Of all the great religions; Buddhism has focused most intensively on the aspect of religion that we call spirituality. No religion has set a higher value on the states of spiritual insight and liberation; and none has set forth so methodically and with such a wealth of reflection the various paths and disciplines by which such states are reached.This volume; the second in the series; takes up further developments of Buddhism in China; Korea; and Japan; including Ch'an (Zen) and new Buddhist movements. It presents the Chinese realization of enlightenment here and now; and the practical; down-to-earth terms in which the enlightened vision was expressed and enacted.
#2175645 in Books University of Pittsburgh Press 2008-06-28Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .70 x 6.00l; .78 #File Name: 0822959925312 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An incomplete first look at the subject...By Cesar MaureraAs soon as I received this book I was eager to read it; however I was disappointed on the general tone of the book and how it misses very important chapters in the role of slaves; blacks and pardos in the fight for independence in Hispanic South America. The biggest example of this is failure to describe the events that took place in Venezuela during 1814 when there was an outright racial war as is described in books such as J. Uslar Pietri's Historia de la Rebelion Popular de 1814 or Cesarismo Democratico (Vallenilla-Lanz) which don't even appear in the Bibliography. That means that he tells a story where the black and pardo "proceres" are barely mentioned. Effectively he sticks to the traditional story where Bolivar and the other "mantuano" proceres are front and center of the story as opposed to the idea that the independence struggle was a collective achievement. That is painfully obvious in page 120 when deals with former slaves who became officers and he only mentions Pedro Camejo; forgetting people like Juan Jose Rondon; Leonardo Infante to name just two and on the King's side people like Alejo Mirabal who caused terror among Patriots.That doesn't mean everything is bad. The author makes a valuable contribution by illustrating multiple examples of the life of regular slaves/soldiers and not only males; but also the life of enslaved women during the war of Independence. In other words there is legitimate research in the book; it's an important first look at a very complex and forgotten subject.
