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Lay Buddhism And Spirituality
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Book Synopsis Lay Buddhism and Spirituality by : Michael Pye
Download or read book Lay Buddhism and Spirituality written by Michael Pye and published by Equinox Publishing (UK). This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early issues of The Eastern Buddhist contain short translations from various Buddhist texts, some of them quite important and all of considerable interest. Since they are set unobtrusively between modern statements and arguments about the nature of Buddhism, and in any case are difficult to locate, they have often gone unnoticed by students. Assembled here is a selection of those texts which have stood the test of time. Drawn from Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese originals, they mainly reflect the Zen and Shin Buddhist traditions, though in the wider context of early Maha-ya-na Buddhism. Drawing them together into one volume brings out the fact that these varied Buddhist traditions are intricately related to each other. The result is an unusual and fascinating reader which would grace many a course in Buddhist studies.
Book Synopsis Lay Buddhism and Spirituality by : Michael Pye
Download or read book Lay Buddhism and Spirituality written by Michael Pye and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Buddhist Ethics for Laypeople by : Tien-Feng Lee
Download or read book Buddhist Ethics for Laypeople written by Tien-Feng Lee and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-02-10 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book comprehensively discusses the topics in Buddhism that are crucial for promoting lay people’s welfare—from mundane bliss in this life, i.e., wealth and good interpersonal relationships, to prosperity in the future, i.e., a good rebirth and less time spent in Samsara. This book presents some moral guidelines and a spiritual training path designed for householders and lay Buddhists, helping them secure the welfare. The guidelines and the training path presented in the book are based on the Pali Nikāyas and the Chinese Āgamas in Early Buddhism and an influential Chinese Mahayana scripture—the Upāsakaśīla Sūtra
Book Synopsis Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan by : Helen Hardacre
Download or read book Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan written by Helen Hardacre and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basing her book on four years of field work (including interviews, a survey of 2,000 Reiyukai members, and eight months of residence with believers), she analyzes Reiyukai ancestor worship and veneration of the Lotus Sutra. She explains the enduring appeal of a religion, founded in 1919, that dedicates itself to the spread of true Buddhism" and that retains its core intact, in spite of a number of schisms. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Book Synopsis Sermon of One Hundred Days by : Sonsa Songch'ol
Download or read book Sermon of One Hundred Days written by Sonsa Songch'ol and published by Equinox Publishing (UK). This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism was introduced into Korea through China in about the 4th-5th century CE and within 200 years became so advanced that it influenced the development of Chinese Buddhism. This title comprehends the developments of Buddhism in India and China, including early Buddhism, Abhidharma, Madhyamaka, Yogacara Buddhism, and Korean Seon Buddhism.
Book Synopsis From Comrades to Bodhisattvas by : Gareth Fisher
Download or read book From Comrades to Bodhisattvas written by Gareth Fisher and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism by : Peter Masefield
Download or read book Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism written by Peter Masefield and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-16 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1986. In this study of initiation in the Nikayas (Discourses of the Buddha), the author presents evidence which makes it clear that salvation in early Buddhism depended upon the intervention of the Buddha’s grace. Contrary to the view of Buddhism as a philosophy of self-endeavour, the picture that emerges from examination of the canonical texts is one of Buddhism as a revealed religion in every sense of the term.
