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This collection analyses the dynamic role of tradition in understanding the thought and impact of the eighth century Mahayana Buddhist thinker Santideva. Organised into three interconnected sections, it highlights Santideva''s Guide to the way of life of a Bodhisattva ( Bodhicaryavatara ) as a product of and major contributor to the 7th and 8th-century Mahayana Buddhist intellectual tradition. Across a series of cross-cultural case studies, a team of philosophers and scholars of religion demonstrate how the Guide, a religious and philosophical classic, is being taken up into contemporary academic conversations. They analyze key Buddhist concepts developed by Santideva, including effort, compassion, wisdom and the spirit of awakening ( bodhicitta ), explicating the role they play in his thought and the impact they made on the tradition. Covering his attitude towards woman, they discuss his use of sarcasm revealing his conception of human beings and examine social hierarchy as reflected in his writings and traditional biography. Unique in the attention it gives to social dynamics, this is the first collection to incorporate interreligious dialogue into its framing of the Guide . This interdisciplinary approach showcases the benefits of employing multiple methodologies in the study of Santideva''s thought. A valuable addition to cross-cultural philosophy, Buddhist ethics, interreligious dialogue and Mahayana Buddhism.
List of contents
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Stephen E. Harris,
Perry Schmidt-LeukelI. Doctrinal Dynamics1. Candraki¯rti's
prajn~a¯, S¿a¯ntideva's
phrone¯sis:
Alternative Models of Ma¯dhyamika Wisdom
Amber D. Carpenter2. Suffering and Liberation on Santideva's Bodhisattva Path
Stephen E. Harris3. The Wind in the Sails:
Virya in the
Bodhicaryavatara Jay L. Garfield,
Emily McRae4. Immanence and Transcendence:
Ethical Grounds in Prasa?gika and the Great Perfection
Douglas DuckworthII. Social Dynamics5. Santideva's Idea of the Yogic and Non-Yogic Worlds:
Its Implications and Possible Antecedents
Dorji Wangchuk6. Mockery, Sarcasm, and Irony in the
Bodhicaryavatara Perry Schmidt-Leukel7. A Feminist Buddhist Perspective on Santideva's
BodhicaryavataraCarola Roloff (
Bhik?u?i Jampa Tsedroen)
8. Hierarchy Versus
Charism:
Santideva's Hagiography as an Exemplar of the Tension in Buddhism Between Ecclesiastical Status and Spiritual Attainment
Andrew SkiltonIII. Interreligious Dynamics9. Santideva's Twofold
bodhicitta in Light of Comparative Spirituality
Francis Brassard10. Sa?kara and Santideva on Consciousness and Ultimate Reality:
A Field Guide to Identify the Buddhist Advaitin
Fabian Völker11 Learning To Be Empty: Santideva's Wisdom on Creaturely No Self
S. Mark Heim12. Compassionate Ethics and Contemplative Dynamics:
Some Observations on Santideva's
Bodhicaryavatara and Zayn al-?Abidin's
Makarim al-akhlaq Reza Shah KazemiIndex
About the author
Stephen Harris is Lecturer in the Institute for Philosophy, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Perry Schmidt-Leukel is Senior Professor of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at the University of Münster, Germany.
