This book approaches the topic of intercultural understanding in philosophy from a phenomenological perspective. It provides a bridge between Western and Eastern philosophy through in-depth discussion of concepts and doctrines of phenomenology and ancient and contemporary Chinese philosophy. Phenomenological readings of Daoist and Buddhist philosophies are provided: the reader will find a study of theoretical and methodological issues and innovative readings of traditional Chinese and Indian philosophies from the phenomenological perspective. The author uses a descriptive rigor to avoid cultural prejudices and provides a non-Eurocentric conception and practice of philosophy. Through this East-West comparative study, a compelling criticism of a Eurocentric conception of philosophy emerges. New concepts and methods in intercultural philosophy are proposed through these chapters. Researchers, teachers, post-graduates and students of philosophy will all find this work intriguing, and those with an interest in non-Western philosophy or phenomenology will find it particularly engaging.

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art provides an extensive research resource to the burgeoning field of Asian aesthetics. Featuring leading international scholars and teachers whose work defines the field, this unique volume reflects the very best scholarship in creative, analytic, and comparative philosophy. Beginning with a philosophical reconstruction of the classical rasa aesthetics, chapters range from the nature of art-emotions, tones of thinking, and aesthetic education to issues in film-theory and problems of the past versus present. As well as discussing indigenous versus foreign in aesthetic practices, this volume covers North and South Indian performance practices and theories, alongside recent and new themes including the Gandhian aesthetics of surrender and self-control and the aesthetics of touch in the light of the politics of untouchability. With such unparalleled and authoritative coverage, The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art represents a dynamic map of comparative cross-cultural aesthetics. Bringing together original philosophical research from renowned thinkers, it makes a major contribution to both Eastern and Western contemporary aesthetics.

What we need to know about meditation and mindfulness to eliminate "stress" in our lives is contained in this book. This book follows and discusses the Satipatthana meditation scheme (pronunciation: sati-PA'-tana), too often neglected in the West. Many additional details about Buddhism are discussed including the very nature of spirituality. This as a mysterious human capacity in the way that electricity or mechanics are for most people -- but more like a puzzle, once understood it becomes useful. Reading this is a way of doing Buddhism as long as the reader continues meditation. The virtue of participating in chanting and other rituals is also explained. This is intended as a thorough, well documented and simply written presentation. Teachings about Purification, Anapanasati, Heart, Precious Bodhicitta, Realization, Enlightenment and many other "technical" Buddhist concepts are described. There is an extensive glossary and bibliography.

This book focuses on the core theoretical concept of "Ma thinking" - an idea that serves as springboard for the thoughts and actions of distinguished practitioners, innovators, and researchers. The theoretical and practical importance of the Ma concept in new innovation activities lies in the thinking and activities of the leading practitioners. However, there is little academic research clarifying these characteristic dynamic transition mechanisms and the synthesis of diverse paradoxes through recursive activities between formal and informal organizations to achieve integration of dissimilar knowledge.

This book is a collection of English articles by Pan Guangdan, one of China's most distinguished sociologists and eugenicists and also a renowned expert in education. Pan is a prolific scholar, whose collected works number some fourteen volumes. Pan's daughters Pan Naigu, Pan Naimu and Pan Naihe-all scholars of anthropology and sociology-began editing their father's published works and surviving manuscripts around 1978. The collected articles, written between 1923 and 1945, are representative of Pan's insights on sociobiology, ethnology and eugenics, covering topics such as Christianity, opium, domestic war and China-Japan relations. The title of the book is taken from the fascinating two-part article "Socio-biological Implications in Confucianism", which essentially reworks Confucius as a kind of "forefather" of socio-biological and eugenic thinking, showing Pan's promotion of "traditional" values. These articles, mostly published in Chinese Students' Monthly and The China Critic, offer an excellent point of entry into Pan's ideas on population and eugenics, his polemics on family and marriage, and his intellectual positioning and self-fashioning. This collection is of great reference value, allowing readers to gain an overall and in-depth understanding of the development of Pan's academic thought, and to explore the spiritual world of the scholars brought together by The China Critic who were dedicated to rebuilding the Chinese culture and bridging the West and the East.

