Buddhism: Reference

This single volume supplement to the 10-volume "Encyclopedia of World Cultures covers 65 cultures not included in the original set and provides updates to cultures that have changed significantly during the past 10 to 15 years.

The world's religions have emerged as one of the greatest geopolitical forces now shaping our lives. Now available in an updated edition, this authoritative atlas is an essential resource for understanding the powerful role of religion around the globe. In an accessible text packed with information, it maps the current nature, extent, and influence of each of the major religions and shows, country by country, how religions are spread through broadcasting, missionary work, schooling, and banking; how they relate to government, laws, and world hunger; and the role they play in wars. It traces the emergence of new religious movements, the survival of traditional beliefs, and the presence of atheism and agnosticism. The Atlas of Religion also locates the origin, the heartland, and the sacred places of each of the major religions and provides essential background with a valuable table showing the fundamental beliefs of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and Taoism. Copub: Myriad Editions Limited

This invaluable interpretive tool, first published in 1937, is now available for the first time in a paperback edition specially aimed at students of Chinese Buddhism. Those who have endeavored to read Chinese texts apart from the apprehension of a Sanskrit background have generally made a fallacious interpretation, for the Buddhist canon is basically translation, or analogous to translation. In consequence, a large number of terms existing are employed approximately to connote imported ideas, as the various Chinese translators understood those ideas. Various translators invented different terms; and, even when the same term was finally adopted, its connotation varied, sometimes widely, from the Chinese term of phrase as normally used by the Chinese. For instance,klésaundoubtedly has a meaning in Sanskrit similar to that of, i.e. affliction, distress, trouble. In Buddhism affliction (or, as it may be understood from Chinese, the afflicters, distressers, troublers) means passions andillusions; and consequentlyfan-naoin Buddhist phraseology has acquired this technical connotation of the passions and illusions. Many terms of a similar character are noted in the body of this work. Consequent partly on this use of ordinary terms, even a well-educated Chinese without a knowledge of the technical equivalents finds himself unable to understand their implications.

With more than four thousand entries and over one hundred illustrations, this encyclopedia offers a complete survey of the four major religious traditions of Asia. It is designed not only for students and scholars but also to help general readers find their way through the thicket of unfamiliar words and concepts that are often encountered today in various fields such as the health professions, psychotherapy, the sciences, and the media. Among the subjects covered are:    •  Important terms such aschakra,karma,koan,nirvana,tantra,Tao, andyin-yang    •  The lives and teachings of mystics, philosophers, and masters of meditation    •  Basic texts and scriptures    •  Sects and schools of thought    •  Mythological figures and events In addition, pronunciation tables, a comprehensive bibliography, and a Ch'an/Zen Lineage Chart are provided.