Full Description
This book offers a triangular comparative analysis by evaluating three different religious approaches to emptiness. It reveals what emptiness or nothingness mean in different cultural and religious contexts. Further, it assesses each tradition's emptiness concerning the emptiness of the believer, the emptiness of the world, and perhaps even the (temporary or permanent) emptiness of God.
Chapters include perspectives on different religions and though being manifest in different ways within their respective traditions, the Hindi and Buddhist concept of śūnyatā, the Christian concept of divine kenosis, and the Ṣūfī concept of fanā' share a common denominator: all three signify "emptiness". Covered are both sprititual and "mundane" functions of this emptiness that the three religions address. This monograph appeals to students and researchers and reveals that the idea of an "empty" reality that is purified of superfluous fullness are philosophical concepts relevant for all domains of life.
Contents
Chapter 1. Preliminary Considerations.- Chapter 2. The Historical Background.- Chapter 3. Comparative Mysticism.- Chapter 4. Kenosis, Dynamic Śūnyatā, and Weak Thought: Abe Masao and Gianni Vattimo.- Chapter 5. Tawḥīd and Nothingness: Nishida Kitarō and Muhammad 'Abduh on God and Reason.- Chapter 6. Śūnyatā, Kenosis, Fanā'
Chapter 7. Absorption, Extinction, and Intoxication.- Chapter 8. Pantheism and the Absolute Self.- Chapter 9. The Bird and the Butterfly.- Conclusion.
