Saving Buddhism

Saving Buddhism
Title Saving Buddhism PDF eBook
Author Alicia Turner
Publisher University of Hawaii Press
Pages 242
Release 2014-10-31
Genre Religion
ISBN 0824847911

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Saving Buddhism explores the dissonance between the goals of the colonial state and the Buddhist worldview that animated Burmese Buddhism at the turn of the twentieth century. For many Burmese, the salient and ordering discourse was not nation or modernity but sāsana, the life of the Buddha’s teachings. Burmese Buddhists interpreted the political and social changes between 1890 and 1920 as signs that the Buddha’s sāsana was deteriorating. This fear of decline drove waves of activity and organizing to prevent the loss of the Buddha’s teachings. Burmese set out to save Buddhism, but achieved much more: they took advantage of the indeterminacy of the moment to challenge the colonial frameworks that were beginning to shape their world. Author Alicia Turner has examined thousands of rarely used sources-- newspapers and Buddhist journals, donation lists, and colonial reports—to trace three discourses set in motion by the colonial encounter: the evolving understanding of sāsana as an orienting framework for change, the adaptive modes of identity made possible in the moral community, and the ongoing definition of religion as a site of conflict and negotiation of autonomy. Beginning from an understanding that defining and redefining the boundaries of religion operated as a key technique of colonial power—shaping subjects through European categories and authorizing projects of colonial governmentality—she explores how Burmese Buddhists became actively engaged in defining and inflecting religion to shape their colonial situation and forward their own local projects. Saving Buddhism intervenes not just in scholarly conversations about religion and colonialism, but in theoretical work in religious studies on the categories of “religion” and “secular.” It contributes to ongoing studies of colonialism, nation, and identity in Southeast Asian studies by working to denaturalize nationalist histories. It also engages conversations on millennialism and the construction of identity in Buddhist studies by tracing the fluid nature of sāsana as a discourse. The layers of Buddhist history that emerge challenge us to see multiple modes of identity in colonial modernity and offer insights into the instabilities of categories we too often take for granted.

Saving Buddhism

Saving Buddhism
Title Saving Buddhism PDF eBook
Author Alicia Marie Turner
Publisher
Pages
Release 2014
Genre Buddhism and politics
ISBN 9780824869571

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This work explores the dissonance between the goals of the colonial state and the Buddhist worldview that animated Burmese Buddhism at the turn of the twentieth century. Alicia Turner traces three discourses set in motion by the colonial encounter: the evolving understanding of ssana as an orienting framework for change, the adaptive modes of identity made possible in the moral community, and the definition of religion as a site of conflict and negotiation of autonomy.

Why Buddhism is True

Why Buddhism is True
Title Why Buddhism is True PDF eBook
Author Robert Wright
Publisher Simon and Schuster
Pages 339
Release 2017-08-08
Genre Psychology
ISBN 1439195471

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From one of America’s most brilliant writers, a New York Times bestselling journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. At the heart of Buddhism is a simple claim: The reason we suffer—and the reason we make other people suffer—is that we don’t see the world clearly. At the heart of Buddhist meditative practice is a radical promise: We can learn to see the world, including ourselves, more clearly and so gain a deep and morally valid happiness. In this “sublime” (The New Yorker), pathbreaking book, Robert Wright shows how taking this promise seriously can change your life—how it can loosen the grip of anxiety, regret, and hatred, and how it can deepen your appreciation of beauty and of other people. He also shows why this transformation works, drawing on the latest in neuroscience and psychology, and armed with an acute understanding of human evolution. This book is the culmination of a personal journey that began with Wright’s landmark book on evolutionary psychology, The Moral Animal, and deepened as he immersed himself in meditative practice and conversed with some of the world’s most skilled meditators. The result is a story that is “provocative, informative and...deeply rewarding” (The New York Times Book Review), and as entertaining as it is illuminating. Written with the wit, clarity, and grace for which Wright is famous, Why Buddhism Is True lays the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age and shows how, in a time of technological distraction and social division, we can save ourselves from ourselves, both as individuals and as a species.

Ecodharma

Ecodharma
Title Ecodharma PDF eBook
Author David Loy
Publisher Simon and Schuster
Pages 232
Release 2019-01-29
Genre Religion
ISBN 1614293988

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How can we respond urgently and effectively to the ecological crisis—and stay sane doing it? This landmark work is simultaneously a manifesto, a blueprint, a call to action, and a deep comfort for troubling times. David R. Loy masterfully lays out the principles and perspectives of Ecodharma—a Buddhist response to our ecological predicament, introducing a new term for a new development of the Buddhist tradition. This book emphasizes the three aspects of Ecodharma: practicing in the natural world, exploring the ecological implications of Buddhist teachings, and embodying that understanding in the eco-activism that is needed today. Within these pages, you’ll discover the powerful ways Buddhism can inspire us to heal the world we share. Offering a compelling framework and practical spiritual resources, Loy outlines the Ecosattva Path, a path of liberation and salvation for all beings and the world itself.

Saving the Earth

Saving the Earth
Title Saving the Earth PDF eBook
Author Akuppa
Publisher Windhorse Publications
Pages 137
Release 2012-03-31
Genre Religion
ISBN 1907314563

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If you've been wondering how to make a difference in protecting the environment, but don't know where to start, this guide is your solution. Filled with practical tips and insightful reflections, Saving the Earth provides tools for change while showing how the Buddhist philosophies of interconnectedness and compassion are of immense use in our efforts towards preserving the Earth

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet
Title Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet PDF eBook
Author Thich Nhat Hanh
Publisher HarperCollins
Pages 259
Release 2021-10-05
Genre Religion
ISBN 0062954830

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER “When you wake up and you see that the Earth is not just the environment, the Earth is us, you touch the nature of interbeing. And at that moment you can have real communication with the Earth… We have to wake up together. And if we wake up together, then we have a chance. Our way of living our life and planning our future has led us into this situation. And now we need to look deeply to find a way out, not only as individuals, but as a collective, a species.” -- Thich Nhat Hanh We face a potent intersection of crises: ecological destruction, rising inequality, racial injustice, and the lasting impacts of a devastating pandemic. The situation is beyond urgent. To face these challenges, we need to find ways to strengthen our clarity, compassion, and courage to act. Beloved Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is blazingly clear: there’s one thing we all have the power to change, which can make all the difference, and that is our mind. Our way of looking, seeing, and thinking determines every choice we make, the everyday actions we take or avoid, how we relate to those we love or oppose, and how we react in a crisis. Mindfulness and the radical insights of Zen meditation can give us the strength and clarity we need to help create a regenerative world in which all life is respected. Filled with Thich Nhat Hanh’s inspiring meditations, Zen stories and experiences from his own activism, as well as commentary from Sister True Dedication, one of his students Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet shows us a new way of seeing and living that can bring healing and harmony to ourselves, our relationships, and the Earth.

Touching the Earth

Touching the Earth
Title Touching the Earth PDF eBook
Author Akuppa
Publisher Windhorse Publications
Pages 132
Release 2002
Genre Nature
ISBN 9781899579488

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Faced with the environmental crises we see many people carrying on as usual. If we look to those in government, we see indecision or complacency. So what do we do? Do we follow the herd or do we look to our own sense of what is rational and compassionate?