|
Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism > Zen Buddhism
Buddhism in the Global Eye focuses on the importance of a global
context and transnational connections for understanding Buddhist
modernizing movements. It also explores how Asian agency has been
central to the development of modern Buddhism, and provides
theoretical reflections that seek to overcome misleading East-West
binaries. Using case studies from China, Japan, Vietnam, India,
Tibet, Canada, and the USA, the book introduces new research that
reveals the permeable nature of certain categories, such as
"modern", "global", and "contemporary" Buddhism. In the book,
contributors recognize the multiple nodes of intra-Asian and global
influence. For example, monks travelled among Asian countries
creating networks of information and influence, mutually
stimulating each other's modernization movements. The studies
demonstrate that in modernization movements, Asian reformers
mobilized all available cultural resources both to adapt local
forms of Buddhism to a new global context and to shape new foreign
concepts to local Asian forms.
The eccentric Bankei has long been an underground hero in the world
of Zen. At a time when Zen was becoming overly formalized in Japan,
he stressed its relevance to everyday life, insisting on the
importance of naturalness and spontaneity.
Roshi Joan Halifax has enriched countless lives of millions around
the world through her work as a social activist, anthropologist,
and Buddhist teacher. Over many decades, she has also collaborated
with neuroscientists, clinicians, and psychologists to understand
how contemplative practice can be a vehicle for social
transformation. This work led her to an understanding of how our
greatest challenges can become the most valuable source of our
wisdom - and how we can transform suffering into the power of
compassion for the benefit of others. Halifax has identified five
psychological territories she calls Edge States - altruism,
empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement - that epitomise
strength of character. Yet each of these states can also be the
cause of personal and social suffering. In this way, these five
psychological experiences form edges, and it is only when we stand
at these edges that we become open to the full range of our human
experience and discover who we really are. Recounting the
experiences of caregivers, activists, humanitarians, politicians,
parents, and teachers, incorporating the wisdom of Zen traditions
and mindfulness practices, and rooted in Halifax's ground-breaking
research on compassion, STANDING AT THE EDGE is destined to become
a contemporary classic. A powerful guide on how to find the freedom
we seek for others and ourselves, it is a book that will serve us
all.
Popular understanding of Zen Buddhism typically involves a
stereotyped image of isolated individuals in meditation,
contemplating nothingness. This book presents the "other side of
Zen," by examining the movement's explosive growth during the
Tokugawa period (1600-1867) in Japan and by shedding light on the
broader Japanese religious landscape during the era. Using
newly-discovered manuscripts, Duncan Ryuken Williams argues that
the success of Soto Zen was due neither to what is most often
associated with the sect, Zen meditation, nor to the teachings of
its medieval founder Dogen, but rather to the social benefits it
conveyed.
Zen Buddhism promised followers many tangible and attractive
rewards, including the bestowal of such perquisites as healing,
rain-making, and fire protection, as well as "funerary Zen" rites
that assured salvation in the next world. Zen temples also provided
for the orderly registration of the entire Japanese populace, as
ordered by the Tokugawa government, which led to stable parish
membership.
Williams investigates both the sect's distinctive religious and
ritual practices and its nonsectarian participation in broader
currents of Japanese life. While much previous work on the subject
has consisted of passages on great medieval Zen masters and their
thoughts strung together and then published as "the history of
Zen," Williams' work is based on care ul examination of archival
sources including temple logbooks, prayer and funerary manuals,
death registries, miracle tales of popular Buddhist deities, secret
initiation papers, villagers' diaries, and fund-raising donor
lists.
This text provides a comparative investigation of the affinities
and differences of two of the most dynamic currents in World
Buddhism: Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement. Defying
differences in denomination, culture, and historical epochs, these
schools revived an unfettered quest for enlightenment and proceeded
to independently forge like practices and doctrines. The author
examines the teaching gambits and tactics, the methods of practice,
the place and story line of teacher biography, and the nature and
role of the awakening experience, revealing similar forms deriving
from an uncompromising pursuit of awaking, the insistence on
self-cultivation, and the preeminent role of the charismatic
master. Offering a pertinent review of their encounters with
modernism, the book provides a new coherence to these seemingly
disparate movements, opening up new avenues for scholars and
possibilities for practitioners.
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE POWER OF LETTING GO
'Life-changing' - Sara Makin, Founder & CEO of Makin Wellness
If you learn to let go, your life will take off. How is negative
thinking affecting your success? Are you holding on to a story
about your life? Are you allowing judgement and pain to weigh you
down? Learn to let go and turn your dreams into reality with this
beautifully illustrated, guided journal from the bestselling author
of The Power of Letting Go. Learn how to stay present, let go of
the thoughts that keep you stuck, and tune into something far more
intelligent than your brain using the creative exercises, writing
prompts and techniques in this journal - and start living a life of
freedom and success.
In Unlocking the Zen Koan (originally published as No Boundary)
Thomas Cleary translates directly from the Chinese and interprets
Zen Master Wumen's text and commentaries in verse and prose on the
inner meaning of the koans. Cleary then gives us other great
Chinese Zen masters' comments in prose or verse on the same koan.
Cleary's probing, analytic commentaries wrestle with meaning and
shading, explaining principles and practices. Five different steps
to follow in reading the koan begin with its use as a single abrupt
perception, and lead progressively to more intellectual readings,
illustrating the fixations which stand in the way of a true Zen
understanding.
|
You may like...
How to Focus
Thich Nhat Hanh
Paperback
R248
R184
Discovery Miles 1 840
|