditation practice. The book is narrated from the perspective of a postcolonial 'Western Buddhist' convert who, despite growing up in Singapore where Buddhism was a part of his disaporic 'Chinese' ancestral heritage, only embraced Buddhism when he migrated to Australia and discovered Western translations of Buddhist teachings. Through an autoethnography of the author's Buddhist-inspired pursuit of an academic profession, the book develops and professes a non-doctrinal understanding of faith that may be pertinent to 'believers' and 'non-believers' alike, inviting the academic reader in particular to consider the (unacknowledged) role of faith in supporting scholarly practice. Striking a careful balance between critical analysis and self-reflexive inquiry, the book performs in all senses of the word, a profession of faith.

To many Westerners, the most appealing teachings of the Buddhist tradition pertain to ethics. Many readers have drawn inspiration from Buddhism's emphasis on compassion, nonviolence, and tolerance, its concern for animals, and its models of virtue and self-cultivation. There has been, however, controversy and confusion about which Western ethical theories resemble Buddhist views and in what respects. In this book, Charles Goodman illuminates the relations between Buddhist concepts and Western ethical theories. Every version of Buddhist ethics, says Goodman, takes the welfare of sentient beings to be the only source of moral obligations. Buddhist ethics can thus be said to be based on compassion in the sense of a motivation to pursue the welfare of others. On this interpretation, the fundamental basis of the various forms of Buddhist ethics is the same as that of the welfarist members of the family of ethical theories that analytic philosophers call 'consequentialism.' Goodman uses this hypothesis to illuminate a variety of questions. He examines the three types of compassion practiced in Buddhism and argues for their implications for important issues in applied ethics, especially the justification of punishment and the question of equality.

Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism explores two influential intellectual and religious leaders in Christianity and Buddhism, Bonaventure (c. 1217-74) and Chinul (1158-1210), a Franciscan theologian and a Korean Zen master respectively, with respect to their lifelong endeavors to integrate the intellectual and spiritual life so as to achieve the religious aims of their respective religious traditions. It also investigates an associated tension between different modes of discourse relating to the divine or the ultimate-positive (cataphatic) discourse and negative (apophatic) discourse. Both of these modes of discourse are closely related to different ways of understanding the immanence and transcendence of the divine or the ultimate. Through close studies of Bonaventure and Chinul, the book presents a unique dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism and between West and East.

In Germany at the turn of the century, Buddhism transformed from an obscure topic, of interest to only a few misfit scholars, into a cultural phenomenon. Many of the foremost authors of the period were profoundly influenced by this rapid rise of Buddhism-among them, some of the best-known names in the German-Jewish canon. Sebastian Musch excavates this neglected dimension of German-Jewish identity, drawing on philosophical treatises, novels, essays, diaries, and letters to trace the history of Jewish-Buddhist encounters up to the start of the Second World War. Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, Theodor Lessing, Jakob Wassermann, Walter Hasenclever, and Lion Feuchtwanger are featured alongside other, lesser known figures like Paul Cohen-Portheim and Walter Tausk. As Musch shows, when these thinkers wrote about Buddhism, they were also negotiating their own Jewishness.

Although we are materially better off than ever before, surveys show that we are depressed and listless. In his revolutionary book, Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard shows that happiness is not just an emotion, but a skill that can be developed. Free of jargon, Happiness contains simple exercises that will train the mind to recognize and pursue happiness by concentrating on the fundamental things in life, and in doing so change the way we view the world.