Banner Message
Please note: Due to the renovations happening to the Pritzker building, the bookstore is in a temporary location without full access to the inventory. There might be items that appear online that are not currently accesible to us to ship to you. If you order these items, you will be refunded and the rest of your order will ship. Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Eastern Religion
Innumerable studies have appeared in recent decades about practically every aspect of women's lives in Western societies. The few such works on Buddhism have been quite limited in scope. In The Power of Denial, Bernard Faure takes an important step toward redressing this situation by boldly asking: does Buddhism offer women liberation or limitation? Continuing the innovative exploration of sexuality in Buddhism he began in The Red Thread, here he moves from his earlier focus on male monastic sexuality to Buddhist conceptions of women and constructions of gender. Faure argues that Buddhism is neither as sexist nor as egalitarian as is usually thought. Above all, he asserts, the study of Buddhism through the gender lens leads us to question what we uncritically call Buddhism, in the singular.
Faure challenges the conventional view that the history of women in Buddhism is a linear narrative of progress from oppression to liberation. Examining Buddhist discourse on gender in traditions such as that of Japan, he shows that patriarchy--indeed, misogyny--has long been central to Buddhism. But women were not always silent, passive victims. Faure points to the central role not only of nuns and mothers (and wives) of monks but of female mediums and courtesans, whose colorful relations with Buddhist monks he considers in particular. Ultimately, Faure concludes that while Buddhism is, in practice, relentlessly misogynist, as far as misogynist discourses go it is one of the most flexible and open to contradiction. And, he suggests, unyielding in-depth examination can help revitalize Buddhism's deeper, more ancient egalitarianism and thus subvert its existing gender hierarchy. This groundbreaking book offers a fresh, comprehensive understanding of what Buddhism has to say about gender, and of what this really says about Buddhism, singular or plural.
The most comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of Buddhism ever produced in English
With more than 5,000 entries totaling over a million words, this is the most comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of Buddhism ever produced in English. It is also the first to cover terms from all of the canonical Buddhist languages and traditions: Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Unlike reference works that focus on a single Buddhist language or school, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism bridges the major Buddhist traditions to provide encyclopedic coverage of the most important terms, concepts, texts, authors, deities, schools, monasteries, and geographical sites from across the history of Buddhism. The main entries offer both a brief definition and a substantial short essay on the broader meaning and significance of the term covered. Extensive cross-references allow readers to find related terms and concepts. An appendix of Buddhist lists (for example, the four noble truths and the thirty-two marks of the Buddha), a timeline, six maps, and two diagrams are also included. Written and edited by two of today's most eminent scholars of Buddhism, and more than a decade in the making, this landmark work is an essential reference for every student, scholar, or practitioner of Buddhism and for anyone else interested in Asian religion, history, or philosophy.
"Sincere inquiry always sparks our movement towards truth. Deep questions signal the manifestation of the very energy through which we outgrow ourselves." -- from the Introduction.
Born in Chicago, a law school graduate and real estate professional, Ajahn Sumano abandoned his comfortable American lifestyle for the begging bowl and simple cave home of an ordained Buddhist monk in the tradition of the Thai forest meditation masters. In 1994-95, he conducted a series of question and answer evenings at a guest house in Thailand's Kowyai National Park with English-speaking tourists eager to meet a Western Buddhist monk. The heartfelt questions of these "city" people and the clear and penetrating answers Sumano gave from his "forest" perspective form the basis of this remarkable book. Written on a battered, battery-powered laptop in his meditation cave, Sumano's enchanting personal story and his refreshingly down-to-earth blend of American sensibility and Eastern practice will fascinate newcomers to Buddhist ideas as well as experienced practitioners.
Those familiar with the Qur'an in Arabic--especially the faithful who each day hear the text recited aloud--know that it is a sublime blend of sound and sense, music and meaning. While no translation can perfectly capture the inimitable virtues of the original, Habib and Lawrence have come closest to a readable, clear, and fluid English Qur'an that all readers, regardless of their faith or familiarity with the text, can read with pleasure, gaining a deeper appreciation of the book and the religious tradition it inspired.