This book presents Yi Hwang (1501-1570)-better known by his pen name, Toegye-Korea's most eminent Confucian philosopher. It is a pioneering study of Toegye's moral and religious thought that discusses his holistic ideas and experiences as a scholar, thinker, and spiritual practitioner. This study includes Toegye's major texts, essays, letters, and biographies. Edward Chung explains key concepts, original quotations, annotated notes, and thought-provoking comments to bring this monumental thinker and his work to life. Chung also considers comparative and interreligious perspectives and their contemporary relevance. By offering groundbreaking insights into Neo-Confucianism, this book sheds fresh light on the breadth and depth of Toegye's ethics and spirituality, and is an important source for scholars and students in Korean and Confucian studies and comparative philosophy and religion.

This thought-provoking work presents Confucianism as a living ethical tradition with contemporary relevance. Developing Confucian ethical ideas within a contemporary context, this book discusses the nature of virtue, the distinction between public and private, the value of spontaneity, and more.

This open access book offers comprehensive information on Wang Yang-ming's life, helping readers identify and grasp the foundations on which his philosophy was established. Though a great man, Wang had an extremely difficult life, full of many hardships. Based on various official histories, Wang's own writings, and his disciples' records, the book explores the legendary life of this ancient philosopher, who not only diligently pursued his objective of living as a sage, but also persistently sought the ideal state of a sage in ideology. The author also shares his own interpretations of the main aspects of Wang's philosophy using simple and straightforward language. This book will help readers understand and appreciate Wang Yang-ming's extraordinary life, his generous mind, deep thoughts and bright personality, inspiring them to pursue enriching lives. It offers a unique and insightful work for undergraduate students and all others interested in Wang's philosophy and life story.

Buddhas, gods, prophets and oracles are often depicted as asking questions. But what are we to understand when Jesus asks "Who do you say that I am?", or Mazu, the Classical Zen master asks, "Why do you seek outside?" Is their questioning a power or weakness? Is it something human beings are only capable of due to our finitude? Is there any kind of question that is a power? Focusing on three case studies of questions in divine discourse on the level of story - the god depicted in the Jewish Bible, the master Mazu in his recorded sayings literature, and Jesus as he is depicted in canonized Christian Gospels - Nathan Eric Dickman meditates on human responses to divine questions. He considers the purpose of interreligious dialogue and the provocative kind of questions that seem to purposefully decenter us, drawing on methods from confessionally-oriented hermeneutics and skills from critical thinking. He allows us to see alternative ways of interpreting religious texts through approaches that look beyond reading a text for the improvement of our own religion or for access to some metaphysically transcendent reality. This is the first step in a phenomenology of religions that is inclusive, diverse, relevant and grounded in the world we live in.

This book explores how Ibn al-'Arabi (1165 1240) used the concept of barzakh (the Limit) to deal with the philosophical problem of the relationship between God and the world, a major concept disputed in ancient and medieval Islamic thought. The term "barzakh" indicates the activity or actor that differentiates between things and that, paradoxically, then provides the context of their unity. Author Salman H. Bashier looks at early thinkers and shows how the synthetic solutions they developed provided the groundwork for Ibn al-'Arabi's unique concept of barzakh. Bashier discusses Ibn al-'Arabi's development of the concept of barzakh ontologically through the notion of the Third Thing and epistemologically through the notion of the Perfect Man, and compares Ibn al-'Arabi's vision with Plato's.

Hu Shih (1891-1962),. In the 1910s, Hu studied at Cornell University and later Columbia University, both in the United States. At Columbia, he was greatly influenced by his professor, John Dewey, and became a lifelong advocate of pragmatic evolutionary change. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1917 and returned to lecture at Peking University. Hu soon became one of the leading and most influential intellectuals during the May Fourth Movement and later the New Culture Movement. His most widely recognized achievement during this period was as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese. Hu Shih was the Republic of China's Ambassador to the United States of America (1938-1942) and later Chancellor of Peking University (1946-1948). In 1939 Hu Shih was nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature and in 1958 became president of the "Academia Sinica" in Taiwan, where he remained until his death in Nangang at the age of 71. This diverse collection brings together his English essays, speeches and academic papers, as well as book reviews, all written between 1919 and 1962. English Writings of Hu Shih represents his thinking and insights on such topics as scientific methodology, liberalism and democracy, and social problems. It can also serve as a helpful resource for those who study Hu Shih and his views on ancient and modern China. The first volume "Chinese Philosophy and Intellectual History" allows readers to trace the development of Chinese thought and see the historical methodology applied therein. The second volume "Literature and Society" mainly includes Hu Shih's works on language reform, which owing to his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese were a success in both the educational and literary fields. The third volume "National Crisis and Public Diplomacy" mainly collects Hu's articles and speeches from his term as Ambassador of China to the U.S.A. between 1938 and 1942

We suffer from the most insidious kind of addiction
one we don t even realize we have.
It is the addiction to power itself.

