Search results for ""Author Steven Collins""

This selection of essays demonstrates that, in the study of Buddhism, a concern with detailed accuracy in philological and textual specifics can be combined with wider philosophical and sociological issues. The essays are divided into three parts: (1) Pali Literature, (2) The Theory and Practice of Not-Self, and (3) Buddhism and Society. The last part builds on but goes beyond the work of Dumont and Max Weber in considering “world-renunciation” as a phenomenon of society and culture.

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Is your English good, but still not fluent and natural? Advanced Everyday English is book 2 in the Everyday English series (book 1 is Practical Everyday English). This book will teach you advanced vocabulary, phrasal verbs and idioms with excellent examples and constant repetition. Each of the nine chapters ends with written dialogue and exercises to practise and test you on what you have studied in that chapter. It is designed for self-study, so you don't need a teacher, but it can also be used in the classroom by experienced mother-tongue English speakers.

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Fluent Everyday English is the fourth and final book in the Practical Everyday English series. These self-study books are designed to improve the everyday vocabulary of adult advanced students of English as a foreign language; they are particularly useful for people who live in the United Kingdom or use English on a daily basis either at work or college. The idea behind them is to improve the fluency and knowledge of people who already have much more than just a basic level of English. This final book in the series follows the same format as the previous three titles (Practical Everyday English; Advanced Everyday English; High-level Everyday English); that is: clear explanations of meanings; realistic examples containing words and idioms previously taught; dialogues and exercises. If you have followed the Everyday English course right from the beginning of book 1 (Practical Everyday English) through to book 3 (High-level Everyday English), you shouldn't find Fluent Everyday English any more difficult than the others. My hope, in fact, is that you really enjoy studying this book and feel that it helps you acquire a very high level of English vocabulary.

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This book is intended for modern students, inside or outside the classroom, as a work of reference rather than a "teach yourself" textbook. It presents an introductory sketch of Pali using both European and South Asian grammatical categories. In English-language works, Pali is usually presented in the traditional terms of English grammar, derived from the classical tradition, with which many modern students are unfamiliar. This work discusses and reflects upon those categories, and has an appendix devoted to them. It also introduces the main categories of traditional Sanskrit and Pali grammar, drawing on, in particular, the medieval Pali text Saddaniti, by Aggavamsa. Each grammatical form is illustrated by examples taken from Pali texts, mostly canonical. Although some previous knowledge of Sanskrit would be helpful, the book can also be used by those without previous linguistic training. A bibliographical appendix refers to other, complementary resources.

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For upper intermediate and advanced students only; not for beginners or elementary level. Practical Everyday English is Book 1 in the Everyday English series. It is a self-study book designed to improve the vocabulary of upper intermediate and advanced students of English as a foreign language. This book has a special focus on phrasal verbs, advanced vocabulary and idioms. Unlike a dictionary, this book actually teaches students how and when to use the words by giving true-to-life examples, entertaining dialogue and useful exercises.

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The Vessantara Jataka tells the story of Prince Vessantara, who attained the Perfection of Generosity by giving away his fortune, his children, and his wife. Vessantara was the penultimate rebirth as a human of the future Gotama Buddha, and his extreme charity has been represented and reinterpreted in texts, sermons, rituals, and art throughout South and Southeast Asia and beyond. This anthology features well-respected anthropologists, textual scholars in religious and Buddhist studies, and art historians, who engage in sophisticated readings of the text and its ethics of giving, understanding of attachment and nonattachment, depiction of the trickster, and unique performative qualities. They reveal the story to be as brilliantly layered as a Homeric epic or Shakespearean play, with aspects of tragedy, comedy, melodrama, and utopian fantasy intertwined to problematize and scrutinize Theravada Buddhism's cherished virtues.

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High-level Everyday English is the third book in the Practical Everyday English series. All the books are designed for students who already have good English, but this third one is especially for those who have reached a very advanced stage in their English studies...but still need a little help with difficult vocabulary. The method used is the same as in the previous two books, i.e. nearly all examples contain words and expressions which you will have studied either earlier in this book or in the other books.

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This upper-intermediate level handbook of 25 essential English constructions will provide you with a much deeper understanding of things you may already know, but are not quite sure how to use. It is not a reference book, but a five-week self-study course.This book is very helpful for the writing sections of CFC, IELTS and TOEFL exams. Special features: Practical, easy-to-follow examples. Detailed, but clear explanations. Focus on negative examples. Typical mistakes. Exercises to test you on what you have learnt. This book is suitable for students of both British and American English

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This wide-ranging and powerful book argues that Theravāda Buddhism provides ways of thinking about the self that can reinvigorate the humanities and offer broader insights into how to learn and how to act. Steven Collins argues that Buddhist philosophy should be approached in the spirit of its historical teachers and visionaries, who saw themselves not as preservers of an archaic body of rules but as part of a timeless effort to understand what it means to lead a worthy life. He contends that Buddhism should be studied philosophically, literarily, and ethically using its own vocabulary and rhetorical tools. Approached in this manner, Buddhist notions of the self help us rethink contemporary ideas of self-care and the promotion of human flourishing.Collins details the insights of Buddhist texts and practices that promote the ideal of active and engaged learning, offering an expansive and lyrical reflection on Theravāda approaches to meditation, asceticism, and physical training. He explores views of monastic life and contemplative practices as complementing and reinforcing textual learning, and argues that the Buddhist tenet that the study of philosophy and ethics involves both rigorous reading and an ascetic lifestyle has striking resonance with modern and postmodern ideas. A bold reappraisal of the history of Buddhist literature and practice, Wisdom as a Way of Life offers students and scholars across the disciplines a nuanced understanding of the significance of Buddhist ways of knowing for the world today.

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This wide-ranging and powerful book argues that Theravāda Buddhism provides ways of thinking about the self that can reinvigorate the humanities and offer broader insights into how to learn and how to act. Steven Collins argues that Buddhist philosophy should be approached in the spirit of its historical teachers and visionaries, who saw themselves not as preservers of an archaic body of rules but as part of a timeless effort to understand what it means to lead a worthy life. He contends that Buddhism should be studied philosophically, literarily, and ethically using its own vocabulary and rhetorical tools. Approached in this manner, Buddhist notions of the self help us rethink contemporary ideas of self-care and the promotion of human flourishing.Collins details the insights of Buddhist texts and practices that promote the ideal of active and engaged learning, offering an expansive and lyrical reflection on Theravāda approaches to meditation, asceticism, and physical training. He explores views of monastic life and contemplative practices as complementing and reinforcing textual learning, and argues that the Buddhist tenet that the study of philosophy and ethics involves both rigorous reading and an ascetic lifestyle has striking resonance with modern and postmodern ideas. A bold reappraisal of the history of Buddhist literature and practice, Wisdom as a Way of Life offers students and scholars across the disciplines a nuanced understanding of the significance of Buddhist ways of knowing for the world today.

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