Book Synopsis From Comrades to Bodhisattvas by : Gareth Fisher
Download or read book From Comrades to Bodhisattvas written by Gareth Fisher and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2014-08-31 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Comrades to Bodhisattvas is the first book-length study of Han Chinese Buddhism in post-Mao China. Using an ethnographic approach supported by over a decade of field research, it provides an intimate portrait of lay Buddhist practitioners in Beijing who have recently embraced a religion that they were once socialized to see as harmful superstition. The book focuses on the lively discourses and debates that take place among these new practitioners in an unused courtyard of a Beijing temple. In this non-monastic space, which shrinks each year as the temple authorities expand their commercial activities, laypersons gather to distribute and exchange Buddhist-themed media, listen to the fiery sermons of charismatic preachers, and seek solutions to personal moral crises. Applying recent theories in the anthropology of morality and ethics, Gareth Fisher argues that the practitioners are attracted to the courtyard as a place where they can find ethical resources to re-make both themselves and others in a rapidly changing nation that they believe lacks a coherent moral direction. Spurred on by the lessons of the preachers and the stories in the media they share, these courtyard practitioners inventively combine moral elements from China’s recent Maoist past with Buddhist teachings on the workings of karma and the importance of universal compassion. Their aim is to articulate a moral antidote to what they see as blind obsession with consumption and wealth accumulation among twenty-first century Chinese. Often socially marginalized and sidelined from meaningful roles in China’s new economy, these former communist comrades look to their new moral roles along a bodhisattva path to rebuild their self-worth. Each chapter focuses on a central trope in the courtyard practitioners’ projects to form new moral identities. The Chinese government’s restrictions on the spread of religious teachings in urban areas curtail these practitioners' ability to insert their moral visions into an emerging public sphere. Nevertheless, they succeed, at least partially, Fisher argues, in creating their own discursive space characterized by a morality of concern for fellow humans and animals and a recognition of the organizational abilities and pedagogical talents of its members that are unacknowledged in society at large. Moreover, as the later chapters of the book discuss, by writing, copying, and distributing Buddhist-themed materials, the practitioners participate in creating a religious network of fellow-Buddhists across the country, thereby forming a counter-cultural community within contemporary urban China. Highly readable and full of engaging descriptions of the real lives of practicing lay Buddhists in contemporary China, From Comrades to Bodhisattvas will interest specialists in Chinese Buddhism, anthropologists of contemporary Asia, and all scholars interested in the relationship between religion and cultural change.
Book Synopsis Practicing Scripture by : Barend ter Haar
Download or read book Practicing Scripture written by Barend ter Haar and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2014-11-30 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Practicing Scripture is an original and detailed history of one of the most successful religious movements of late imperial China, the Non-Action Teachings, or Wuweijiao, from its beginnings in the late sixteenth century in the prefectures of southern Zhejiang to the middle of the twentieth century, when communist repression dealt it a crippling blow. Uncovering important data on its beliefs and practices, Barend ter Haar paints a wholly new picture of the group, which, despite its Daoist-sounding name, was a deeply devout lay Buddhist movement whose adherents rejected the worship of statues and ancestors while venerating the writings of Patriarch Luo (fl. early sixteenth century), a soldier-turned-lay-Buddhist. The texts, written in vernacular Chinese and known as the Five Books in Six Volumes, mix personal experiences, religious views, and a wealth of quotations from the Buddhist canon. Ter Haar convincingly demonstrates that the Non-Action Teachings was not messianic or millenarian in orientation and had nothing to do with other new religious groups and networks traditionally labelled as White Lotus Teachings. It combined Chan and Pure Land practices with a strong self-identity and vegetarianism and actively insisted on the right of free practice. Members of the movement created a foundation myth in which Ming (1368–1644) emperor Zhengde bestowed the right upon their mythical forefather. In addition, they produced an imperial proclamation whereby Emperor Kangxi of the Qing (1645–1911) granted the group similar privileges. Thanks to its expert handling of a great number and variety of extant sources, Practicing Scripture depicts one of the few lay movements in traditional China that can be understood in some depth, both in terms of its religious content and history and its social environment. The work will be welcomed by China specialists in religious and Buddhist studies and social history.
Book Synopsis "I Believe in Buddhism and Travelling" by : Esther-Maria Guggenmos
Download or read book "I Believe in Buddhism and Travelling" written by Esther-Maria Guggenmos and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a comprehensive overview about lay Buddhist orientations in Taiwan and describes how the driving force and the major reason for the attraction of denoting oneself a lay Buddhist in contemporary Taiwan are to be found at the core of the social dynamic in the transforming society.
Book Synopsis Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by : Stephen Batchelor
Download or read book Confession of a Buddhist Atheist written by Stephen Batchelor and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-03-08 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does Buddhism require faith? Can an atheist or agnostic follow the Buddha’s teachings without believing in reincarnation or organized religion? This is one man’s confession. In his classic Buddhism Without Beliefs, Stephen Batchelor offered a profound, secular approach to the teachings of the Buddha that struck an emotional chord with Western readers. Now, with the same brilliance and boldness of thought, he paints a groundbreaking portrait of the historical Buddha—told from the author’s unique perspective as a former Buddhist monk and modern seeker. Drawing from the original Pali Canon, the seminal collection of Buddhist discourses compiled after the Buddha’s death by his followers, Batchelor shows us the Buddha as a flesh-and-blood man who looked at life in a radically new way. Batchelor also reveals the everyday challenges and doubts of his own devotional journey—from meeting the Dalai Lama in India, to training as a Zen monk in Korea, to finding his path as a lay teacher of Buddhism living in France. Both controversial and deeply personal, Stephen Batchelor’s refreshingly doctrine-free, life-informed account is essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhism.
