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  3. Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities
  • Cited by 137
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      18 December 2009
      13 May 1998
      ISBN:
      9780511520655
      9780521570541
      9780521578424
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511520655
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      1.095kg, 712 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      1.029kg, 712 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Buddhism and Eastern Religions, History, Religion, Religion: General Interest, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions (12)
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    Subjects:
    Buddhism and Eastern Religions, History, Religion, Religion: General Interest, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions (12)
    Information

    Book description

    This book presents an answer to the question: what is nirvana? Part I distinguishes between systematic and narrative thought in the Pali texts of Theravada Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia, arguing that nirvana produces closure in both, and setting nirvana in the wider category of Buddhist Felicities. Part II explores other Buddhist utopias (both eu-topias, 'good places', and ou-topias, 'no-places'), and relates Buddhist utopianism to studies of European and American utopian writing. The book ends with a close reading of the Vessantara Jataka, which highlights the conflict between the ascetic quest for closure and ultimate felicity, and the ongoing demands of ordinary life and society. Steven Collins discusses these issues in relation to textuality, world history and ideology in premodern civilizations, aiming to contribute to an alternate vision of Buddhist history, which can hold both the inside and the outside of texts together.

    Reviews

    "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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