Sinceits founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline.

A bold and provocative work from the late preeminent feminist scholar, which challenges men and women alike to free themselves from attachment to gender. At the heart of Buddhism is the notion of egolessness—“forgetting the self”—as the path to awakening. In fact, attachment to views of any kind only leads to more suffering for ourselves and others. And what has a greater hold on people’s imaginations or limits them more, asks Rita Gross, than ideas about biological sex and what she calls “the prison of gender roles”? Yet if clinging to gender identity does, indeed, create obstacles for us, why does the prison of gender roles remain so inescapable? Gross uses the lenses of Buddhist philosophy to deconstruct the powerful concept of gender and its impact on our lives. In revealing the inadequacies involved in clinging to gender identity, she illuminates the suffering that results from clinging to any kind of identity at all.

Building on the Oxford AQA GCSE Religious Studies Student Books, this Revision Guide offers a structured approach to revising for the new 9-1 exams. 1. RECAP: key content from the Student Book is condensed and re-presented in simple visual styles to make content memorable and help retention. 2. APPLY: students actively apply the content they have just revised to build the knowledge and evaluative skills needed for the exams. 3. REVIEW: regular opportunities to practice exam questions and review answers direct students to pinpoint any areas of weakness in knowledge or exam skills, identifying where they'll need to concentrate their efforts for further revision. This Revision Guide is ideal for students combining Christianity and Buddhism. With all the essential content condensed and made memorable, and plenty of exam practice, tips and annotated sample answers, students can confidently prepare for their new exams.

This book analyses the transplantation, development and adaptation of the two largest Tibetan and Zen Buddhist organizations currently active on the British religious landscape: the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) and the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (OBC). The key contributions of recent scholarship are evaluated and organised thematically to provide a framework for analysis, and the history and current landscape of contemporary Tibetan and Zen Buddhist practice in Britain are also mapped out. A number of patterns and processes identified elsewhere are exemplified, although certain assumptions made about the nature of 'British Buddhism' are subjected to critical scrutiny and challenged.

Discovering Buddhism introduces Buddhism as a culture and civilization, a system of thought and a religion. It presents the views and practices of all the main Buddhist traditions without bias and addresses the history of Buddhism, the key topics taught by the Buddha, and a selection of contemporary issues.

History Book

Benchmark analysis of the extent of shifting contemporaryengagement and practice of UK Buddhist communities, which challenges thestereotype of other-worldly Buddhist asceticism.