Buddhism and Jainism

ISBN-13: 9789402408515 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 1423 str.

Karam Tej Singh Sarao; Jefferey D. Long

Opis

This volume focuses on Buddhism and Jainism, two religions which, together with Hinduism, constitute the three pillars of Indic religious tradition in its classical formulation. It explores their history and relates how the Vedic period in the history of Hinduism drew to a close around the sixth century BCE and how its gradual etiolation gave rise to a number of religious movements. While some of these remained within the fold of the Vedic traditions, others arose in a context of a more ambiguous relationship between the two. Two of these have survived to the present day as Buddhism and Jainism. The volume describes the major role Buddhism played in the history not only of India but of Asia, and now the world as well, and the more confined role of Jainism in India until relatively recent times. It examines the followers of these religions and their influence on the Indian religious landscape. In addition, it depicts the transformative effect on existing traditions of the encounter of Hinduism with these two religions, as well as the fertile interaction between the three. The book shows how Buddhism and Jainism share the basic concepts of karma, rebirth, and liberation with Hinduism while giving them their own hue, and how they differ from the Hindu tradition in their understanding of the role of the Vedas, the -caste system, - and ritualism in religious life. The volume contributes to the debate on whether the proper way of describing the relationship between the three major components of the classical Indic tradition is to treat them as siblings (sometimes as even exhibiting sibling rivalry), or as friends (sometimes even exhibiting schadenfreude), or as radical alternatives to one another, or all of these at different points in time.

Spis treści

From the contents:

Abhidhamma Piṭaka.- Abhidharma Theravāda).- Abhiññā.- Abhisamayālaṃkāra.- Ahiṃsā, Buddhism.- Ahiṁsā, Jainism.- Ajaṇṭā.- Bamiyan.- Bedsa.- Bhaiṣajyaguru.- Bhājā.- Cāga.- Cakka.- Caṇḍāla, Buddhism.- Dāna, Buddhism.- Date of the Buddha.- Death, Buddhism.- Decline of Indian Buddhism.- Devadatta.- Earth, Buddhism.- Ecology, Buddhism.- Education, Buddhism.- Education, Jainism.- Fate, Buddhism.- Faxian (337–422 C.E.).- Festivals, Buddhism.- Folklore, Buddhism.- Gaṇḍavyūha.- Gandhara.- Gaudapada.- Gender, Buddhism.- Hagiography, Buddhism.- Hagiography, Buddhism.- Heaven, Buddhism.- Hell, Buddhism.- Jarā-maraṇa.- Jātaka.- Jinasena, Jainism.- Jīva, Jainism.- Junnar.- Kailash.- Kamma.- Kanheri.- Lalitavistara.- Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.- Liberation, Buddhism.- Mahāsāṅghika.- Nāgārjuna.- Nāgārjunakoṇḍa.- Nāgasena.- Nālandā.- Omniscience.- Oral Transmission.- Ordination.

O autorze

Jeffery D. Long is Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at Elizabethtown College, where he has taught since receiving his Ph.D. in the philosophy of religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School in the year 2000.  Long is the author of three books–A Vision for Hinduism (2007), Jainism: An Introduction (2009), and The Historical Dictionary of Hinduism (2011).  He is currently working on a two-volume introduction to Indian philosophy, including a textbook and a reader of primary sources.  His other publications include over four dozen articles and reviews in various edited volumes and scholarly journals, including Prabuddha Bharata, the Journal of Vaishnava Studies, the Journal of Religion, and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.  He has taught in the International Summer School for Jain Studies in New Delhi, India, lectured at the Siddhachalam Jain Tirth, in Blairstown, New Jersey, and in April 2013, he delivered the inaugural Virchand Gandhi Lecture in Jain Studies at the Claremont School of Theology.  Most recently, he spoke at the International Conference on Science and Jain Philosophy, held at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, India.

