Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-204) and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- Setting the scene -- Dukkha happens : we suffer -- Maladies of the soul : why we suffer -- How to be saved 1 : nirvana -- How to be saved 2 : living in accordance with nature -- More than happiness -- Removing the dust from our eyes -- The sage and the Buddha : models for living -- Spiritual practice : beyond theory -- Meditations for a better life.
Summary:
Modern readers tend to think of Buddhism as spending time alone meditating, searching for serenity. Stoicism calls to mind repressing our emotions in order to help us soldier on through adversity. But how accurate are our popular understandings of these traditions? And what can we learn from them without either buying in wholeheartedly to their radical ideals or else transmuting them into simple self-improvement regimes that bear little resemblance to their original aims? How can we achieve more than happiness? This ground breaking study provides a much-needed philosophical framework for those practising mindfulness as well as a call to recover the pragmatic and therapeutic dimensions of philosophy.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.