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Look Inside Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities

Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities

Part of Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions

Author: Steven Collins, University of Chicago

Date Published: November 2006
availability: Available
format: Paperback
isbn: 9780521578424

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About the Authors

This book presents a new answer to the question: what is nirvana? Part One distinguishes between systematic and narrative thought in the Pali texts of Theravada Buddhism, looking at the place of nirvana in both. Part Two explores other Buddhist utopias and relates Buddhist utopianism to studies of European and American utopian writing. Steven Collins discusses these issues in relation to textuality, world history, and ideology in premodern civilizations, aiming to contribute to a new vision of Buddhist history that integrates the inside and the outside of texts.
- An interesting approach to the the question 'what is nirvana?'
- A study which integrates the inside of Buddhist texts - concepts, images, stories - with their outside in Southern Asian and world history
- A comprehensive treatment of utopianism in Buddhism, and anywhere else outside the European/American tradition
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Reviews & endorsements
"This major publication belongs in all undergraduate and graduate libraries supporting religious studies programs." John Clifford Holt, Religious Studies Review
"This is a fantastic work. It is highly informative, intriguing, and thoroughly researched. I recommend it without reservation for anyone interested in the Pali literature. The only criticism I have is that the author might have made this one colossal work into a few smaller ones. Otherwise, this is an excellent accomplishment." Vanessa Sasson, ARC, the Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University
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Product details
- Date Published: November 2006
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521578424
- length: 712 pages
- dimensions: 229 x 152 x 40 mm
- weight: 1.03kg
- contains: 8 tables
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Textual chronology
General introduction: Buddhism and civilisation history I - structures and processes: Part I. Nirvana In and Out of Time: Introduction to part I: systematic and narrative thought - eternity and closure in structure and story
1. The concept of nirvana
2. The imagery of nirvana
3. Nirvana, time and narrative
Conclusion to part I: modes of thought, modes of tradition
Part II. Paradise in Heaven and on Earth: Introduction to part II: utopia and the ideal society
4. Heaven, the land of Cockaygne and Arcadia
5. Millennialism
Critical discussion: what is 'millennialism'? Premodern ideas and modern movements
6. The perfect moral commonwealth? Kingship and its discontents
7. The Vessantara Jåtaka
Conclusion to part II: in what sense can one speak of Buddhist utopianism?
General conclusion: Buddhism and civilisation history II - reprise: Appendices
Bibliography
Glossary
Indexes.
Look Inside
Author
Steven Collins, University of Chicago