5 research outputs found
Taking reincarnation seriously: Critical discussion of some central ideas from John Hick
Reincarnation has not been entirely neglected in the philosophy of religion but it has not always been taken seriously or carefully discussed in relation to its role in believersā lives. John Hick is exceptional insofar as he gave sustained attention to the belief, at least as it features in the philosophies of VedÄnta and Buddhism. While acknowledging the value of Hickās recognition of the variety of reincarnation beliefs, this article critically engages with certain aspects of his approach. It argues that Hickās search for a ācriterionā of reincarnation is misguided, and that his distinction between āfactualā and āmythicā forms of the doctrine is over-simplifying
Incorporating mindfulness: questioning capitalism
This paper engages with Buddhist critiques of capitalism and consumerism; and it challenges the capitalist appropriations of Buddhist techniques. We show how Buddhist modernism and Marxism/socialism can align, and how Engaged Buddhism spawns communalism and socially revolutionary impulses for sustainability and ecological responsibility within the framework of Buddhist thought and mindfulness traditions. Our case study of the Thai Asoke community exemplifies Buddhist communal mindfulness-in-action, explores successes and idiosyncrasies, and shows how communal principles can operate in such work-based communities
Conundrums of Buddhist Cosmology and Psychology
Despite the Buddhaās renowned aversion to metaphysical-cum-cosmological speculation, ostensibly cosmological systems have proliferated in Buddhist traditions. Debates persist over how to interpret these systems, a central puzzle being the relation between apparently cosmological and psychological aspects. This article critically analyzes three main interpretive orientations, namely: psychologization, literalism, and the one reality view. After examining a tendency in the third of these to equivocate between talk of two co-referential vocabularies and talk of two corresponding orders, I discuss at length the debate between literalist and psychologizing approaches. The latter emphasize how accounts of ārealms of existenceā are most cogently read as figurative descriptions of mental states, whereas literalists argue that at least some of the accounts should be understood cosmologically, as descriptions of spatiotemporal regions. Notwithstanding weaknesses in some literalist arguments, the importance to Buddhist soteriology of a conception of rebirth beyond oneās present life counts against psychologizing approaches that either ignore or downplay this importance. Returning to the one-reality view, I develop the idea that it is the existential state being described that constitutes the common factor between ācosmologicalā and āpsychologicalā passages. Treating the texts in an overly literal-minded manner, I suggest, risks missing these descriptionsā affective and conative significance