Buddhist Scriptures as Literature - Hardcover

Ralph Flores

9789382565444: Buddhist Scriptures as Literature

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9382565442 ISBN 13: 9789382565444

Publisher: Divine Books, 2012

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Buddhist Scriptures as Literature explores the drama, lyricism, and compelling storylines in Buddhist sacred writings, while illustrating how rhetoric and ideology are at work in shaping readers' reactions. Ralph Flores argues that the Buddha's life story itself follows an archetypal quest-romance pattern: regal surroundings are abandoned and the ensuing feats are heroic. The story can be read as an epic, but it also has a comic plot: confusions and trials until the Prince becomes utterly selfless, having found his true element--nirvana. Making use of contemporary literary theory, Flores offers new readings of texts such as the Nikāyas, the Dhammapada, the Heart Sutra, Zen koans, Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Understanding these works as literature deepens our sense of the unfolding of their teachings, of their exuberant histories, and of their relevance for contemporary life.

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Review

a fascinating look at Buddhist literature in general [Flores] explores the drama, lyricism and storylines in Buddhist sacred literature while illustrating how rhetoric and ideology are at work in shaping the reader s reactions an interesting and thought-provoking book. Journal of the Buddhist Society
This book brings Buddhist texts up to the level of literature, as cultural texts worth reading for their own rhetorical qualities beyond their religious message. Francisca Cho, author of Everything Yearned For: Manhae s Poems of Love and Longing"

..".a fascinating look at Buddhist literature in general ... [Flores] explores the drama, lyricism and storylines in Buddhist sacred literature while illustrating how rhetoric and ideology are at work in shaping the reader's reactions ... an interesting and thought-provoking book." -- Journal of the Buddhist Society

"This book brings Buddhist texts up to the level of literature, as cultural texts worth reading for their own rhetorical qualities beyond their religious message." -- Francisca Cho, author of Everything Yearned For: Manhae's Poems of Love and Longing

About the Author

Ralph Flores teaches literature at Thammasat University in Thailand and is the author of A Study of Allegory in Its Historical Context and Relationship to Contemporary Theory.

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