Esoteric Theravada


Book Description

A groundbreaking exploration of a practice tradition that was nearly lost to history. Theravada Buddhism, often understood as the school that most carefully preserved the practices taught by the Buddha, has undergone tremendous change over time. Prior to Western colonialism in Asia—which brought Western and modernist intellectual concerns, such as the separation of science and religion, to bear on Buddhism—there existed a tradition of embodied, esoteric, and culturally regional Theravada meditation practices. This once-dominant traditional meditation system, known as borān kammatthāna, is related to—yet remarkably distinct from—Vipassana and other Buddhist and secular mindfulness practices that would become the hallmark of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. Drawing on a quarter century of research, scholar Kate Crosby offers the first holistic discussion of borān kammatthāna, illuminating the historical events and cultural processes by which the practice has been marginalized in the modern era.




The Practices of Esoteric Theravada


Book Description

"Discover the esoteric branch of Theravada meditation in the first English-language exploration of a practice tradition nearly lost to history. In this groundbreaking book, scholar Kate Crosby illuminates the once-dominant traditional Theravada meditation system known as boråan kamahåana. Theravadan Buddhism, though often understood as the school that most carefully preserved the practices originally taught by the Buddha, has in fact undergone tremendous change over time. Prior to Western concerns with the separation of science and religion that influenced Asian Buddhist modernizers, there existed a tradition of embodied, esoteric, and culturally regional Theravadan meditation practices. These meditation systems differ radically from the reformed, text-based meditations that are now taught in Theravada Buddhism, including Vipassana and Insight Meditation, as well as Buddhist and secular mindfulness. Drawing on a quarter century of research, Crosby offers the first holistic discussion of boråan kamahåana in the context of historical events and cultural processes by which the practice has been marginalized in the modern era. Readers of Esoteric Theravada will never see Theravada Buddhism in the same light again"--







Meditations of the Pali Tradition


Book Description

A groundbreaking and detailed presentation of the rich system of meditation traditions that have come to us through the Pali tradition of Buddhism. Meditations of the Pali Tradition, from consummate scholar of Pali Buddhism L. S. Cousins, explores the history of meditation practice in early or Pali Buddhism, which was established in various parts of South and Central Asia from the time of the Buddha and developed until at least the fourteenth century CE. Ranging in discussion of jhana (absorption) meditation in ancient India to the Buddhist practice centers of the Silk Road to the vipassana (insight) practices of our modern world, this rigorous and insightful work of scholarship sheds new light on our understanding of the practices that are today associated with the Theravada school of Buddhism and the insight meditation movement. Cousins demonstrates that there is much more to Buddhist meditation than mindfulness alone—concentration and joy, for example, are equally important.




Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang


Book Description

Drawing a wide variety of texts and images from Dunhuang, the six original contributions to this collection advance our understanding of the development of Esoteric Buddhism in late first millennium Tibet and China. Ritual, philosophy, and mortuary practice are among the topics considered.




Shingon


Book Description




The Spirit of Buddhist Meditation


Book Description

Is it possible to capture the spirit of Buddhist meditation, which depends so much upon silence and unspoken wisdom? Can this spirit be found after two millennia? This wise and reassuring book reminds us that the Buddhist meditative tradition, geared to such concerns from its inception, has always been transmitted through texts. A great variety of early writings—poems, stories, extended practical guides, commentaries, and chants—were purposely designed to pass teachings on from one generation to the next. Sarah Shaw, a longtime practitioner and teacher of Buddhism, investigates a wide and varied range of ancient and later Buddhist writings on meditation. Many of these texts are barely known in the West but, as the author shows, they can be helpful, moving, and often very funny. She begins with early texts of the Pali canon—those that describe and involve the Buddha and his followers teaching meditations—and moves on to “commentaries,” with their copious range of practical tips, anecdotes, and accounts of early meditators. The author then considers other early texts that were inspirational as Buddhist traditions spread through India and on to China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. Centuries after being written, early Buddhist texts have lost none of their relevance, this authoritative book shows. In a tradition characterized by flexibility and mobility, these writings offer wisdom unchanged by time.




Esoteric Buddhism


Book Description

Excerpt from Esoteric Buddhism Since this book was first published in the beginning of 1883, I have come into possession of much additional information bearing on many of the problems dealt with. But I am glad to say that such later teaching only reveals incompleteness in my original conception of the esoteric doctrine, - no material error so far. Indeed I have received from the great Adept himself, from whom I obtained my instruction in the first instance, the assurance that the book as it now stands is a sound and trustworthy statement of the scheme of nature as understood by the initiates of occult science, which may have to be a good deal developed in the future, if the interest it excites is keen enough to constitute an efficient demand for further teaching of this kind on the part of the world at large, but will never have to be remodelled or apologized for. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.




Theravāda Buddhism and the British Encounter


Book Description

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.




The Oxford Handbook of Meditation


Book Description

Meditation techniques, including mindfulness, have become popular wellbeing practices and the scientific study of their effects has recently turned 50 years old. But how much do we know about them: what were they developed for and by whom? How similar or different are they, how effective can they be in changing our minds and biology, what are their social and ethical implications? The Oxford Handbook of Meditation is the most comprehensive volume published on meditation, written in accessible language by world-leading experts on the science and history of these techniques. It covers the development of meditation across the world and the varieties of its practices and experiences. It includes approaches from various disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, history, anthropology, and sociology and it explores its potential for therapeutic and social change, as well as unusual or negative effects. Edited by practitioner-researchers, this book is the ultimate guide for all interested in meditation, including teachers, clinicians, therapists, researchers, or anyone who would like to learn more about this topic.