Book Synopsis Improvising Tradition by : Saskia Adelle Abrahms-Kavunenko
Download or read book Improvising Tradition written by Saskia Adelle Abrahms-Kavunenko and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western scholars did not predict the enthusiasm for religion that would follow the end of socialism in Mongolia, yet it is an undeniable aspect of contemporary life in Ulaanbaatar. After the Mongolian Democratic Revolution of 1989 1990, many Mongols have sought to reconnect to their Buddhist past to reconstitute a sense of national identity and to deal with the economic and spiritual insecurities of the new market economy. This dissertation is an exploration of lay Buddhist experiences in Ulaanbaatar connected to two different imaginings of Buddhist tradition, or what I term 'cultural' and 'reform' Buddhism. Cultural Buddhist institutions answer Mongol desires for national identity based in religion, whilst reform Buddhist organisations offer a universal form of Buddhism that provides comprehensive doctrinal and moral education and teaches transformative practices. Both anchor themselves in tradition and both are heavily influenced by global religious pressures. The majority of Mongols visit local temples for ritual efficacy, yet, for many lay Buddhists, the break in the continuity of public institutions during the socialist period and the switch to a new and broad religious marketplace has created an environment where interactions with religious specialists are fraught with uncertainty. Most lay Buddhists are worried about their own religious ignorance and doubt the efficacy and competence of religious practitioners. For many, memory and exemplary family members are central in the creation of religious beliefs and practices, yet, often the information passed down through families and remembered from the past is incomplete and fractured. For most Mongols in Ulaanbaatar, Buddhism is a religious bricolage created from a combination of old knowledge passed down from their forebears, influences from other religions such Christianity and Shamanism, and new ideas about spirituality from New Religious Movements such as Sri Sri and the Supreme Master Ching Hai. Reform Buddhist organisations combine Tibetan religious teachings and Western religious expectations. The Dharma centres run by global Buddhist organisations offer an alternative to lay Buddhist uncertainties and the improvised religious systems that lay Mongol Buddhists tend to create. The people who visit them are embracing an alternative form of spirituality that is comparatively free from feelings of doubt. These lay Buddhists have greater consistency in spiritual concepts and their beliefs are characterised by confidence and consistency. They also learn Buddhist transformative practices in order to actively propel themselves towards Buddhist moral ideals.
Book Synopsis Westward Dharma by : Charles S. Prebish
Download or read book Westward Dharma written by Charles S. Prebish and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2002-12-04 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first authoritative volume on the totality of Buddhism in the West, Westward Dharma establishes a comparative and theoretical perspective for considering the amazing variety of Buddhist traditions, schools, centers, and teachers that have developed outside of Asia. Leading scholars from North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia explore the plurality and heterogeneity of traditions and practices that are characteristic of Buddhism in the West. This recent, dramatic growth in Western Buddhism is accompanied by an expansion of topics and issues of Buddhist concern. The contributors to this volume treat such topics as the broadening spirit of egalitarianism; the increasing emphasis on the psychological, as opposed to the purely religious, nature of practice; scandals within Buddhist movements; the erosion of the distinction between professional and lay Buddhists; Buddhist settlement in Israel; the history of Buddhism in internment camps; repackaging Zen for the West; and women's dharma in the West. The interconnections of historical and theoretical approaches in the volume make it a rich, multi-layered resource.
