Nirvana
Concept, Imagery, Narrative
- Author: Steven Collins, University of Chicago
- Date Published: March 2010
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521708340
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The idea of nirvana (Pali nibbāna) is alluring but elusive for non-specialists and specialists alike. Offering his own interpretation of key texts, Steven Collins explains the idea in a new, accessible way - as a concept, as an image (metaphor), and as an element in the process of narrating both linear and cyclical time. Exploring nirvana from literary and philosophical perspectives, he argues that it has a specific role: to provide 'the sense of an ending' in both the systematic and the narrative thought of the Pali imaginaire. Translations from a number of texts, including some dealing with past and future Buddhas, enable the reader to access source material directly. This book will be essential reading for students of Buddhism, but will also have much to teach anyone concerned with Asia and its religions, or indeed anyone with an interest in the ideas of eternal life or timelessness.
Read more- Written in accessible prose, so it is easy to read for non-specialists
- Original texts are translated, to help students approach the material directly
- Succinct and affordable, so particularly suitable for course adoption
Awards
- A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2011
Reviews & endorsements
'… an academically thorough and, I would dare to say, passionate exploration into a concept that invites description and evocation but is beyond both.' Buddhist Studies Review
See more reviews'… for those whose main interest is in appreciating or teaching Collins's creative ways of engaging with the enigmatic yet fundamental Buddhist motif of nirvana, this new presentation of his work is really just perfect.' The Journal of Religion
'The book remains an indispensable addition to courses on Buddhism.' Natalie Gummer, Religious Studies Review
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×Product details
- Date Published: March 2010
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521708340
- length: 204 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 152 x 10 mm
- weight: 0.34kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Systematic and narrative thought: eternity and closure in structure and story
2. Nirvana as a concept
3. Nirvana as an image
4. Nirvana, time and narrative
5. Past and future Buddhas
Conclusion
Endnotes and bibliography.Instructors have used or reviewed this title for the following courses
- Buddhism
- Buddhist Traditions
- Buddhist Traditions of India
- Buddhist Visual Worlds
- Eastern Religions
- Indian Buddhism
- Philosophical Topics
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