The Way of Powerlessness by Wayne Liquorman, brings together the Living Teaching of Advaita and the 12 Steps of Recovery.

Central to both disciplines is the recognition of our complete personal powerlessness.

When we recognize personal powerlessness in our own actions, the twin burdens of pride and guilt vanish. When we recognize powerlessness in the actions of others, we are freed from the poisoning effects of resentment and hatred. Relieved of pride, guilt, resentment and hatred we live comfortably with life as it comes, in true humility and peace.

The Way of Powerlessness reveals that recognizing our personal powerlessness is the unguarded secret to harmonious living and ultimate Freedom.

Wayne s loving heart acknowledges the suffering of our human condition and nurtures the possibility for another way of being.

Ryan Spielman, Lucid Living

Fresh, vibrant and dead on
If you think you have power, use it to read this book

Bill C. HTML Author description The Way of Powerlessness (hardcover and softcover)

Wayne Liquorman (b. 1951) describes himself as being "completely ordinary."

He grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and then attended the University of Hawaii where he graduated with a BA in Creative Writing. He then returned to Southern California, married, fathered two children and started an import/export business.

A nineteen-year bout with active alcoholism and drug addiction ended spontaneously in 1985 leaving him sober and a spiritual seeker. His goal became to determine, "what power in the Universe could transform me so suddenly and against my will." After 16 months of daily involvement with the Twelve Steps and intensive spiritual seeking, he met his guru, the retired president of the Bank of India turned Advaitic Sage, Ramesh S. Balsekar. He soon began publishing Ramesh's books and arranging Ramesh's speaking tours. Spiritual Awakening occurred for Wayne in April of 1989, soon after which he wrote the book NO WAY for the Spiritually Advanced. He published the book under the pen name Ram Tzu because he didn't want "a bunch of miserable seekers cluttering up my living room."

Clearly, life had other plans for him. In 1996 Ramesh instructed Wayne to teach. When Wayne tried to convince Ramesh he was not suited to be a teacher, Ramesh answered his objections with the simple words, "if they come, talk to them " People began coming and Wayne now spends half of each year traveling the world, talking about personal powerlessness and Advaita to groups of interested people (and often has a bunch of spiritual seekers cluttering up his living room when he is not traveling ) His Living Teaching and his powerful presence continue to touch the lives of many.

This is his fifth book.

Wayne's schedule (including free Live Internet broadcasts) and further information about the Living Teaching of Advaita can be found at: www.advaita.org.

Since the 1970s, the influence of oriental philosophy, in particular the Buddhist tradition, in the field of psychotherapy has been quite profound. Taoism has not had the same impact on modern psychotherapeutic models. Yet, as early as 1936, Alva LaSalle Kitselman who was, at that time, studying oriental languages at Stanford University, with a particular emphasis on Sanskrit, created his own version of the classic text of the Taoist tradition - the book of Lao Tzu entitled the Tao Teh King. His version of this classic was, as he said, a restatement rather than being a new translation from the ancient Chinese. After its publication, and through a chance encounter with one of the librarians at Stanford, he began to realise that Taoism and Taoist philosophy could be used as a form of therapy, specifically in the form he called 'non-directiveness' or 'non-directive therapy.' In the 1950s Kitsleman published an audio lecture on his early experiences using the Tao Teh King entitled 'An Ancient Therapy'. In the lecture he compared and contrasted his application of Taoist philosophy in psychotherapy with the 'client centred therapy' approach of Carl R. Rogers. This new publication of Kitselman's version of the Tao Teh King and the story of his discovery will hopefully ignite a real interest in combining the wisdom of this classic Taoist text with modern psychotherapeutic methodologies. A. L. 'Beau' Kitselman was a remarkable man, a genius whose interests ranged from mathematics, science and computer programming to exploring the potential of the human mind.

