Understanding Buddhism

by Nolan Pliny Jacobson

Overview

 

Jacobson presents Buddhism unen­cumbered by Western categories and concepts, free from the cognitive bias, from the concept-oriented, definition-minded preoccupations inherited from the ancient Greeks. It is an interpreta­tion of the central ideas that have charac­terized all forms of Buddhism for 25 centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780809386093
Publisher:	Southern Illinois University Press
Publication date:	03/19/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	228
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Nolan Pliny Jacobson is the author of The Heart of Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhism: The Religion of Analysis, and Buddhism and the Contemporary World: Change and Self-Correction.

Table of Contents

Cover Book Title Copyright Page Contents Preface Prologue: An American Philosopher on the Influence of the Buddha 1. Introduction: New Personal Encounters 2. New Grounds for Understanding Buddhism 3. The Reality of Experience 4. The Interrelatedness of Existence 5. The Great Stumbling Block 6. Creativity and Sunyata 7. The First Western Access Road Into Buddhism 8. Japan Through the Buddhist Looking Glass 9. The Confluence of Buddhist and American Thought 10. Buddhist Meditation Appendix: Buddhism in the Development of Western Philosophy Notes Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects Author Bio Back Cover

Editorial Reviews

Understanding Buddhism is one of the most beautiful and least-known books on Buddhism in English, a series of fresh, often stunningly original, essays."—Huston Smith and Philip Novak, Buddhism: A Concise Introduction

“Understanding Buddhism is an extremely well organized study, reflecting clear thinking and lucid style. . . . The scholarly approach is outstanding. . . . The width and depth of the author’s knowledge of both Western and Buddhist traditional ideas are far beyond what is often presented as a comparative study.”—Herbert Guenther

“Understanding Buddhism is at once historical, philosophical, dialogic, and humanistic. Jacobson’s approach is profoundly intercultural and universal.”
—Kenneth K. Inada
 

From the Publisher