Mapping the Buddhist Path to Liberation: Diversity and Consistency Based on the Pāli Nikāyas and the Chinese Āgamas

By Jianxun Shi

PrefaceAcknowledgementsAbbreviations
I. Introduction 1. Issue of religious diversity and inclusivism 2. The quest for essences and consistency of Buddhist teaching 3. Features of early Buddhist texts 4. Pāli Nikāyas and Chinese Āgmas
II. The Path to Liberation 1. Three Dharma Seals 2. A goal-oriented path 3. Holy Life 4. Levels of Achievements 5. Three aspects: prototype, sequence, and factors III. The Prototype: the Buddha's enlightenment accounts 1. A typical outline 2. Various accounts 3. The issue of authenticity 4. Avoiding dogmatism
IV. The Sequential Process: Gradual Training 1. Progressive instruction and gradual training 2. A series of practices in hierarchical order 3. Paradigm and template theory 4. Template A: developments based on the four jhānas 5. Template B: featured by knowledge and vision of things as they really are 6. Template C: developments centered on the seven factors of enlightenment 7. Template D: emphasized on faith and hearing the Dhamma V. The Factorial Analysis: Path Factors 1. Seven sets of thirty-seven factors leading to enlightenment 2. Things worth cultivating 3. The summary of the Buddha's teaching 4. The norm of spiritual practices 5. The noble path and the middle way 6. The way leading to the cessation 7. The totality of holy life
VI. Comprehensive Discussions of the Three Aspects of the Path 1. The Buddha's enlightenment and his teachings 2. Time series analysis and cross-sectional analysis 3. Reconcilability with the triad of gratification, danger and escape 4. Compatibility between formulaic descriptions of the path 5. Case studies of selected texts
VII. Types of Variation 1. Different in wording and expression 2. Explained in brief and in detail 3. Additional elements 4. Alternative ways 5. Flexibility in sequence 6. Different levels of development VIII. An Integrated Whole 1. Reciprocal support and counterbalance 2. Successiveness and predictability 3. Versatility 4. Milestones of the path 5. Essences of the path
IX. Conclusion 1. A network of routes leading to liberation from suffering 2. An exploration through a deconstructive-reconstructive process 3. The middle way between diversity and uniformity
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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9811611513
• ISBN13: 9789811611513
• Release Date: April 2021
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"