Skilful Means: A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism

ISBN-13: 9780415314275 / Angielski / Miękka / 2003 / 209 str.

Michael Pye

Opis

Skilful meansis the key principle of Mahayana, one of the great Buddhist traditions. First described in the Lotus Sutra, it originates in myths of the Buddha's compassionate plans for raising life from the ceaseless round of birth and death. His strategies or interventions are skilful means - morally wholesome tricks devised for the purpose of enabling nirvana or enlightenment.

Recenzje

'This is a most welcome reissue of Michael Pye's hard-to-obtain but highly influential 1978 study of the concept of "skilful means" in Buddhism.' - Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

Spis treści

Acknowledgements, Conventions, Preface to the Second Edition, 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION, 2 THE INITIAL TEACHING OF SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA, 3 STORIES ABOUT SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA, 4 MYTHOLOGY AND SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA, 5 SKILFUL MEANS IN THE TEACHING OF VIMALAKhRTI, 6 SKILFUL MEANS IN THE PERFECTION OF INSIGHT LITERATURE, 7 SKILFUL MEANS IN PRE-MAHAYANA BUDDHISM, 8 THE TERM HiBEN IN MODERN JAPANESE, 9 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, APPENDIX A: BRIEF NOTE ON THE MAIN TEXTS USED, APPENDIX B: HISTORICO-CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE LOTUS SUTRA, APPENDIX C: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE LOTUS SUTRA, APPENDIX D: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE TEACHING OF VIMALAKhRTI, APPENDIX E: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE PERFECTION OF INSIGHT SUTRAS, ETC, APPENDIX F SKILFUL MEANS IN THE SURAMGAMASAMADHI SUTRA, Bibliography, Index

O autorze

Michael Pye is Professor of the Study of Religions at the University of Marburg. He is a former President of the International Association for the History of Religions (1995-2000), and has taught at the Universities of Lancaster and Leeds.