The Cult of Emptiness

App, Urs:
The Cult of Emptiness : the Western Discovery of Buddhism and the Invention of Oriental Philosophy / by Urs App. - Rorschach : UniversityMedia, 2012. - 295 S.
ISBN 978-3-906000-09-1
EUR 47,99 (Amazon)
DDC: 294.3091821

Beschreibung
Whereas the discovery by Europeans of the continents of our earth has been the subject of countless studies and its protagonists (such as Columbus) are universally known, research on the European discovery of our globe’s “spiritual continents” - its religions and philosophies - is still in its infancy.
   The Christian West’s discovery of Asia’s largest religion and fount of philosophies, Buddhism, is a case in point: though it triggered one of the most significant and influential spiritual and cultural encounters in world history, even the most basic questions remain unanswered. What did Europeans first learn about Buddhist thought? When and where did this discovery take place and who was involved in it? What kind of Buddhism did they study, how did they understand or misunderstand it, and what were the repercussions of such discoveries in Europe?
   Based on a wide range of sources in European and Asian languages, Urs App - the author of The Birth of Orientalism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010) - identifies the protagonists of the first Western encounter with Buddhism and shows how their interpretation of Buddhist doctrines led to the invention of a single “Oriental philosophy” reigning from Egypt to Japan: an atheist philosophy anchored in “nothingness” and “emptiness” that was revealed by the Buddha to his closest disciples on his deathbed. Leading thinkers of the Enlightenment came to regard this philosophy as the most ancient form of atheism, the ancestor of Greek philosophy, the precursor of Spinoza, and the fount of mysticism as well as countless heresies including monism, pantheism, quietism, and gnosticism. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Preface. 1
List of Figures. 6
List of Tables. 7
PART 1: SIXTEENTH CENTURY
   1. Translation Hazards. 11
   2. The Zen Shock. 23
   3. The Buddha's Progress. 33
   4. Chaos and the God of Zen. 41
   5. Valignano's Lectures and Catechism. 51
   6. Buddhist Philosophy. 61
   7. God's Samadhi. 77
PART 2: SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
   8. Oriental Ur-Philosophy (Rodrigues). 91
   9. Pan-Asian Religion (Kircher). 111
   10. Buddha's Deathbed Confession. 129
   11. The Common Ground (Navarrete). 145
   12. Pan-Asian Philosophy (Bernier). 161
   13. The Merger (Le Clerc & Bernier). 175
   14. From Pagan to Oriental Philosophy. 187
   15. Philosophical Archaeology (Burnet). 199
   16. Zoroaster's Lie (Jacob Thomasius). 209
   17. Ur-Spinozism (Bayle). 219
Bibliography. 239
Index. 257

Autor

URS APP (*1949) war von 1989 bis 1999 war ordentlicher Professor für Buddhismus an der Hanazono Universität in Kyoto und stellvertretender Direktor des International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism an derselben Universität. Seither forscht er an verschiedenen Institutionen in Asien und Europa, zuletzt am Forschungsinstitut für Zenkultur (Zenbunka kenkyujo, Kyoto; 2005-2007), dem Schweizerischen Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (SNF; 2007-2010) und der Scuola Italiana di Studi sull'Asia Orientale (Italian School of East Asian Studies, ISEAS; 2010-). Wikipedia [en]; Wikipedia [de].

Quellen: UniversityMedia; Amazon (DE); WorldCat; Google Books; Lehmanns Media