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Beyond enlightenment : Buddhism, religion, modernity / Richard S. Cohen.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Cohen, Richard S., 1963-
- Series:
- Routledge critical studies in Buddhism
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Enlightenment (Buddhism).
- Enlightenment.
- Religious awakening--Comparative studies.
- Religious awakening.
- Genre:
- Comparative studies.
- Physical Description:
- xv, 237 pages : illustrations, plans ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- London ; New York : Routledge, 2006.
- Summary:
- What is enlightenment? For Buddhists it involves the discovery of the truth of duhkha-pain, suffering, and sorrow-followed by the realization that duhkha can be brought to an end. In like manner, Protestant Christians speak of enlightenment as a moment when, touched by God, one becomes aware of one's own escape from eternal-damnation. Likewise, European philosophers have imagined an age of Enlightenment, a time of individual freedom and social equality. In all three cases, enlightenment, as insight into reality, is conjoined with enlightenment, as a state of harmony and peace, beyond politics.
- Beyond Enlightenment treats the political implications of this apolitical ideal. It is a sophisticated study of some of the assumptions underlying, and ramifications involved in, the study of Buddhism [especially, but not exclusively, in the West], and of the tendency of scholars to ground their study of Buddhism in particular assumptions about the Buddha's enlightenment and a particular understanding of religion, traced back through Western orientalists to the Enlightenment and the Protestant Reformation. Richard Cohen's book will be of interest to buddhologists, indologists, scholars of comparative religion, and intellectual historians.
- Contents:
- 1 A benign introduction 1
- 2 A place of exceptional universal value 35
- 3 A tale of two histories 69
- 4 The anthropology of enlightenment 108
- 5 What do gods have to do with enlightenment? 149
- 6 A baroque conclusion 181.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 216-226) and index.
- Local Notes:
- Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.
- ISBN:
- 0415372941
- OCLC:
- 61463694
- Publisher Number:
- 9780415372947
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