The Six Perfections: Buddhism And The Cultivation Of Character - Softcover

Wright, Dale

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199895791 ISBN 13: 9780199895793

Publisher: Oxford University Press, Usa, 2011

Synopsis

Here is a lucid, accessible, and inspiring guide to the six perfections--Buddhist teachings about six dimensions of human character that require "perfecting": generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, and wisdom. Drawing on the Diamond Sutra, the Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, and other essential Mahayana texts, Dale Wright shows how these teachings were understood and practiced in classical Mahayana Buddhism and how they can be adapted to contemporary life in a global society. What would the perfection of generosity look like today, for example? What would it mean to give with neither ulterior motives nor naiveté? Devoting a separate chapter to each of the six perfections, Wright combines sophisticated analysis with real-life applications. Buddhists have always stressed self-cultivation, the uniquely human freedom that opens the possibility of shaping the kind of life we will live and the kind of person we will become. For those interested in ideals of human character and practices of self-cultivation, The Six Perfections offers invaluable guidance.

About this title

About the Author

Dale Wright is David B. and Mary H. Gamble Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies and Asian Studies at Occidental College and the author of Philosophical Meditations on Zen Buddhism and, co-edited with Steven Heine, a series of five OUP books on Zen Buddhism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Usa
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0199895791
• ISBN 13: 9780199895793
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304