Abortion is arguably the most controversial and divisive moral issue of modern times, but up until now the debate has taken place almost exclusively within a Western cultural, religious and philosophical context. For the past three decades in the West arguments both for and against abortion have been mounted by groups of all kinds, from religious fundamentalists to radical feminists and every shade of opinion in between. Rather than mutual understanding, however, the result has been the polarisation of opinion and the deepening of entrenched positions. In the face of this deadlock a new perspective is urgently required. Buddhism is an ancient tradition which over the centuries has refined its distinctive beliefs and values in the course of a long interaction with the major cultures of Asia. As Buddhism continues to engage the attention of the West, the time is now opportune for its views on abortion to be heard. This is the first book to explore the abortion question from a range of Buddhist cultural and ethical perspectives. The approach is interdisciplinary and will be of relevance to those working in fields such as law, ethics, medicine, philosophy, religion, the social sciences and women's studies.

It is difficult to think of a more urgent question for Buddhism in the late twentieth century than human rights. The political, ethical and philosophical questions surrounding human rights are debated vigorously in political and intellectual circles throughout the world and now in this volume.

Buddhist Studies from India to America covers four important areas of Buddhist Studies: Vinaya Studies and Ethics, the history of Buddhist schools, Western Buddhism, and Inter-religious dialogue. These are the main areas which Charles S. Prebish has either inaugurated or helped to define; and his academic career as a leading, international scholar, and his significant professional achievements are celebrated within this volume. The geographical and historical scope of the essays in this collection range from ancient India to modern America, and includes contributions by well-known international scholars. The contributors discuss a variety of academic disciplines including philosophy, psychology, history, feminism, and sociology. It will appeal to scholars whose interests embrace either ancient or modern aspects of the Buddhist tradition.

Introducing Buddhism is the ideal resource for all students beginning the study of this fascinating religious tradition. It explains the religion's key teachings and traces its historical development and geographical spread of from its foundations up to present day. Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown, two of today's leading Buddhist scholars, devote a chapter each to the major regions where Buddhism has flourished - India, South-east Asia, East Asia and Tibet. In addition, contemporary concerns are discussed, including important and relevant topics such as Engaged Buddhism, Buddhist Ethics, Buddhism and the Western World and Meditation.

This new edition includes more material on the different schools of Buddhism including explanations in graphic form, monastic life, popular religion, Buddhist ethics, ritual, the Bodhisattva Path, the Jatakas, the transmission of Buddhism, and class, gender and race.

Introducing Buddhism includes illustrations, extracts from original sources, summary boxes, questions for discussion, suggestions for further reading and a companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415550017

Charles S. Prebish is Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University. Damien Keown is Professor of Buddhist Ethics at Goldsmith's College, University of London. They are the editors of the Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Routledge, 2007).

'It is an excellent advocate for both reference publishing and for the belief system it represents' - Reference Reviews

'This work is a crucial source for specialists...Highly recommended' - G. J. Reece, American University, Choice

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism is a complete up-to-date one-volume desk reference, documenting the history, doctrines, schools, rituals, sacred places, basic ideas and concepts, and globalization of the entire Buddhist tradition. In addition, it provides bibliographic references to the leading scholarship by scholar from around the world. As such, it is an indispensable tool for students, teachers, and researchers from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, as well as to the general reader.

The Encyclopedia is characterized by its wide range of contents, primary sources, and both the depth and quality of its entries. It allows its readers to quickly access information on all topics included in the volume.

It covers the study of Buddhism, Buddhist canons and literature, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, Nikaya Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Buddhist meditational systems, sacred places in Buddhism, practices and rituals, biographies of famous Buddhists (including ideal types), Buddhist ethics, Buddhist art(s), engaged Buddhism, Buddhism and technology, women in Buddhism, Buddhism in India, South and Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and Buddhism in the Western World.

All readers of the Encyclopedia will benefit from a scholarly but readable work that lends itself to being approached from almost any starting point, and guides the reader to an increased knowledge of Buddhism through very easy access to all relevant materials.

Reflects the current state of scholarship in Buddhist Studies, its entries being written by specialists in many areas, presenting an accurate overview of Buddhist history, thought and practices, most entries having cross-referencing to others and bibliographical references. Contain around 1000 pages and 500,000 words, totalling around 1200 entries.