Book Synopsis The New Buddhism by : James William Coleman
Download or read book The New Buddhism written by James William Coleman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002-05-16 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our multicultural society, faiths formerly seen as exotic have become attractive alternatives for many people seeking more satisfying spiritual lives. This is especially true of Buddhism, which is the focus of constant media attention--thanks at least in part to celebrity converts, major motion pictures, and the popularity of the Dalai Lama. Following this recent trend in the West, author James Coleman argues that a new and radically different form of this ancient faith is emerging. The New Buddhism sheds new light on this recent evolution of Buddhist practice in the West. After briefly recounting the beginnings and spread of Buddhism in the East, Coleman chronicles its reinterpretation by key Western teachers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ranging from the British poet Sir Edwin Arnold to the Beat writer Alan Watts. Turning to the contemporary scene, he finds that Western teachers have borrowed liberally from different Buddhist traditions that never intersect in their original contexts. Men and women practice together as equals; ceremonies and rituals are simpler, more direct, and not believed to have magical effects. Moreover, the new Buddhism has made the path of meditation and spiritual awakening available to everyone, not just an elite cadre of monks. Drawing on interviews with noted teachers and lay practitioners, as well as a survey completed by members of seven North American Buddhist centers, Coleman depicts the colorful variety of new Buddhists today, from dilettantes to devoted students and the dedicated teachers who guide their spiritual progress. He also details the problems that have arisen because of some Western influences--especially with regard to gender roles, sex, and power. Exploring the appeal of this exotic faith in postmodern society and questioning its future in a global consumer culture, The New Buddhism provides a thorough and fascinating guide to Western Buddhism today.
Book Synopsis Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement by : Ingrid Jordt
Download or read book Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement written by Ingrid Jordt and published by Ohio University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-31 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This revitalization movement has had real consequences for how the oppressive military junta, in power since the early 1960s, governs the country. Drawing on more than ten years of extensive fieldwork in Burma, Ingrid Jordt explains how vipassanā meditation has brought about a change of worldview for millions of individuals, enabling them to think and act independently of the totalitarian regime. She addresses human rights as well as the relationship between politics and religion in a country in which neither the government nor the people clearly separates the two. Jordt explains how the movement has been successful in its challenge to the Burmese military dictatorship where democratically inspired resistance movements have failed. Jordt’s unsurpassed access to the centers of political and religious power in Burma becomes the reader’s opportunity to witness the political workings of one of the world’s most secretive and tyrannically ruled countries. Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement is a valuable contribution to Buddhist studies as well as anthropology, religious studies, and political science.
Book Synopsis Socially Engaged Buddhism by : Sallie B. King
Download or read book Socially Engaged Buddhism written by Sallie B. King and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2009-01-19 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Socially Engaged Buddhism is an introduction to the contemporary movement of Buddhists, East and West, who actively engage with the problems of the world—social, political, economic, and environmental—on the basis of Buddhist ideas, values, and spirituality. Sallie B. King, one of North America’s foremost experts on the subject, identifies in accessible language the philosophical and ethical thinking behind the movement and examines how key principles such as karma, the Four Noble Truths, interdependence, nonharmfulness, and nonjudgmentalism relate to social engagement. Many people believe that Buddhists focus exclusively on spiritual attainment. Professor King examines why Engaged Buddhists involve themselves with the problems of the world and how they reconcile this involvement with the Buddhist teaching of nonattachment from worldly things. Engaged Buddhists, she answers, point out that because the root of human suffering is in the mind, not the world, the pursuit of enlightenment does not require a turning away from the world. Working to reduce suffering in humans, living things, and the planet is integral to spiritual practice and leads to selflessness and compassion. Socially Engaged Buddhism is a sustained reflection on social action as a form of spirituality expressed in acts of compassion, grassroots empowerment, nonjudgmentalism, and nonviolence. It offers an inspiring example of how one might work for solutions to the troubles that threaten the peace and well being of our planet and its people.
Book Synopsis I Stumbled Upon a Jewel by : Margaret Petersson
Download or read book I Stumbled Upon a Jewel written by Margaret Petersson and published by Author House. This book was released on 2013-06-21 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Virtually everything written in English about Buddhism has been written by scholars, ministers, or formal leaders, no matter whether it is Tibetan, Zen, Shin or any other Buddhist sect. This book is written by lay people about their own experiences with Shin Buddhism, which is after all, the Buddhism of the common people. The sangha or the community of fellow seekers is the backbone of Buddhism, providing a structure, encouragement, and nurturing of the development of one's beliefs, yet it is not represented in Buddhist literature. Perhaps it is understandable that this is so since Buddhism began as an oral tradition, at a time when few people besides scholars could read or write. However, it is very often the sharing of one's concerns and ideas with members of the sangha which makes Budddhism or any spiritual endeavor alive and relevant to one's life. The sense of sharing and intimacy are captured in the essays presented here, with the special richness of poetry and visual images to enhance the heartfelt message of the book's intent. It represents a breath of fresh air, bridging the gap between the point of view of the expert and the experience of the ordinary follower of the Buddhist path..
