Several religious traditions of South Asia understand that mental activities produce colors (leśyās) that are associated with the mind or with the soul itself. In Jain texts, there are three theories about how leśyās are produced: that leśyās are a product (parināma) (1) of the passions (kasāyas), (2) of vibrations of the soul (yoga), and (3) of all eight varieties of karmas. The views of various Śvetāmbara and Digambara commentators regarding leśyās are compared.

In Purity and Danger Mary Douglas identifies the concern for purity as a key theme at the heart of every society. In lively and lucid prose she explains its relevance for every reader by revealing its wide-ranging impact on our attitudes to society, values, cosmology and knowledge. The book has been hugely influential in many areas of debate - from religion to social theory. But perhaps its most important role is to offer each reader a new explanation of why people (...) behave in the way they do. With a specially commissioned introduction by the author which assesses the continuing significance of the work thirty-five years on, this Routledge Classics edition will ensure that Purity and Danger continues to challenge and question well into the new millennium. (shrink)

Nathmal Tatia, one of the leading Jaina scholars of our time, provides us with the first systematic and in-depth study of the great problems dealt with in Jaina philosophy. It begins with the basic Jaina worldview of non-absolutism (anekanta-vada), and deals next with Jaina epistemology.Three major topics are then studied in great detail, with full reference to the Jaina scriptures. These are: the problem of avidya in the various Indian schools; the Jaina doctrine of karman; and Jaina yoga. This latter (...) includes an important study of Haribhadra's comparative studies in yoga. Tatia hashere given us a first-rate advanced level study of Jaina philosophy. (shrink)

Keine ausführliche Beschreibung für "Über den Stand der indischen Philosophie zur Zeit Mahaviras und Buddhas" verfügbar.

Contributed papers presented at seminar held at Warsaw University, Poland, 8-9 September, 2000.

On the concept of pariṇāma (change and permanence) in Hindu and Jaina philosophy.

Abstract Western philosophical and psychological thinking lacks an accepted theory of human personality; it has produced conflicting and inadequate notions, such as the religious one of a soul, the vague concept of the ?mind? and biological theories basing their understanding of man on the functions of the nervous system, particularly the brain, or dealing with his mental dimension only in terms of behavioural patterns. This paper explores the notions of personality in Indian systems and finds that virtually all of them (...) understand it, despite differing terminology, as a fluid complex of functions or living forces characterised by intrinsic intelligence and coordinated by a dynamic structural principle, operating on three levels of reality: phenomenal material, phenomenal immaterial and noumenal or absolute. One can say that the Indian tradition fully appreciated the complexity of the problem and produced theories of personality which are more comprehensive than western ones and merit study as well as attention from the point of view of contemporary creative philosophical thinking. [1]. (shrink)

Halbfass (Indian philosophy, U. of Pennsylvania) combines specialized philological and conceptual investigations with general philosophical and comparative reflections to present a history of the ontology of the Vaisesika system, which is commonly considered the lowest of the Vaisesika school, he focuses on the older period up to Udayana, whose work paves the way for Navyanyaya. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

On the concept of pariṇāma (change and permanence) in Hindu and Jaina philosophy.

This book describes what the Jainas considered to be the way of life proper to a layman. It attempts to examine the contents of the principal Jaina Sravakacaras. As these texts are not well known and often not easily accessible, some information about.