Karam Tej Singh Sarao was born in a remote village in the district of Sangrur in Punjab (India) where he received his initial school education. His an alumnus of the universities of Panjab, Delhi and Cambridge. After doing his Pre-University from Panjab University, he joined the University of Delhi from where he received the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History with Economics, Master of Arts (History), Master of Philosophy (Chinese and Japanese Studies) and Doctor of Philosophy (Indian Buddhism). He was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship in 1985 to study at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) from where he received his second Doctor of Philosophy in Pāli and Buddhist Archaeology in 1989. He began his teaching career in 1981 at Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College where he taught ancient Indian history for about twelve years. In 1993, he joined the Department of Buddhist Studies, Delhi University as a reader (associate professor) in Indian Buddhism and Pāli. In 1995, he was selected to occupy a professorial chair in Buddhist Studies at Delhi University and has been teaching Pāli and Indian Buddhism, its history and archaeology since then. In his capacity as a professor, Professor Sarao has also been working as a member of the Delhi University Court since 1993. Besides having worked as head of the Department of Buddhist Studies, Delhi University for over twelve years, he has also sat on the governing bodies of different colleges of Delhi University. Professor Sarao has also worked as a member of the Governing Committee of the Central University of Tibetan Studies (Sarnath) and member of the Academic Council of the Jaina Visvabharati University (Ladnun). Professor Sarao has also been a visiting fellow/professor at Dongguk University (South Korea), Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, Jinshan (Taiwan), Sorbonne (Paris, France), Cambridge University (UK), Visvabharati (India), and PS Royal Buddhist University (Cambodia). He has written sixteen books and published more than 150 research papers and articles. Some of his important books are The Origin and Nature of Ancient Indian Buddhism (1989), Urban Centres and Urbanisation as Reflected in the Pāli Vinaya and Sutta Piṭakas (1990), Pilgrimage to Kailash: The Indian Route (2009), The Dhammapada: A Translators Guide (2009), The Decline of Indian Buddhism: A Fresh Perspective (2012). Besides Hindi and English, his research work has been published in Punjabi and Chinese. He has successfully supervised more than fifty PhD theses and over seventy M.Phil. dissertations. The Preah Sihanouk Royal Buddhist University, Phnom Penh (Cambodia) conferred the degree of D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) on him in 2011 for his special contribution to Buddhist Studies. He takes keen interest in mountainous trekking, religious pluralism, and interfaith dialogue.

Blurb

The Encyclopedia of Indian Religions offers a complete overview of Hinduism and all other religions found in India and the Diaspora, such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and so on. It is strongly characterized by two special features, each pertaining to the fact that Hinduism is closely associated with India but has now become global in its reach. In relation to Hinduism in India, it views Hinduism not in isolation but in dynamic interaction, first with other religions of Indian origin and then with religions which did not originate in India but have been a lasting feature of its religious landscape, namely, Islam and Christianity and, to a lesser extent, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Secondly, the encyclopedia seriously takes into account the phenomenon of Hinduism in the Diaspora. The Indian Diaspora is now beginning to make its presence felt, both in India and abroad. In India, the Indian government annually hosts a Diaspora event called Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), in recognition of the growing importance of the 20 million strong Diaspora. And the role it is playing in the computer software industry around the world is well known. Although not all Indians are Hindus, most are, both in India and abroad. A strong sense of Hindu identity is emerging among diasporic Hindus. This has lead to an increasing amount of research on Hindu traditions and Indian identity, and the relation of Hinduism with other world religions. The Encyclopedia of Indian Religions will fill the need for information and clarification of modern day Hinduism and Hindu history and traditions to Hindus in the Diaspora. Three main aspects of diasporic Hinduism have been kept in mind while preparing this reference work: firstly the active language of diasporic Hindus is English. Secondly diasporic Hindus need a rational rather than a devotional or traditional exposition of the religion, and thirdly they need information and arguments to address the stereotypes which characterize the presentation of Hinduism in the academia and the media, especially in the West. The above is covered in a comprehensive reference work that covers: (1) Hinduism in various parts of the world such as Africa, North America and so on, along with the description of it as practiced in India; (2) the various religious movements of a Hindu hue which have had international impact such as Hare Krishna, and (3) Hindu beliefs and practices as they are being understood and lived out in a modern global environment. And (4), as not all Indians are Hindu, this encyclopedia will contain entries on all religions found in India in the same spirit.