Buddhist Studies from India to America covers four important areas of Buddhist Studies: Vinaya Studies and Ethics, the history of Buddhist schools, Western Buddhism, and Inter-religious dialogue. These are the main areas which Charles S. Prebish has either inaugurated or helped to define; and his academic career as a leading, international scholar, and his significant professional achievements are celebrated within this volume.

The geographical and historical scope of the essays in this collection range from ancient India to modern America, and includes contributions by well-known international scholars. The contributors discuss a variety of academic disciplines including philosophy, psychology, history, feminism, and sociology. It will appeal to scholars whose interests embrace either ancient or modern aspects of the Buddhist tradition.

Action Dharma charts the emergence of a new chapter in an ancient faith - the rise of social service and political activism in Buddhist Asia and the West. Fourteen new essays treat the historical origins, global range, teachings and practices, and leaders and organizations that make up the latest turning of the Dharma. Environmentalism and peace walks through the minefields of Southeast Asia, the future of the 'untouchables' of Japan, and outreach to minorities and inmates of the criminal justice system in the West are some of the challenging topics considered.

This innovative volume brings together the views of leading scholars on a range of controversial subjects including human rights, animal rights, ecology, abortion, euthanasia, and contemporary business practice.

This innovative volume brings together the views of leading scholars on a range of controversial subjects including human rights, animal rights, ecology, abortion, euthanasia, and contemporary business practice.

It is difficult to think of a more urgent question for Buddhism in the late 20th century than human rights. The political ethical and philosophical questions surrounding human rights are debated vigorously in political and intellectual circles throughout the world. Yet despite its contemporary significance, the subject has merited little attention in mainstream academic research and publication in the field of Buddhist studies. If Buddhism wishes to address the issues which are of concern to today's global community, it must begin to ask itself new questions alongside the old ones. The papers in this collection were presented at the first online conference sponsored by the Journal of Buddhist ethics from 1-13 October 1995. In the context of human rights, which was the theme of the conference, an important preliminary question would seem to be whether traditional Buddhism has any understanding of what is meant by "human rights" at all. Even if it is felt that this objection is overstated, and that the issue of human rights does not have a legitimate place on the Buddhist agenda, there would still remain the separate and no less difficult question of how human rights were to be groun

Action Dharma charts the emergence of a new chapter in an ancient faith - the rise of social service and political activism in Buddhist Asia and the West. Fourteen new essays treat the historical origins, global range, teachings and practices, and leaders and organizations that make up the latest turning of the Dharma. Environmentalism and peace walks through the minefields of Southeast Asia, the future of the 'untouchables' of Japan, and outreach to minorities and inmates of the criminal justice system in the West are some of the challenging topics considered.

In this book the author considers data from both early and later schools of Buddhism in an attempt to provide an overall characterization of the structure of Buddhist ethics. The importance of ethics in the Buddha's teachings is widely acknowledged, but the pursuit of ethical ideals has up to now been widely held to be secondary to the attainment of knowledge. Drawing on the Aristotelian tradition of ethics the author argues against this intellectualization of Buddhism and in favour of a new understanding of the tradition in terms of which ethics plays an absolutely central role. In the course of this reassessment many basic concepts such as karma, nirvana, and the Eightfold Path, are reviewed and presented in a fresh light. The book will be of interest to readers with a background in either Buddhist studies or comparative religious ethics.

This book discusses contemporary issues in medical ethics from a Buddhist perspective. Drawing on ancient and modern sources, Damien Keown shows how Buddhist ethical principles can be applied consistently to a range of bioethical problems, including abortion, embryo research, and euthanasia.

Damien Keown examines early and later schools of Buddhism to provide a comprehensive account of the structure of Buddhist ethics. The importance of ethics in the Buddha's teachings is widely acknowledged, but the pursuit of ethical ideals has up to now been widely held to be secondary to the attainment of knowledge. Drawing on the Aristotelian tradition of ethics, Keown argues against this intellectualization of Buddhism and in favor of a new understanding of the tradition in terms of which ethics plays a central role.

Introducing Buddhism is the ideal resource for all students beginning the study of this fascinating religious tradition. It explains the religion s key teachings and traces its historical development and geographical spread of from its foundations up to present day. Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown, two of today s leading Buddhist scholars, devote a chapter each to the major regions where Buddhism has flourished - India, South-east Asia, East Asia and Tibet. In addition, contemporary concerns are discussed, including important and relevant topics such as Engaged Buddhism, Buddhist Ethics, Buddhism and the Western World and Meditation.