Investigation of the Percept is a short (eight verses and a three page autocommentary) work that focuses on issues of perception and epistemology. Its author, Dignaga, was one of the most influential figures in the Indian Buddhist epistemological tradition, and his ideas had a profound and wide-ranging impact in India, Tibet, and China. The work inspired more than twenty commentaries throughout East Asia and three in Tibet, the most recent in 2014. This book is the first of its kind in Buddhist studies: a comprehensive history of a text and its commentarial tradition. The volume editors translate the root text and commentary, along with Indian and Tibetan commentaries, providing detailed analyses of the commentarial innovations of each author, as well as critically edited versions of all texts and extant Sanskrit fragments of passages. The team-based approach made it possible to study and translate a corpus of treatises in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese and to employ the methods of critical philology and cross-cultural philosophy to provide readers with a rich collection of studies and translations, along with detailed philosophical analyses that open up the intriguing implications of Dignaga's thought and demonstrate the diversity of commentarial approaches to his text. This rich text has inspired some of the greatest minds in India and Tibet. It explores some of the key issues of Buddhist epistemology: the relationship between minds and their percepts, the problems of idealism and realism, and error and misperception.

This compilation contains three of the most revered and celebrated texts by the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius. The Analects of Confucius were penned during the Warring States period of Chinese antiquity, which saw great social upheaval between the various realms of the Middle Kingdom. Divided into twenty principle chapters (called books) - the subjects range from wise behaviour in times of crisis to general instruction upon how to live a peaceful life characterised by a serene mood, humility to others, and quality work performed well. The Great Learning: One of the classic four books of ancient Confucianism consists of a short initial commentary attributed to Confucius himself, followed by a lengthier tract written by one of his disciples named Zengzi. Another classic book of Confucian thought, The Doctrine of the Mean, is a practical guide for those aspiring to sublime wisdom. It demonstrates how a balanced, harmonious manner of living is the most conducive to joy and satisfaction.

Hu Shih (1891-1962), . In the 1910s, Hu studied at Cornell University and later Columbia University, both in the United States. At Columbia, he was greatly influenced by his professor, John Dewey, and became a lifelong advocate of pragmatic evolutionary change. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1917 and returned to lecture at Peking University. Hu soon became one of the leading and most influential intellectuals during the May Fourth Movement and later the New Culture Movement. His most widely recognized achievement during this period was as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese. Hu Shih was the Republic of China s Ambassador to the United States of America (1938-1942) and later Chancellor of Peking University (1946-1948). In 1939 Hu Shih was nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature and in 1958 became president of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, where he remained until his death in Nangang at the age of 71.

This diverse collection brings together his English essays, speeches and academic papers, as well as book reviews, all written between 1919 and 1962. English Writings of Hu Shih represents his thinking and insights on such topics as scientific methodology, liberalism and democracy, and social problems. It can also serve as a helpful resource for those who study Hu Shih and his views on ancient and modern China.

The first volume Chinese Philosophy and Intellectual History allows readers to trace the development of Chinese thought and see the historical methodology applied therein. The second volume Literature and Society mainly includes Hu Shih s works on language reform, which owing to his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese were a success in both the educational and literary fields. The third volume National Crisis and Public Diplomacy mainly collects Hu s articles and speeches from his term as Ambassador of China to the U.S.A. between 1938 and 1942. "

This book is a rethinking of ethics and socio-political life through the ideas of Watsuji Tetsuro. Can we build a systematic philosophy of morality, society, and politics, not on the basis of identity and ego, but rather on the basis of selflessness? This book explores such an attempt by the leading ethicist of modern Japan. Using concrete examples and contemporary comparisons, and with careful reference to both English and Japanese sources, it guides the reader through Watsuji's ideas. It engages three contemporary issues in depth: First, how do we approach the moral agent, as an autonomous being or as a fundamentally relational being? Second, is it the individual or the community that is the starting point for politics? And finally, is ethics something that is globally shared or something fundamentally local? This book aims to be an informative and inspiring resource for researchers, students, and laypersons interested in Buddhist thought.