|
Showing 1 - 15 of
15 matches in All Departments
Today, we are confronted by the gravest challenge that humanity has
ever faced: the ecological consequences of our collective actions.
What role can Buddhism play in our response to this global
predicament? Can Buddhist traditions help us meet this challenge
successfully? Should we focus on prayer and meditation or social
action? This book shows that it's possible to do both. It presents
the hard science of global warming and solutions to the crisis from
a Buddhist perspective, together with the views of leading
contemporary teachers. The Dalai Lama, Chatral Rinpoche, Sakya
Trizin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, Joseph Goldstein, Lin Jensen,
and other eminent voices address topics such as peak oil,
deforestation, renewable energy, and breaking the addiction to
fossil fuels in essays that are both meaningful and mindful.
Prayers for the planet, along with steps we can take individually
and as a society, offer hope and inspiration.
Many books are called groundbreaking, but this one is truly unique
and sure to appeal to anyone with an interest in fantasy
literature. It employs a Buddhist perspective to appreciate some of
the major works of modern fantasy--and uses modern fantasy fiction
to elucidate Buddhist teachings. In the tradition of David Loy's
cutting-edge presentation of a Buddhist social theory in "The Great
Awakening," this pioneering work of Buddhist literary analysis,
renown scholar David Loy and Linda Goodhew offer ways of reading
modern fantasy-genre fiction that illuminate both the stories
themselves, and the universal qualities of Buddhist teachings.
Authors examined include J.R.R. Tolkien, Philip Pullman (of "The
Amber Spyglass" trilogy, from whose works the word "daemon" is
borrowed in the title), Ursula K. LeGuin, and the anime movie
"Princess Mononoke."
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.
In this dynamic and utterly novel presentation, David Loy explores
the fascinating proposition that the stories we tell--about what is
and is not possible, about ourselves, about right and wrong, life
and death, about the world and everything in it--become the very
building blocks of our experience and of reality itself. Loy uses
an intriguing mixture of quotations from familiar and less-familiar
sources and brief stand-alone micro-essays, engaging the reader in
challenging and illuminating dialogue. As we come to see that the
world is made--in a word--of stories, we come to a richer
understanding of that most elusive of Buddhist ideas: shunyata, the
"generative emptiness" that is the all-pervading quality inherent
to all mental and physical forms in our ever-changing world.
Reminiscent of Zen koans and works of sophisticated poetry, this
book will reward both a casual read and deep reflection.
Exploring a new approach to interfaith/interreligious
communication, the contributors to this collection seek to interact
from the perspective of their own tradition or academic discipline
with Ernest Becker's theory on the relationship between religion,
culture and the human awareness of death and mortality. While much
interfaith/interreligious dialogue focuses on beliefs and
practices, thus delineating areas of disagreement as a starting
point, these chapters foster interactive communication rooted in
areas of the universal human experience. Thus by demonstration
these authors argue for the integrity and efficacy of this approach
for pursuing intercultural and interdisciplinary communication.
Buddhisms and Deconstructions considers the connection between
Buddhism and Derridean deconstruction, focusing on the work of
Robert Magliola. Fourteen distinguished contributors discuss
deconstruction and various Buddhisms - Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese
(Chan) - followed by an afterword in which Magliola responds
directly to his critics.
Buddhisms and Deconstructions considers the connection between
Buddhism and Derridean deconstruction, focusing on the work of
Robert Magliola. Fourteen distinguished contributors discuss
deconstruction and various Buddhisms - Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese
(Chan) - followed by an afterword in which Magliola responds
directly to his critics.
What do we need to do to become truly comfortable--at one--with our
lives here and now? In these essays, Buddhist social critic and
philosopher David R. Loy discusses liberation not from the world,
but into it. Loy's lens is a wide one, encompassing the classic and
the contemporary, the Asian, the Western, and the comparative. Loy
seeks to distinguish what is vital from what is culturally
conditioned and perhaps outdated in Buddhism and also to bring
fresh worldviews to a Western world in crisis. Some basic Buddhist
teachings are reconsidered and thinkers such as Nagarjuna, Dogen,
Eckhart, Swedenborg, and Zhuangzi are discussed. Particularly
contemporary concerns include the effects of a computerized
society, the notion of karma and the position of women, terrorism
and the failure of secular modernity, and a Buddhist response to
the notion of a clash of civilizations. With his unique mix of
Buddhist philosophical insight and passion for social justice, Loy
asks us to consider when our awareness, or attention, is bound in
delusion and when it is unbound and awakened.
|
|