RT Book
T1 Nirvana and other Buddhist felicities: utopias of the Pali imaginaire
T2 Cambridge studies in religious traditions
A1 Collins, Steven 1951-2018
LA English
PP Cambridge
PB Cambridge University Press
YR 1998
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/883375370
AB This book presents an answer to the question: what is nirvana? Part I distinguishes between systematic and narrative thought in the Pali texts of Theravada Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia, arguing that nirvana produces closure in both, and setting nirvana in the wider category of Buddhist Felicities. Part II explores other Buddhist utopias (both eu-topias, 'good places', and ou-topias, 'no-places'), and relates Buddhist utopianism to studies of European and American utopian writing. The book ends with a close reading of the Vessantara Jataka, which highlights the conflict between the ascetic quest for closure and ultimate felicity, and the ongoing demands of ordinary life and society. Steven Collins discusses these issues in relation to textuality, world history and ideology in premodern civilizations, aiming to contribute to an alternate vision of Buddhist history, which can hold both the inside and the outside of texts together.
NO Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015)
CN BQ4263
SN 9780511520655
K1 Utopias : Religious aspects : Buddhism.
K1 Buddhism : Doctrines.
K1 Nirvana
K1 Buddhism : Doctrines
K1 Utopias : Religious aspects : Buddhism
K1 Utopias ; Religious aspects ; Buddhism
K1 Buddhism ; Doctrines
DO 10.1017/CBO9780511520655