This Worldly Nibbana
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This-Worldly Nibbāna
Author: Hsiao-Lan Hu
language: en
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Release Date: 2011-12-01
Offering a feminist analysis of foundational Buddhist texts, along with a Buddhist approach to social issues in a globalized world, Hsiao-Lan Hu revitalizes Buddhist social ethics for contemporary times. Hu's feminist exegesis references the Nikāya-s from the "Discourse Basket" of the Pāli Canon. These texts, among the earliest in the Buddhist canon, are considered to contain the sayings of the Buddha and his disciples and are recognized by all Buddhist schools. At the heart of the ethics that emerges is the Buddhist notion of interdependent co-arising, which addresses the sexism, classism, and frequent overemphasis on individual liberation, as opposed to communal well-being, for which Buddhism has been criticized. Hu notes the Buddha's challenge to social hierarchies during his life and compares the notion of "non-Self" to the poststructuralist feminist rejection of the autonomous subject, maintaining that neither dissolves moral responsibility or agency. Notions of kamma, nibbāna, and dukkha (suffering) are discussed within the communal context offered by insights from interdependent co-arising and the Noble Eightfold Path. This work uniquely bridges the worlds of Buddhism, feminism, social ethics, and activism and will be of interest to scholars, students, and readers in all of these areas.
The Psychology of Nirvana
Author: Rune E. A. Johansson
language: en
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Release Date: 2025-03-03
The oldest Pali writings are of great interest to the psychologist, not only because their analysis of mind is in many ways comparable to his own, but because their teaching has been used for practical purposes with enviable success. One of the most important of the Buddhist concepts is that of Nirvana, or nibbāna, whose modern usage has caused discomfort to many Buddhists, especially those of the Western world. Originally the name for a certain state of mind, and of personality, it has now acquired a multitude of definitions so heterogeneous and contradictory that few people know what to make of it. Originally published in 1969, The Psychology of Nirvana was the first attempt to fit all the diffuse explanations and pronouncements of the oldest scriptures together into a consistent picture, and to relate this picture to modern Western psychology at the time. Just as Nirvana is a psychological state and the natural goal of Buddhism, mental health is the ideal of psychology. A comparative study of the two provides a book truly fascinating to scholars of psychology and Buddhism.
The Buddhist Viṣṇu
Author: John Clifford Holt
language: en
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
Release Date: 2008
John Holt's groundbreaking study examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Visnu within the contexts of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture. Holt argues that political agendas and social forces, as much as doctrinal concerns, have shaped the shifting patterns of the veneration of Visnu in Sri Lanka. Holt begins with a comparative look at the assimilation of the Buddha in Hinduism. He then explores the role and rationale of medieval Sinhala kings in assimilating Visnu into Sinhala Buddhism. Offering analyses of texts, many of which have never before been translated into English, Holt considers the development of Visnu in Buddhist literature and the changing practices of deity veneration. Shifting to the present, Holt describes the efforts of contemporary Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka to discourage the veneration of Visnu, suggesting that many are motivated by a reactionary fear that their culture and society will soon be overrun by the influences and practices of Hindus, Muslims, and Christians.