A rich and informative introduction situates the Qur'an in its cultural context and describes its unique structure and history. A note from the translators explains their painstaking efforts to address the many challenges that any translator must face when rendering the Qur'an into English. Extensive notes and explanatory apparatus will help all readers--whether they are familiar with the original or coming to the text for the first time--to read (and hear) the Qur'an with fresh understanding and insight.
From the early years of the Common Era to 1700, Indian intellectuals explored with unparalleled subtlety the place of emotion in art. Their investigations led to the deconstruction of art's formal structures and broader inquiries into the pleasure of tragic tales. Rasa, or taste, was the word they chose to describe art's aesthetics, and their passionate effort to pin down these phenomena became its own remarkable act of creation.
This book is the first in any language to follow the evolution of rasa from its origins in dramaturgical thought--a concept for the stage--to its flourishing in literary thought--a concept for the page. A Rasa Reader incorporates primary texts by every significant thinker on classical Indian aesthetics, many never translated before. The arrangement of the selections captures the intellectual dynamism that has powered this debate for centuries. Headnotes explain the meaning and significance of each text, a comprehensive introduction summarizes major threads in intellectual-historical terms, and critical endnotes and an extensive bibliography add further depth to the selections. The Sanskrit theory of emotion in art is one of the most sophisticated in the ancient world, a precursor of the work being done today by critics and philosophers of aesthetics. A Rasa Reader's conceptual detail, historical precision, and clarity will appeal to any scholar interested in a full portrait of global intellectual development. A Rasa Reader is the inaugural book in the Historical Sourcebooks in Classical Indian Thought series, edited by Sheldon Pollock. These text-based books guide readers through the most important forms of classical Indian thought, from epistemology, rhetoric, and hermeneutics to astral science, yoga, and medicine. Each volume provides fresh translations of key works, headnotes to contextualize selections, a comprehensive analysis of major lines of development within the discipline, and exegetical and text-critical endnotes, as well as a bibliography. Designed for comparativists and interested general readers, Historical Sourcebooks is also a great resource for advanced scholars seeking authoritative commentary on challenging works.
The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shōbōgenzō) is the masterwork of Dōgen (1200-1253), founder of the Sōtō Zen Buddhist sect in Kamakura-era Japan. It is one of the most important Zen Buddhist collections, composed during a period of remarkable religious diversity and experimentation. The text is complex and compelling, famed for its eloquent yet perplexing manner of expressing the core precepts of Zen teachings and practice.
This book is a comprehensive introduction to this essential Zen text, offering a textual, historical, literary, and philosophical examination of Dōgen's treatise. Steven Heine explores the religious and cultural context in which the Treasury was composed and provides a detailed study of the various versions of the medieval text that have been compiled over the centuries. He includes nuanced readings of Dōgen's use of inventive rhetorical flourishes and the range of East Asian Buddhist textual and cultural influences that shaped the work. Heine explicates the philosophical implications of Dōgen's views on contemplative experience and attaining and sustaining enlightenment, showing the depth of his distinctive understanding of spiritual awakening. Readings of Dōgen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye will give students and other readers a full understanding of this fundamental work of world religious literature.
If, as Buddhism claims, the potential for awakening exists in all human beings, we should be able to map the phenomenon with the same science we apply to other forms of consciousness. A student of cognitive social science and a Zen practitioner for more than forty years, Richard P. Boyle brings his sophisticated perspective to bear on the development of a theoretical model for both ordinary and awakened consciousness.
Boyle conducts probing interviews with eleven prominent Western Buddhist teachers (Shinzen Young, John Tarrant, Ken McLeod, Ajahn Amaro, Martine Batchelor, Shaila Catherine, Gil Fronsdal, Stephen Batchelor, Pat Enkyo O'Hara, Bernie Glassman, and Joseph Goldstein) and one scientist (James Austin) who have experienced awakening. From the paths they traveled to enlightenment and their descriptions of the experience, he derives three fundamental properties of awakened consciousness. He then constructs an overarching model that explains how Buddhist practices help free the mind from attachments to reality and the self and make possible the three properties of awakening. Specifically, these teachers describe how they worked to control attention and quiet the mind, detach from ideas and habits, and open themselves to compassion. Boyle's account incorporates current theories of consciousness, sociological insights, and research in neuroscience to advance the study of awakened consciousness and help an even greater number of people to realize it.
