If sexuality is inherently social, the same thing can be said about celibacy. An understanding of celibacy, argues Carl Olson, can be a useful way to view the significance of the human body within a social context. The purpose of this book is to examine how the practice of celibacy differs cross-culturally as well as historically within a particular religious tradition. The essays (all previously unpublished) will demonstrate that celibacy is a complex religious phenomenon. The control of sexual desire can be used to divorce oneself from a basic human biological drive, to separate oneself...
If sexuality is inherently social, the same thing can be said about celibacy. An understanding of celibacy, argues Carl Olson, can be a useful way to ...
This book examines and compares the philosophical positions of various postmodern thinkers and Zen Buddhist philosophers on: language and play; modes of thinking; skepticism and doubt; self and other; time and death; nihilism and metaphysics; and the conception of the end of philosophy. The Zen thinkers dealt with are Dogen and Nishitani, and the Western thinkers are Derrida, Lacan, Heidegger, Lyotard, Foucault, Deleuze and Guatarri, Kristeva, and Levinas. Although each share similar notions concerning the shortcomings of representational thinking, major differences still exist. By clarifying...
This book examines and compares the philosophical positions of various postmodern thinkers and Zen Buddhist philosophers on: language and play; modes ...
For centuries, Buddhist teachers and laypeople have used stories, symbols, cultural metaphors, and anecdotes to teach and express their religious views. In this introductory textbook, Carl Olson draws on these narrative traditions to detail the development of Buddhism from the life of the historical Buddha to the present. By organizing the text according to the structure of Buddhist thought and teaching, Olson avoids imposing a Western perspective that traditional texts commonly bring to the subject. The book offers a comprehensive introduction to the main branches of the Buddhist...
For centuries, Buddhist teachers and laypeople have used stories, symbols, cultural metaphors, and anecdotes to teach and express their religious view...
Bringing together essential materials on the origins and development of Buddhist traditions from India, Sri Lanka, Tibet, China, and Japan, this anthology provides the broadest selection of primary source Buddhist literature available to date.
The volume is divided into two major parts: Theravada and Mahayana forms of Buddhism. The first section presents selections that explore major themes in Buddhist thought such as causality, Four Noble Truths, the doctrine of non-self, nibbana, meditation, and ethics, as well as literature about monastic life and regulations, women, and...
Bringing together essential materials on the origins and development of Buddhist traditions from India, Sri Lanka, Tibet, China, and Japan, this an...
This is an introductory text providing a balanced view of the rich religious tradition of Hinduism, acknowledging the full range of its many competing and even contradictory aspects.
This is an introductory text providing a balanced view of the rich religious tradition of Hinduism, acknowledging the full range of its many competing...
Bringing together texts from a variety of sectarian traditions, this reader provides the broadest selection of primary source Hindu literature available to date. The volume is divided into two major parts. The first section presents selections that explore major themes in classical Sanskrit traditions, including those in the Vedic, Upanisadic, and Dharma literatures, as well as the classical philosophical-religious schools. The second part includes selections that highlight the sectarian and devotional movements related to major deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Rama, Sant, Tantra,...
Bringing together texts from a variety of sectarian traditions, this reader provides the broadest selection of primary source Hindu literature availab...
Ramakrishna was a nineteenth-century Bengali devotee of Kali, the Hindu goddess of death and destruction. He assumed the demeanor and dress of a woman, acted like a monkey, a child, a madman, and a comedian at various times during his career. Using the concept of play (lila), as both spontaneous activity and dramatic performance on behalf of Kali, Carl Olson provides a interpretive key for unlocking Ramakrishna's life and his often contradictory forms of behavior. Olson places Ramakrishna in his social and historical context, examines his relationship to women, and investigates his status as...
Ramakrishna was a nineteenth-century Bengali devotee of Kali, the Hindu goddess of death and destruction. He assumed the demeanor and dress of a woman...
The Historical Dictionary of Buddhism covers and clarifies Buddhist concepts, significant figures, movements, schools, places, activities, and periods. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 700 cross-referenced dictionary entries.
The Historical Dictionary of Buddhism covers and clarifies Buddhist concepts, significant figures, movements, schools, places, activities, and periods...
The A to Z of Buddhism covers and clarifies Buddhist concepts, significant figures, movements, schools, places, activities, and periods. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 700 cross-referenced dictionary entries.
The A to Z of Buddhism covers and clarifies Buddhist concepts, significant figures, movements, schools, places, activities, and periods. This is done ...
Carl Olson offers a compelling and provocative argument against the application of postmodern thought to religious studies, showing how such radically skeptical thinking undermines, subverts, and distorts the study of religion. Religious studies is a newly and artificially constructed field for the scholarly study of religious narratives, thoughts, actions, and phenomena. It is an ongoing experiment with various types of methodological approaches to the study of religion, which is itself a human construct with limited cross-cultural application. Without a commonly agreed-upon method for...
Carl Olson offers a compelling and provocative argument against the application of postmodern thought to religious studies, showing how such radically...