This new edition includes more material on the different schools of Buddhism including explanations in graphic form, monastic life, popular religion, Buddhist ethics, ritual, the Bodhisattva Path, the Jatakas, the transmission of Buddhism, and class, gender and race.

Introducing Buddhism includes illustrations, extracts from original sources, summary boxes, questions for discussion, suggestions for further reading and a companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415550017

Charles S. Prebish is Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University. Damien Keown is Professor of Buddhist Ethics at Goldsmith's College, University of London. They are the editors of the Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Routledge, 2007).

This Very Short Introduction offers readers a superb overview of the teachings of the Buddha, as well as a succinct guide to the integration of Buddhism into daily life. What are the distinctive features of Buddhism? Who was the Buddha, and what are his teachings? Words such as "karma" and "nirvana" have entered our vocabulary, but what do they mean? Damien Keown provides a lively, informative response to these frequently asked questions about Buddhism. As he sheds light into how Buddhist thought developed over the centuries, Keown also highlights how contemporary dilemmas can be faced from a Buddhist perspective.
In the second edition Keown provides new perspectives on Buddhist thought, including up-to-date material about the evolution of Buddhism throughout Asia, the material culture of Buddhism and its importance, new teachings on the ethics of war and peace, and changes to ethnicity, class, and gender.
About the Series:
Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

With over 520 million followers, Buddhism is now the world's fourth largest religion. Over the last seventy years or so there has been a growing interest in Buddhism, and it continues to capture the imagination of many in the West, who see it as either an alternative or a supplement to their own religious beliefs. For complex cultural and historical reasons, ethics has not received as much attention in traditional Buddhist thought as it has in the West. In this Very Short Introduction, Damien Keown explores how Buddhism approaches a range of moral issues of our age, including our relationship with our environment, our treatment of animals, and our stance on abortion, on sexuality and gender, on violence and war. This new edition also includes a discussion of the ethical challenges posed by cutting-edge developments in science and biomedical technologies, including neuroscience, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and gene editing. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Abortion is arguably the most controversial and divisive moral issue of modern times, but up until now the debate has taken place almost exclusively within a Western cultural, religious and philosophical context. For the past three decades in the West arguments both for and against abortion have been mounted by groups of all kinds, from religious fundamentalists to radical feminists and every shade of opinion in between. Rather than mutual understanding, however, the result has been the polarisation of opinion and the deepening of entrenched positions. In the face of this deadlock a new perspective is urgently required. Buddhism is an ancient tradition which over the centuries has refined its distinctive beliefs and values in the course of a long interaction with the major cultures of Asia. As Buddhism continues to engage the attention of the West, the time is now opportune for its views on abortion to be heard. This is the first book to explore the abortion question from a range of Buddhist cultural and ethical perspectives. The approach is interdisciplinary and will be of relevance to those working in fields such as law, ethics, medicine, philosophy, religion, the social sciences and women's studies.

Varieties of Ethical Reflection brings together new cultural and religious perspectives-drawn from non-Western, primarily Asian, philosophical sources-to globalize the contemporary discussion of theoretical and applied ethics. The work pushes ethics beyond a Western philosophical tradition tending toward universalism to infuse and broaden modern ethical theory with relativistic Asian ethical principles. The contributors introduce multicultural concepts and ideas from the Chinese Taoist, Confucian and Neo-Confucian, Indian and East Asian Buddhist, and Hindu traditions, focusing on such areas of moral controversy as the clash between women's rights and culture; universal human rights; abortion and euthanasia in a non-Western setting; and the standardization of medical practice across cultures.

"Introducing Buddhism "is the ideal resource for all students beginning the study of this fascinating religion. Damien Keown and Charles S. Prebish, two of today's leading Buddhist scholars, explain the key teachings of Buddhism, and trace the historical development and spread of the religion from its beginnings down to the present day. A chapter is devoted to each of the major regions where Buddhism has flourished: India, South East Asia, East Asia and Tibet. In addition to this regional focus, the introduction takes contemporary concerns into account, covering important and relevant topics such as Engaged Buddhism, Buddhist Ethics and Buddhism and the Western World, as well as a chapter devoted to Meditation.
"
Introducing Buddhism" also includes illustrations, lively quotations from original sources, learning goals, summary boxes, questions for discussion, and suggestions for further reading, to aid study and revision.