Entering the Stream to Enlightenment - Experiences of the Stages of the Buddhist Path in Contemporary Sri Lanka - Yuki Sirimane

Entering the Stream to Enlightenment - Experiences of the Stages of the Buddhist Path in Contemporary Sri Lanka - Yuki Sirimane

Foreword by Professor Asanga Tilakaratne

Entering the Stream to Enlightenment - Experiences of the Stages of the Buddhist Path in Contemporary Sri Lanka - Yuki Sirimane

Asanga Tilakaratne [+-]
University of Colombo
Asanga Tilakaratne graduated from Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka, specializing in Buddhist Philosophy. He has published, both in Sinhala and English, more than one hundred papers on Buddhist studies. Of his more recent academic works, Theravada Buddhism: the View of the Elders (2012) was published by University of Hawaii Press. He co-edited with Prof. Oliver Abenayaka 2600 Years of Sambuddhatva: Global Journey of Awakening (2012), a work covering the history and the current status of global Buddhism of all three traditions. Prof. Tilakaratne founded Sri Lanka Association of Buddhist Studies (SLABS), an academic and professional organization of Buddhist scholars in Sri Lanka, and continues to serve as its joint secretary.

Description

This book is a study on the nature and effects of the Theravāda Buddhist religious experiences of the four supramundane fruits of the Noble Eightfold Path - the experience of the fruit which is stream-entry, once returning, non-returning and Arahanthship - with special focus on the experience of stream-entry. It represents the first time within Theravāda Buddhist studies that a serious textual study has been combined with a substantial field research. Despite disciplinary rules which virtually prohibit a monk with higher ordination from discussing their personal religious experiences, this book presents seven comprehensive anonymous interviews conducted mainly with forest monks on their meditative experiences. The study presents a definition for the ‘supramundane fruit’ of the path and an alternate framework to discuss and evaluate Theravāda Buddhist religious experiences. It then uses this framework to address some longstanding debates around the Theravāda path and its fruits thus bringing experience back to the centre stage of these debates.

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Citation

Tilakaratne, Asanga. Foreword by Professor Asanga Tilakaratne. Entering the Stream to Enlightenment - Experiences of the Stages of the Buddhist Path in Contemporary Sri Lanka. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. xiii-xv Jun 2016. ISBN 9781781792049. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=27957. Date accessed: 11 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.27957. Jun 2016

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