The ideal of the bodhisattva was crucial in the development of the Mah y na branch of the Buddhist tradition. It provided a meeting ground for cardinal Mah y nist doctrines concerning praj, karun and ś nvat, as well as introducing into Buddhism more overtly religious elements which help to account for its popular appeal in those areas where the Mah y na took hold. The vow of the bodhisattva to forego entry into nirv na until all beings “down to (...) the last blade of grass” have been delivered raises several apparent contradictions and condundrums; these disappear in the light of a proper understanding of the pivotal Mah y nist doctrine of ś nvat. This paper examines the relationship of the bodhisattva ideal to the metaphysic of sunyata and discusses the place of this ideal in the spiritual economy of the Mah y na. (shrink)

The comparative study of Eastern and Western philosophy has been hindered and/or distorted by Eurocentric assumptions about “philosophy”, especially the overvaluation of rationality as an instrument of knowledge. The widespread discounting of Eastern thought derives, in large measure, from the modern Western failure to understand the nature of the traditional metaphysics of both the Occident and the East. This failure can be remedied by recourse to the work of a group of “traditionalist” or “perennialist” thinkers who expose the limitations of (...) many approaches to the comparative study of philosophy in general and metaphysics in particular. (shrink)

René Guénon, metaphysician -- Ananda Coomaraswamy and traditional art -- Rudolf Otto, the East, and religious inclusivism -- Mircea Eliade and C.G. Jung: 'priests without surplices'? -- Allen Ginsberg, a Buddhist beat -- Swami Abhishiktananda, Fr. Jules Monchanin, and the Christian-Hindu encounter -- Frithjof Schuon, a sage for the times.

Like all monisms Vedanta posits a distinction between the relatively and the absolutely Real, and a theory of illusion to explain their paradoxical relationship. Sankara's resolution of the problem emerges from his discourse on the nature of maya which mediates the relationship of the world of empirical, manifold phenomena and the one Reality of Brahman. Their apparent separation is an illusory fissure deriving from ignorance and maintained by 'superimposition'. Maya, enigmatic from the relative viewpoint, is not inexplicable but only not (...) self-explanatory. Sahkara's exposition is in harmony with sapiential doctrines from other religious traditions and implies a profound spiritual therapy. (shrink)

Keywords Harold Stewart - Peter Kelly - Traditionalist circle in Melbourne PETER KELLY, Buddha in a Bookshop. North Fitzroy, Vic, Australia: Ulysses Press, 2007, 176t viii pp., ISBN: 9780646469775, pb.