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Illuminating the Life of the Buddha
"This lavishly illustrated book investigates an outstanding eighteenth-century example of a samut khoi, a type of beautiful folding book found in Southeast Asia, which became particularly popular as a repository for the Buddha's teachings. Written in Pali and produced in the Kingdom of Siam, its finely executed pictures, painted on khoi paper, show key incidents from stories of the past lives of the Buddha as he prepares for Buddhahood. These tales, historically one of the principal means whereby Buddhist teachings were communicated, known as Jatakas, are a favourite theme for manuscript art. Uniquely for such manuscripts, however, this samut khoi also offers an extensive series of scenes fr...
Jataka Stories in Theravada Buddhism
Jataka stories (stories about the previous births of the Buddha) are very popular in Theravada Buddhist countries, where they are found in both canonical texts and later compositions and collections, and are commonly used in sermons, children's books, plays, poetry, temple illustrations, rituals and festivals. Whilst at first glance many of the stories look like common fables or folktales, Buddhist tradition tells us that the stories illustrate the gradual path to perfection exemplified by the Buddha in his previous births, when he was a bodhisatta (buddha-to-be). Jataka stories have had a long and colourful history, closely intertwined with the development of doctrines about the Buddha, the path to buddhahood, and how Buddhists should behave now the Buddha is no more. This book explores the shifting role of the stories in Buddhist doctrine, practice, and creative expression, finally placing this integral Buddhist genre back in the centre of scholarly understandings of the religion.
Narrative Visions and Visual Narratives in Indian Buddhism
This volume explores the interaction between text and image in Indian Buddhist contexts, including not only the complex relationship between verbal stories and visual representations at Indian sites, but also the ways in which visual imagery is used within textual narratives. The chapters are authored by a mixture of textual scholars and art historians, bringing together different disciplinary perspectives in order to seek a richer understanding of how text and art relate, and of the role of narrative imagery in different media and contexts.The book opens with an introduction that explores what narratives and visual narratives are, and why we might want to study narrative images alongside im...
Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative
Taking a comparative approach which considers characters that are shared across the narrative traditions of early Indian religions (Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism) Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative explores key religious and social ideals, as well as points of contact, dialogue and contention between different worldviews. The book focuses on three types of character - gods, heroes and kings - that are of particular importance to early South Asian narrative traditions because of their relevance to the concerns of the day, such as the role of deities, the qualities of a true hero or good ruler and the tension between worldly responsibilities and the pursuit of...
Narrating Karma and Rebirth
This book explores how multi-life stories served to construct, communicate, and challenge ideas about karma and rebirth within early South Asia.
Many Buddhas, One Buddha
"Many Buddhas, One Buddha introduces a significant section of the important early Indian Buddhist text known as the Avadåanaâsataka, or "One Hundred Stories", and explores some of its perspectives on buddhahood. This text, composed in Sanskrit and dating to perhaps the third to fifth centuries of the Common Era, is affiliated with the Sarvåastivåada or Måulasarvåastivåada, and thus provides important evidence of the ideas and literatures of lost non-Mahåayåana schools of Indian Buddhism. The text is a rich literary composition, in mixed prose and verse, and includes some elaborate devotional passages that illuminate early Indian perspectives on the Buddha and on the role of avadÄ p...
New Topics in Feminist Philosophy of Religion
Having enjoyed more than a decade of lively critique and creativity, feminist philosophy of religion continues to be a vital field of inquiry. New Topics in Feminist Philosophy of Religion maintains this vitality with both women and men, from their own distinctive social and material locations, contributing critically to the rich traditions in philosophy of religion. The twenty contributors open up new possibilities for spiritual practice, while contesting the gender-bias of traditional concepts in the field: the old models of human and divine will no longer ‘simply do’! A lively current debate develops in re-imagining and revaluing transcendence in terms of body, space and self-other relations. This collection is an excellent source for courses in feminist philosophy, phenomenology, hermeneutics and literature, Continental and analytical philosophy of religion, engaging with a range of religions and philosophers including Kant, Kierkegaard, Marx, Heidegger, Arendt, Weil, Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, Ricoeur, Levinas, Irigaray, Bourdieu, Kristeva, Le Doeuff, bell hooks and Jantzen.
The Buddha: a Storied Life
Retellings of the Buddha's life story have animated and sustained Buddhist thought and practice through some 2,500 years of history. To this day, Buddhist holidays and rituals are pinned to the arc of his biography, celebrating his birth, awakening, teaching, and final nirvana. His story is the model that exemplary Buddhists follow. Often, there is a moment of insight akin to the Buddha's experience with the Four Sights, followed by a great departure from home, and a period of searching that it is hoped will lead to final awakening. The Buddha's story is not just the Buddha's story; it is the story of Buddhism. In this book, twelve leading scholars of South Asian texts and traditions articul...
Dialogue in Early South Asian Religions
Dialogue between characters is an important feature of South Asian religious literature: entire narratives are often presented as a dialogue between two or more individuals, or the narrative or discourse is presented as a series of embedded conversations from different times and places. Including some of the most established scholars of South Asian religious texts, this book examines the use of dialogue in early South Asian texts with an interdisciplinary approach that crosses traditional boundaries between religious traditions. The contributors shed new light on the cultural ideas and practices within religious traditions, as well as presenting an understanding of a range of dynamics - from hostile and competitive to engaged and collaborative. This book is the first to explore the literary dimensions of dialogue in South Asian religious sources, helping to reframe the study of other literary traditions around the world.
