Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter

Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter
Author: Elizabeth Harris
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2006-04-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1134196253

This major new work explores the British encounter with Buddhism in nineteenth century Sri Lanka, examining the way Buddhism was represented and constructed in the eyes of the British scholars, officials, travellers and religious seekers who first encountered it. Tracing the three main historical phases of the encounter from 1796 to 1900, the book provides a sensitive and nuanced exegesis of the cultural and political influences that shaped the early British understanding of Buddhism and that would condition its subsequent transmission to the West. Expanding our understanding of inter-religious relations between Christians and Buddhists, the book fills a significant gap in the scholarship on Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka by concentrating on missionary writings and presenting a thorough exploration of original materials of several important pioneers in Buddhist studies and mission studies.

Theravāda Buddhism and the British Encounter

Theravāda Buddhism and the British Encounter
Author: Elizabeth June Harris
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book explores the British encounter with Buddhism in nineteenth century Sri Lanka. Its central concern is the way Buddhism was represented and constructed by the British scholars, officials, missionaries, travelers and religious seekers who traveled to the country. The book traces three main historical phases in the encounter from 1796 to 1900 and gives a sensitive and nuanced exegesis of the cultural and political influences that shaped the early British understanding of Buddhism. This work fills a significant gap in scholarship on Theravāda Buddhism in Sri Lanka and its subsequent transmission to the West. Of particular significance is its coverage of how nineteenth century missionary writings on Buddhism affected both the development of Protestant Buddhism and Christian-Buddhist relations in the twentieth century. Through its exploration of original materials connected with several important pioneer writers on Buddhism, it expands the readers' understanding of inter-religious and inter-cultural relations under colonialism. --from back cover.

Christianity Encountering World Religions (Encountering Mission)

Christianity Encountering World Religions (Encountering Mission)
Author: Terry C. Muck
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2009-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441205268

The current religious climate poses unique challenges to those engaged in mission. Thus the authors of this book propose a new, yet very biblical, model for interacting with people of other faiths. They term this model giftive mission, as it is based on the metaphor of free gift. We bear the greatest gift possible--the gospel message. Adopting this perspective not only has the potential for greater missionary success but also enables us to more closely imitate God's gracious activity in the world. The core of the book explores eleven practices that characterize giftive mission. Each practice is illustrated through the story of a figure from mission history who embodied that practice. Further discussion shows how to incorporate these practices in specific mission settings.

An Introduction to Buddhism

An Introduction to Buddhism
Author: Peter Harvey
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 551
Release: 2013
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0521859425

Extensively revised and updated, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the development of Buddhism in Asia and the West.

Death and Reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism

Death and Reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism
Author: Tanya Zivkovic
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2013-10-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1134593767

Contextualising the seemingly esoteric and exotic aspects of Tibetan Buddhist culture within the everyday, embodied and sensual sphere of religious praxis, this book centres on the social and religious lives of deceased Tibetan Buddhist lamas. It explores how posterior forms – corpses, relics, reincarnations and hagiographical representations – extend a lama’s trajectory of lives and manipulate biological imperatives of birth and death. The book looks closely at previously unexamined figures whose history is relevant to a better understanding of how Tibetan culture navigates its own understanding of reincarnation, the veneration of relics and different social roles of different types of practitioners. It analyses both the minutiae of everyday interrelations between lamas and their devotees, specifically noted in ritual performances and the enactment of lived tradition, and the sacred hagiographical conventions that underpin local knowledge. A phenomenology of Tibetan Buddhist life, the book provides an ethnography of the everyday embodiment of Tibetan Buddhism. This unusual approach offers a valuable and a genuine new perspective on Tibetan Buddhist culture and is of interest to researchers in the fields of social/cultural anthropology and religious, Buddhist and Tibetan studies.

The Buddha

The Buddha
Author: Philip C. Almond
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 379
Release: 2023-11-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1009346792

The first book both to tell the story of the Buddha's life and how the Buddha came to the West.

Churches and Education

Churches and Education
Author: Morwenna Ludlow
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 631
Release: 2019-07-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1108487084

Brings together the work of a wide range of scholars to explore the history of churches and education.

Encountering Buddhism in Twentieth-Century British and American Literature

Encountering Buddhism in Twentieth-Century British and American Literature
Author: Lawrence Normand
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2013-10-24
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1441101918

Encountering Buddhism in Twentieth-Century British and American Literature explores the ways in which 20th-century literature has been influenced by Buddhism, and has been, in turn, a major factor in bringing about Buddhism's increasing spread and influence in the West. Focussing on Britain and the United States, Buddhism's influence on a range of key literary texts will be examined in the context of those societies' evolving modernity. Writers discussed include T. S. Eliot, Hermann Hesse, Virginia Woolf, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, J. D. Salinger, Iris Murdoch, Maxine Hong Kingston. This book brings together for the first time a series of context-rich interpretations that demonstrate the importance of literature in this ongoing cultural change in Britain and the United States.

Placing the Origins of the Buddha

Placing the Origins of the Buddha
Author: Bhadrajee S. Hewage
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2022-08-04
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1527584712

Our understanding that the Buddha emerged from the Middle Gangetic region of the Indian subcontinent has been largely unchallenged for the past 200 years. However, can we truly trust our existing knowledge regarding the geographical locations associated with early Buddhism? Could the Buddha’s origins, in fact, lie elsewhere? Tracking the general theory explaining the Buddha’s emergence from the Middle Ganges, this book explores the lesser-known story of colonial Sri Lanka’s connections to the wider nineteenth-century orientalist quest of placing the Buddha across the northern expanses of the subcontinent. By doing so, this book highlights the many flaws and inconsistencies that continue to inform our current understanding of the Buddha’s geographical origins and urges us to rethink the very foundation on which our knowledge of early Buddhism is based.

Buddhism, International Relief Work, and Civil Society

Buddhism, International Relief Work, and Civil Society
Author: H. Kawanami
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2013-12-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137380233

Natural disasters in Asian countries have brought global attention to the work of local Buddhist communities and groups. Here, the contributors examine local Buddhist communities and international Buddhist organizations engaged in a variety of relief work in countries including India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, and Japan.