Santideva and the Dynamics of Tradition: Doctrinal, Social, and Interreligious Contexts
This collection analyses the dynamic role of tradition in understanding the thought and impact of the 8th century Mahayana Buddhist thinker Santideva.

Organised into three interconnected sections, it highlights Santideva's Guide to the way of life of a Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara) as a product of and major contributor to the 7th and 8th-century Mahayana Buddhist intellectual tradition.

Across a series of cross-cultural case studies, a team of philosophers and scholars of religion demonstrate how the Guide, a religious and philosophical classic, is being taken up into contemporary academic conversations. They analyze key Buddhist concepts developed by Santideva, including effort, compassion, wisdom and the spirit of awakening (bodhicitta), explicating the role they play in his thought and the impact they made on the tradition. Covering his attitude towards woman, they discuss his use of sarcasm revealing his conception of human beings and examine social hierarchy as reflected in his writings and traditional biography.

Unique in the attention it gives to social dynamics, this is the first collection to incorporate interreligious dialogue into its framing of the Guide. This interdisciplinary approach showcases the benefits of employing multiple methodologies in the study of Santideva's thought. A valuable addition to cross-cultural philosophy, Buddhist ethics, interreligious dialogue and Mahayana Buddhism.

1147748036
Santideva and the Dynamics of Tradition: Doctrinal, Social, and Interreligious Contexts
This collection analyses the dynamic role of tradition in understanding the thought and impact of the 8th century Mahayana Buddhist thinker Santideva.

Organised into three interconnected sections, it highlights Santideva's Guide to the way of life of a Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara) as a product of and major contributor to the 7th and 8th-century Mahayana Buddhist intellectual tradition.

Across a series of cross-cultural case studies, a team of philosophers and scholars of religion demonstrate how the Guide, a religious and philosophical classic, is being taken up into contemporary academic conversations. They analyze key Buddhist concepts developed by Santideva, including effort, compassion, wisdom and the spirit of awakening (bodhicitta), explicating the role they play in his thought and the impact they made on the tradition. Covering his attitude towards woman, they discuss his use of sarcasm revealing his conception of human beings and examine social hierarchy as reflected in his writings and traditional biography.

Unique in the attention it gives to social dynamics, this is the first collection to incorporate interreligious dialogue into its framing of the Guide. This interdisciplinary approach showcases the benefits of employing multiple methodologies in the study of Santideva's thought. A valuable addition to cross-cultural philosophy, Buddhist ethics, interreligious dialogue and Mahayana Buddhism.

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Santideva and the Dynamics of Tradition: Doctrinal, Social, and Interreligious Contexts

Santideva and the Dynamics of Tradition: Doctrinal, Social, and Interreligious Contexts

Santideva and the Dynamics of Tradition: Doctrinal, Social, and Interreligious Contexts

Santideva and the Dynamics of Tradition: Doctrinal, Social, and Interreligious Contexts

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Overview

This collection analyses the dynamic role of tradition in understanding the thought and impact of the 8th century Mahayana Buddhist thinker Santideva.

Organised into three interconnected sections, it highlights Santideva's Guide to the way of life of a Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara) as a product of and major contributor to the 7th and 8th-century Mahayana Buddhist intellectual tradition.

Across a series of cross-cultural case studies, a team of philosophers and scholars of religion demonstrate how the Guide, a religious and philosophical classic, is being taken up into contemporary academic conversations. They analyze key Buddhist concepts developed by Santideva, including effort, compassion, wisdom and the spirit of awakening (bodhicitta), explicating the role they play in his thought and the impact they made on the tradition. Covering his attitude towards woman, they discuss his use of sarcasm revealing his conception of human beings and examine social hierarchy as reflected in his writings and traditional biography.

Unique in the attention it gives to social dynamics, this is the first collection to incorporate interreligious dialogue into its framing of the Guide. This interdisciplinary approach showcases the benefits of employing multiple methodologies in the study of Santideva's thought. A valuable addition to cross-cultural philosophy, Buddhist ethics, interreligious dialogue and Mahayana Buddhism.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781350532335
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 01/08/2026
Pages: 264
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Stephen Harris is University Lecturer in Indian and Comparative Philosophy at Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Perry Schmidt-Leukel is Senior Professor of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at the University of Münster, Germany.

Table of Contents

Contents


Notes on Contributors

Introduction
Stephen E. Harris, Perry Schmidt-Leukel

I. Doctrinal Dynamics

1. Candraki¯rti's prajn~a¯, S´a¯ntideva's phrone¯sis:
Alternative Models of Ma¯dhyamika Wisdom
Amber D. Carpenter

2. Suffering and Liberation on Santideva's Bodhisattva Path
Stephen E. Harris

3. The Wind in the Sails:
Virya in the Bodhicaryavatara
Jay L. Garfield, Emily McRae

4. Immanence and Transcendence:
Ethical Grounds in Prāsaṅgika and the Great Perfection
Douglas Duckworth

II. Social Dynamics

5. Santideva's Idea of the Yogic and Non-Yogic Worlds:
Its Implications and Possible Antecedents
Dorji Wangchuk

6. Mockery, Sarcasm, and Irony in the Bodhicaryavatara
Perry Schmidt-Leukel

7. A Feminist Buddhist Perspective on Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara
Carola Roloff (Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen)

8. Hierarchy Versus Charism:
Santideva's Hagiography as an Exemplar of the Tension in Buddhism Between Ecclesiastical Status and Spiritual Attainment
Andrew Skilton

III. Interreligious Dynamics

9. Santideva's Twofold bodhicitta in Light of Comparative Spirituality
Francis Brassard

10. Sakara and Santideva on Consciousness and Ultimate Reality:
A Field Guide to Identify the Buddhist Advaitin
Fabian Völker

11 Learning To Be Empty: Santideva's Wisdom on Creaturely No Self
S. Mark Heim

12. Compassionate Ethics and Contemplative Dynamics:
Some Observations on Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara and Zayn al-'Abidin's Makarim al-akhlaq
Reza Shah Kazemi



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