Site mapAbout usConsultative CommitteeAsk LibrarianContributionCopyrightCitation GuidelineDonationHome        

CatalogAuthor AuthorityGoogle
Search engineFulltextScripturesLanguage LessonsLinks
 


Extra service
Tools
Export
Nous and Nirvāna: Conversations with Plotinus: An Essay in Buddhist Cosmology
Author Kloetzli, W. Randolph
Source Philosophy East and West
Volumev.57 n.2
Date2007.04
Pages140 - 177
PublisherUniversity of Hawaii Press
Publisher Url https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/
LocationHonolulu, HI, US [檀香山, 夏威夷州, 美國]
Content type期刊論文=Journal Article
Language英文=English
Keyword佛教人物=Buddhist
AbstractIn the Classical world, the language of cosmology was a means for framing philosophical concerns. Among these were issues of time, motion, and soul; concepts of the limited and the unlimited; and the nature and basis of number. This is no less true of Indian thought—Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and ?jivika—where the prestige of the cosmological idiom for organizing philosophical and theological thought can not be overstated. This essay focuses on the structural similarities in the thought of Plotinus and Buddhist cosmological/philosophical speculation. It builds on research concerning the Buddha-field (buddhak?etra), which identified two discrete numerologies central to this speculation: the thousands of worlds (sāhasralokadhātu) comprising the field of single Buddha (buddhak?etra), characteristic of the Hīnayāna, and the innumerable or incalculable (asaṃkhyeya) Buddha-fields filling the ten regions of space, characteristic of the Mahāyāna. The Enneads of Plotinus serve as lens through which to view in fresh way broad range of difficult issues associated with Buddhist cosmology in three general areas. First, it asks whether Plotinus’ understanding of Intellect and his treatment of infinite and essential number afford an understanding of the innumerables and thousands central to the concept of the Buddha-field. This analysis involves a consideration of the Hindu creator god, Brahmā, as ‘demiurge.’ Second, it suggests analogies between the One, Intellect, and Soul of Plotinus and the three Buddhist Realms—the Formless Realm,the Realm of Form, and the Realm of Desire. Finally, it explores the possibility that an understanding of the Enneads can provide model for relating the cosmologies of the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna.
ISSN00318221 (P); 15291898 (E)
DOI10.1353/pew.2007.0020
Hits1867
Created date2007.08.31
Modified date2019.05.17



Best viewed with Chrome, Firefox, Safari(Mac) but not supported IE

Notice

You are leaving our website for The full text resources provided by the above database or electronic journals may not be displayed due to the domain restrictions or fee-charging download problems.

Record correction

Please delete and correct directly in the form below, and click "Apply" at the bottom.
(When receiving your information, we will check and correct the mistake as soon as possible.)

Serial No.
147467

Search History (Only show 10 bibliography limited)
Search Criteria Field Codes
Search CriteriaBrowse