The Hwa Yen school of MahÄyÄna Buddhism bloomed in China in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. Today many scholars regard its doctrines of Emptiness; Totality; and Mind-Only as the crown of Buddhist thought and as a useful and unique philosophical system and explanation of man; world; and life as intuitively experienced in Zen practice.For the first time in any Western language Garma Chang explains and exemplifies these doctrines with references to both oriental masters and Western philosophers. The Buddha's mystical experience of infinity and totality provides the framework for this objective revelation of the three pervasive and interlocking concepts upon which any study of MahÄyÄna philosophy must depend.Following an introductory section describing the essential differences between Judeo-Christian and Buddhist philosophy; Professor Chang provides an extensive; expertly developed section on the philosophical foundations of Hwa Yen Buddhism dealing with the core concept of True Voidness; the philosophy of Totality; and the doctrine of Mind-Only. A concluding section includes selections of Hwa Yen readings and biographies of the patriarchs; as well as a glossary and list of Chinese terms.
#2230924 in Books 2006-11-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .75 x 7.00l; 1.95 #File Name: 0262062593472 pages
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Ferreiro brings to life ships and their place in history ...By CustomerFerreiro brings to life ships and their place in history. A very enjoyable read even for those of us who are not "scientific" minded.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy BubblemanGreat book!27 of 28 people found the following review helpful. Aubreys enthusiasmBy Alexander T. GaffordIn the movie Master and Commander; there is a scene where Captain Aubrey is looking at a model of a fast new American built frigate and exclaims to the effect that we are living in an age of technological progress. Aside from the perhaps anachronistic use of the word technology; these words seem to express the impact of the Scientific Revolution on the minds of the talented professionals at the turn of the nineteenth century. The question considered in this book is whether these enthusiasms were justified in fact and did the Scientific Revolution begun with Galileo and Newton lead to a scientific approach to naval architecture by the end of the eighteenth century?The author was faced with the choice of writing a technically informed piece of history or a historically informed piece of technology and he chose the former approach. To a considerable extent the story is framed around the life of Pierre Bouguer who lived from 1698 until 1756 and wrote the influential work Treatise of the Ship which created the format for the study of naval architecture to the present day. These seems a wise choice as it is apparent from the text that there was insufficient general mathematical physics knowledge in the ranks of educated professionals to scientifically approach this subject until the early part of the eighteenth century. As Ferreio makes clear; of the three areas covered by eighteenth century naval architecture; manuvering and control; ship speed and resistance; and ship stability; only the last was actually placed on a physically and mathematically sound basis during this time. The other two had to wait until the following century to be covered by the authors next intended work; which I look foward to reading.All in all; I really liked this book. The focus on person and personal history gives us some meaningful insight into the life of people like ourselves (I am an engineer myself) in a very different time and place. The treatment of the technical content is clear and thorough enough though perhaps assuming a bit too much knowledge of solid and fluid mechanics for the general public. Indeed the reason this book was rated four stars instead of five is that it seems rather narrowly focused on an academic/technical audience and is unlikely to really be found captivating to a more casual layperson. To find a way to communicate satisfactorily to both worlds is difficult indeed.
