Buddhist approaches to human rights : : dissonances and resonances / / edited by Carmen Meinert and Hans-Bernd Zöllner.

• TeilnehmendeR: Meinert, Carmen,; Zöllner, Hans-Bernd,
• Place / Publishing House: Bielefeld, Germany : : Transcript Verlag,, [2010]; ©2010
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Der Mensch Im Netz der Kulturen - Humanismus in der Epoche der Globalisierung / Being Human: Caught in the Web of Cultures - Humanism in the Age of Globalization
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248)

The demonstrations of monks in Tibet and Myanmar (Burma) in recent times as well as the age-old conflict between a predominantly Buddhist population and a Hindu minority in Sri Lanka raise the question of how the issues of human rights and Buddhism are related. The question applies both to the violation of basic rights in Buddhist countries and to the defence of those rights which are well-grounded in Buddhist teachings. The volume provides academic essays that reflect this up to now rather neglected issue from the point of view of the three main Buddhist traditions, Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. It provides multi-faceted and surprising insights into a rather unlikely relationship.

»[The] transdisciplinary, transcultural, and transreligious approach is the strong point of this book.« Gudula Linck, Internationales Asienforum, 3-4 (2011)

Table of Contents

Frontmatter 1 Table of Contents 5 Foreword 7 Introduction 9 Different Cultures and the Universality of Human Rights 21 Buddhismand the Idea of Human Rights. Resonances and Dissonances 41 Theravda Buddhismand Human Rights. Perspectives from Thai Buddhism 63 The Purification of the Mind and the Encounter with Those who Suffer. A Christian View of Buddhismand Human Rights 93 Is Mahyna Buddhism a Humanism? Some Remarks on Buddhismin China 113 Buddhist Responses to State Control of Religion in China at the Century's Turn 125 Translations of Human Rights. Tibetan Contexts 159 Human Rights and Exile-Tibetan Politics 179 Women's Rights in the Vajrayna Tradition 195 Bibliography 211 Index 233 Authors 243