Presents the various religious approaches to Yoga described by Haribhadra, the eighth-century sage, who held a universal view of religion. Includes a translation of his original text on Yoga.
Reconciling Yogas explores five approaches to the accomplishment of Yoga from a variety of religious perspectives: Jaina, Hindu, and Buddhist. Haribhadra, a prolific Jaina scholar who espoused a universal view of religion, proclaimed that truth can be found in all faiths and sought to elucidate differences between various schools of thought. In Yoga, he discovered a form of spiritual practice common to many faiths and juxtaposed their paths to demonstrate the common goal of liberation. Utilizing the structure of Patañjali's advanced eightfold path of Yoga in the Yoga Sutra, Haribhadra formulates his own eight stages of Yoga to which he assigns titles in the feminine gender that echo the names of goddesses. Discussed are the Jaina stages of spiritual ascent and two forms of Yoga for which there is no other account. Also included is a new translation of the Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, an eighth-century text by Haribhadra.
The Linji lu (Record of Linji) has been an essential text of Chinese and Japanese Zen Buddhism for nearly a thousand years. A compilation of sermons, statements, and acts attributed to the great Chinese Zen master Linji Yixuan (d. 866), it serves as both an authoritative statement of Zen's basic standpoint and a central source of material for Zen koan practice. Scholars study the text for its importance in understanding both Zen thought and East Asian Mahayana doctrine, while Zen practitioners cherish it for its unusual simplicity, directness, and ability to inspire.
One of the earliest attempts to translate this important work into English was by Sasaki Shigetsu (1882-1945), a pioneer Zen master in the U.S. and the founder of the First Zen Institute of America. At the time of his death, he entrusted the project to his wife, Ruth Fuller Sasaki, who in 1949 moved to Japan and there founded a branch of the First Zen Institute at Daitoku-ji. Mrs. Sasaki, determined to produce a definitive translation, assembled a team of talented young scholars, both Japanese and Western, who in the following years retranslated the text in accordance with modern research on Tang-dynasty colloquial Chinese. As they worked on the translation, they compiled hundreds of detailed notes explaining every technical term, vernacular expression, and literary reference. One of the team, Yanagida Seizan (later Japan's preeminent Zen historian), produced a lengthy introduction that outlined the emergence of Chinese Zen, presented a biography of Linji, and traced the textual development of the Linji lu. The sudden death of Mrs. Sasaki in 1967 brought the nearly completed project to a halt. An abbreviated version of the book was published in 1975, but neither this nor any other English translations that subsequently appeared contain the type of detailed historical, linguistic, and doctrinal annotation that was central to Mrs. Sasaki's plan. The materials assembled by Mrs. Sasaki and her team are finally available in the present edition of the Record of Linji. Chinese readings have been changed to Pinyin and the translation itself has been revised in line with subsequent research by Iriya Yoshitaka and Yanagida Seizan, the scholars who advised Mrs. Sasaki. The notes, nearly six hundred in all, are almost entirely based on primary sources and thus retain their value despite the nearly forty years since their preparation. They provide a rich context for Linji's teachings, supplying a wealth of information on Tang colloquial expressions, Buddhist thought, and Zen history, much of which is unavailable anywhere else in English. This revised edition of the Record of Linji is certain to be of great value to Buddhist scholars, Zen practitioners, and readers interested in Asian Buddhism.
Is there a Buddhist discourse on sex? In this innovative study, Bernard Faure reveals Buddhism's paradoxical attitudes toward sexuality. His remarkably broad range covers the entire geography of this religion, and its long evolution from the time of its founder, Xvkyamuni, to the premodern age. The author's anthropological approach uncovers the inherent discrepancies between the normative teachings of Buddhism and what its followers practice.
