What the Buddha Taught

What the Buddha Taught
Author: Walpola Rahula
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0802198104

“A terrific introduction to the Buddha’s teachings.” —Paul Blairon, California Literary Review This indispensable volume is a lucid and faithful account of the Buddha’s teachings. “For years,” says the Journal of the Buddhist Society, “the newcomer to Buddhism has lacked a simple and reliable introduction to the complexities of the subject. Dr. Rahula’s What the Buddha Taught fills the need as only could be done by one having a firm grasp of the vast material to be sifted. It is a model of what a book should be that is addressed first of all to ‘the educated and intelligent reader.’ Authoritative and clear, logical and sober, this study is as comprehensive as it is masterly.” This edition contains a selection of illustrative texts from the Suttas and the Dhammapada (specially translated by the author), sixteen illustrations, and a bibliography, glossary, and index. “[Rahula’s] succinct, clear overview of Buddhist concepts has never been surpassed. It is the standard.” —Library Journal

Hindu and Buddhist Ideas in Dialogue

Hindu and Buddhist Ideas in Dialogue
Author: Ms Irina Kuznetsova
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2012-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1409456625

The debates between various Buddhist and Hindu philosophical systems about the existence, definition and nature of self, occupy a central place in the history of Indian philosophy and religion. These debates concern various issues: what 'self' means, whether the self can be said to exist at all, arguments that can substantiate any position on this question, how the ordinary reality of individual persons can be explained, and the consequences of each position. At a time when comparable issues are at the forefront of contemporary Western philosophy, in both analytic and continental traditions (as well as in their interaction), these classical and medieval Indian debates widen and globalise such discussions. This book brings to a wider audience the sophisticated range of positions held by various systems of thought in classical India.

An End to Suffering

An End to Suffering
Author: Pankaj Mishra
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2010-08-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1429933631

An End to Suffering is a deeply original and provocative book about the Buddha's life and his influence throughout history, told in the form of the author's search to understand the Buddha's relevance in a world where class oppression and religious violence are rife, and where poverty and terrorism cast a long, constant shadow. Mishra describes his restless journeys into India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, among Islamists and the emerging Hindu middle class, looking for this most enigmatic of religious figures, exploring the myths and places of the Buddha's life, and discussing Western explorers' "discovery" of Buddhism in the nineteenth century. He also considers the impact of Buddhist ideas on such modern politicians as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. As he reflects on his travels and on his own past, Mishra shows how the Buddha wrestled with problems of personal identity, alienation, and suffering in his own, no less bewildering, times. In the process Mishra discovers the living meaning of the Buddha's teaching, in the world and for himself. The result is the most three-dimensional, convincing book on the Buddha that we have.

Against a Hindu God

Against a Hindu God
Author: Parimal G. Patil
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2009-08-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0231142226

Philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God have been crucial to Euro-American and South Asian philosophers for over a millennium. Critical to the history of philosophy in India, were the centuries-long arguments between Buddhist and Hindu philosophers about the existence of a God-like being called Isvara and the religious epistemology used to support them. By focusing on the work of Ratnakirti, one of the last great Buddhist philosophers of India, and his arguments against his Hindu opponents, Parimal G. Patil illuminates South Asian intellectual practices and the nature of philosophy during the final phase of Buddhism in India. Based at the famous university of Vikramasila, Ratnakirti brought the full range of Buddhist philosophical resources to bear on his critique of his Hindu opponents' cosmological/design argument. At stake in his critique was nothing less than the nature of inferential reasoning, the metaphysics of epistemology, and the relevance of philosophy to the practice of religion. In developing a proper comparative approach to the philosophy of religion, Patil transcends the disciplinary boundaries of religious studies, philosophy, and South Asian studies and applies the remarkable work of philosophers like Ratnakirti to contemporary issues in philosophy and religion.

Christianity at the Religious Roundtable

Christianity at the Religious Roundtable
Author: Timothy C. Tennent
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2002-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1585586153

Argues that Christian dialogue with other faiths is an integral part of our call to proclaim the message of Christ.

The Eternal Food

The Eternal Food
Author: R. S. Khare
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 1992-08-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1438408919

The interdisciplinary approaches presented here investigate food in India and Sri Lanka for its wide ranging cultural meaning and uses. The authors examine food in religious and literary contexts, where saints, ritualists, poets, and the divine often provide grounds for a practically inexhaustible hermeneutics. The Eternal Food focuses on reflexive cultural expressions and personal experiences that food elicits in the region. Concerned with food as an "essence" and as an essential experience, the authors give special attention to Hindu saints for whom food, firmly grounded in moral ideals and practice, represents a cosmic divine principle at one level, and a most immediate and intimate material reality at another. In the cultural diversity of India, the authors work with several conceptual models and meanings of food. They demonstrate how it reflects common social understandings about social caste, the cure and prevention of ailments, its ability to alter moods and motivations, or affect innate personal dispositions, personal spiritual pursuits and attainments. In its sweep and depth, food presents a powerful cultural lens for seeing how practical, ritual, and spiritual spheres of life conjoin.

The Concept of Self in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity and Its Implication for Interfaith Relations

The Concept of Self in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity and Its Implication for Interfaith Relations
Author: Kiseong Shin
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2017-05-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 153260095X

This is the first comparative study of the self and no-self in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. In spite of doctrinal differences within these three belief systems, they agree that human beings are in a predicament from which they need to be liberated. Indian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, share the belief that human nature is inherently perfectible, while the epistemological and psychological limitation of the human being is integral to Christian belief. Regarding the immortality of the human being, Hinduism and Christianity traditionally and generally agree that human beings, as atman or soul, possess intrinsic immortality. On the contrary, Buddhism teaches the doctrine of no-self (anatta). Further, in their quest to analyze the human predicament and attempt a way out of it, they employ different concepts, such as sin and salvation in Christianity, attachment (tanka) and enlightenment (nirvana) in Buddhism, and ignorance (avidya) and liberation (moksa) in Hinduism. This volume seeks to show that that behind these concepts are deep concerns related to human existence and its relationship with the whole creation. These common concerns can be a basis for a greater understanding and dialogue between Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists.

A Hindu Critique of Buddhist Epistemology

A Hindu Critique of Buddhist Epistemology
Author: John Taber
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2004-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134307349

The book provides an introduction to the history and the development of Indian epistemology, a synopsis of Kumarila's work and an analysis of its argument.