LEADER 03543nam 2200661Ia 450 001 9910961394703321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a9780791478837 010 $a0791478831 010 $a9781435632127 010 $a1435632125 024 7 $a10.1515/9780791478837 035 $a(CKB)1000000000484366 035 $a(OCoLC)212086388 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10575978 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000115436 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11139934 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000115436 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10009283 035 $a(PQKB)10288808 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3407551 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10575978 035 $a(OCoLC)923406381 035 $a(DE-B1597)681502 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780791478837 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3407551 035 $a(Perlego)2672515 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000484366 100 $a20070419d2008 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aBuddhist scriptures as literature $esacred rhetoric and the uses of theory /$fRalph Flores 210 $aAlbany $cState University of New York Press$dc2008 215 $a1 online resource (233 pages) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 08$a9780791473399 311 08$a0791473392 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 207-218) and index. 327 $aFictions of reading: Westerners and Buddhist texts -- A prince transformed: the Nika?yas, the Nida?nakatha?, As?vaghos?a's Acts of the Buddha -- The Buddha awakening: the Nika?yas -- Winning conversions: the Nika?yas -- Passing on: the Nika?yas -- Figures of right speech: the Dhammapada -- Joyous negations: the Heart sutra -- Masters of emptiness: The gateless barrier and Zen folktales -- Extreme giving: The vessantara ja?taka and Shantideva's A guide to the bodhisattva way of life -- Final emergency reading: The Tibetan book of the dead -- Epilogue: Images in the reader. 330 $aBuddhist Scriptures as Literature explores the drama, lyricism, and compelling storylines in Buddhist sacred writings, while illustrating how rhetoric and ideology are at work in shaping readers' reactions. Ralph Flores argues that the Buddha's life story itself follows an archetypal quest-romance pattern: regal surroundings are abandoned and the ensuing feats are heroic. The story can be read as an epic, but it also has a comic plot: confusions and trials until the Prince becomes utterly selfless, having found his true element?nirvana. Making use of contemporary literary theory, Flores offers new readings of texts such as the Nik?yas, the Dhammapada, the Heart Sutra, Zen koans, Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Understanding these works as literature deepens our sense of the unfolding of their teachings, of their exuberant histories, and of their relevance for contemporary life. 606 $aBuddhist literature$xHistory and criticism 606 $aTripit?aka as literature 606 $aBuddhism and literature 615 0$aBuddhist literature$xHistory and criticism. 615 0$aTripit?aka as literature. 615 0$aBuddhism and literature. 676 $a294.3/8 700 $aFlores$b Ralph$0465326 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910961394703321 996 $aBuddhist scriptures as literature$94354555 997 $aUNINA