Framing his discussion on some of the most prominent Western thinkers of sexuality--Georges Bataille and Michel Foucault--Faure draws from different reservoirs of writings, such as the orthodox and heterodox "doctrines" of Buddhism, and its monastic codes. Virtually untapped mythological as well as legal sources are also used. The dialectics inherent in Mahvyvna Buddhism, in particular in the Tantric and Chan/Zen traditions, seemed to allow for greater laxity and even encouraged breaking of taboos. Faure also offers a history of Buddhist monastic life, which has been buffeted by anticlerical attitudes, and by attempts to regulate sexual behavior from both within and beyond the monastery. In two chapters devoted to Buddhist homosexuality, he examines the way in which this sexual behavior was simultaneously condemned and idealized in medieval Japan. This book will appeal especially to those interested in the cultural history of Buddhism and in premodern Japanese culture. But the story of how one of the world's oldest religions has faced one of life's greatest problems makes fascinating reading for all.
Leading scholars examine religious and philosophical dimensions of the Chinese classic known as the Daodejing or Laozi.
Renowned international scholars examine crucial issues surrounding the Laozi, the third century B.C.E. Chinese classic also known as the Daodejing in this indispensable volume. The work offers diverse interpretations, a wide range of scholarly traditions, and a variety of ways to engage, ponder, and evaluate the Laozi.
Contributors include Robert Henricks, Zhang Longxi, Tateno Masami, Isabelle Robinet, Harold D. Roth, Bryan W. Van Norden, and Liu Xiaogan.
Tagore is unequivocal in his faith. He appreciates the intellectual triumphs of science, but he writes as a poet and philosopher. Man must always be a music-maker and dreamer of dreams; he must never lose, in his material quests, his longing for the touch of the divine. He traces the growth of the idea of God from primitive notions to universality. Today, as he says, all barriers are down and the "the God of humanity has arrived at the gates of the ruined temple of the tribe." His book rings with joy and affirmation overstepping all limitations of race and creed.
"His estimates of western civilization are searching and some of them written in acid...one reads much between the lines-but Tagore recognizes the true strength of the west and the faults of the east. The lectures are actually a superb and haunting criticism and evaluation of life from the viewpoint of an immemorial philosophy by a wise man." -Christian Century
This is a book for everyone: a book whose human interest and pervading charm assure it a wide appeal and lasting value. It is not a philosophical work, as its author repeatedly warns us; in fact, its one semi-philosophical chapter (the first) may well be omitted. Its value is religious and poetical; like the essays of Emerson, it is primarily a document of the spiritual life." -Journal of Religion
"Rich in profound thought and poetic speech...he has never written anything so penetrating and illumination on the nature of things... Tagore has seen visions, and he can paint them for us with a compelling charm due to utter simplicity and fidelity. But he has not stopped there. His reason hs entered into truth by the doors which his intuition has opened...A treasure-store of truth, beauty and wisdom." -New Chronicle
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious sect in nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate monistic basis of Hinduism as laid down in the Upanishads. He was educated at home; and although at seventeen he was sent to England for formal schooling, he did not finish his studies there. In his mature years, in addition to his many-sided literary activities, he managed the family estates, a project which brought him into close touch with common humanity and increased his interest in social reforms. He also started an experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried his Upanishadic ideals of education. From time to time he participated in the Indian nationalist movement, though in his own non-sentimental and visionary way; and Gandhi, the political father of modern India, was his devoted friend. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the honour as a protest against British policies in India. Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the West. In fact his fame attained a luminous height, taking him across continents on lecture tours and tours of friendship. For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, he became a great living institution.
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/Nobel Lectures.
Philip Novak is the author of The World's Wisdom, a widely used anthology of the sacred texts of the world's religions and the companion reader to Huston Smith's The World's Religions.
Despite the immense popularity of yoga today, there is surprisingly little knowledge of its roots among practitioners. This book brings together, for the first time, the core teachings of yoga in the words of their authors, rather than in the secondary versions of modern interpreters. Including key passages from the Upanishads, the Buddhist and Jaina traditions, the yoga sections of the Indian Tantras, and many texts that are being critically translated for the first time, Roots of Yoga provides a comprehensive and immediate insight into the essential texts of the Indian traditions of yoga. This book is a first stop for anyone wishing to learn more than they are told at their yoga class, and an indispensable resource for serious yoga practitioners and teachers.
SACRED SCIENCE OF ANCIENT JAPAN: Lost Chronicles of the Age of the Gods
How Western notions of the Buddha have come to misrepresent his teachings and the traditional goals of Buddhist practice
This book tells the story of the Scientific Buddha, "born" in Europe in the 1800s but commonly confused with the Buddha born in India 2,500 years ago. The Scientific Buddha was sent into battle against Christian missionaries, who were proclaiming across Asia that Buddhism was a form of superstition. He proved the missionaries wrong, teaching a dharma that was in harmony with modern science. And his influence continues. Today his teaching of "mindfulness" is heralded as the cure for all manner of maladies, from depression to high blood pressure.In this potent critique, a well-known chronicler of the West's encounter with Buddhism demonstrates how the Scientific Buddha's teachings deviate in crucial ways from those of the far older Buddha of ancient India. Donald Lopez shows that the Western focus on the Scientific Buddha threatens to bleach Buddhism of its vibrancy, complexity, and power, even as the superficial focus on "mindfulness" turns Buddhism into merely the latest self-help movement. The Scientific Buddha has served his purpose, Lopez argues. It is now time for him to pass into nirvana. This is not to say, however, that the teachings of the ancient Buddha must be dismissed as mere cultural artifacts. They continue to present a potent challenge, even to our modern world.
This book presents the oral teachings of the twentieth century's great Kashmir Shaivite master. The last of his long lineage, Swami Lakshmanjoo preserved, as did his predecessors, the oral knowledge that illuminates this ancient philosophy-that clarifies the often deliberately obscure tantric texts.
Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals the essence of the way and the means to self realization. Here in his own original discourses, as well as in his English renderings of Abhinavagupta and Kshemaraja, he unveils the essential teachings of this yoga philosophy.
Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals the tantric understanding of the purpose and reason for creation. He offers instruction on the greatness and importance of the supreme mantra sauh\. In his presentation of effective practice, he explains why meditation is both effortless and, at the same time, difficult. In his discussion of discipline he clarifies why personal habits and dispositions play an important part in spiritual growth. Finally, in his unveiling of the path of Kundalini yoga, he is intent on exposing and thereby preserving this hidden and elevated process while warning of its pitfalls.
Contains 8 black and white, 14 full color photographs.
Abu al-Qasem Ferdowsi (940-1020 CE), one of Iran's greatest poets, versified the ancient legends of the Persian Book of Kings (Shahnameh) in verse over one thousand years ago. It is the longest poem written by a single poet. A combination of myth and history told over a series of 50,000 elegant couplets, Ferdowsi dedicated thirty-three years of his life to writing the Shahnameh and intended it to protect the Persian collective memory and its language amid a turbulent sea of cultural storms. This celebrated work traces the storied history of the Iranian people, beginning with the origin myths of civilization and ending with the Arab Conquest of Iran in the seventh century. Featuring a preface by editor and Guggenheim fellow Hamid Rahmanian and an introduction by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, chair of ancient history at Cardiff University, this lush translation by Ahmad Sadri renders the tale in highly accessible yet atmospheric prose for contemporary audiences. Under Sadri's deft hand, legendary adventures of superhuman heroes, encounters with magical creatures, and heart-wrenching love stories come alive off the page, capturing readers' imaginations.
To this day, people of all ages in Persianate societies can recite lines of Shahnameh by heart. The book continues to be read in family gatherings and performed by professional reciters in the teahouses of Tajikistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. The bedrock of Iranian nationhood and a literary masterpiece, this beloved epic holds the promise of cultural conservation--and celebration--within its every page.
