What Is Buddhist Enlightenment?

What is Buddhist Enlightenment? offers a wide-ranging exploration of issues that have a bearing on the contemporary meaning of enlightenment...[T]he book balances deep learning and an accessible style, offering valuable insights for students, scholars, and practitioners alike. --Reading Religion How should we understand enlightenment today? For Buddhism no question is more important, and Dale Wright's insightful responses are exactly what contemporary Buddhists need to think about--if Buddhism is to become what our globalizing world needs. --David R. Loy, author of A New Buddhist Path Dale Wright's What is Buddhist Enlightenment? is a deeply humane book, rich with timely and profound reflections on what it might look like to aspire to the fully realized life of someone somehow 'enlightened.' Wright eloquently thinks along with the Buddhist tradition about an idea (enlightenment) that's central, as well, to the modern West, yielding insights into what the Buddhist tradition might have to teach us, right here at the historical moment where we find ourselves, about how to be human. --Dan Arnold, Associate Professor of the Philosophy of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School Dale Wright takes on the daunting task of clarifying Buddhist enlightenment, and he skillfully does so in relation to karma, the bodhisattva ideal, meditative reading, and other facets of Buddhism. His critical exploration of Zen enlightenment in relation to morality and language is especially illuminating and will serve as a needed corrective to popular misconceptions. And his ten theses on contemporary enlightenment provide a rich foundation for developing and practicing enlightenment in this historical moment. --Christopher Ives, author of Imperial-Way Zen: Ichikawa Hakugen's Critique and Lingering Questions for Buddhist Ethics A relevant and informative supplement to the Western practitioner's journey of development. -Tricycle How should we understand enlightenment today? For Buddhism no question is more important, and Dale Wright's insightful responses are exactly what contemporary Buddhists need to think about--if Buddhism is to become what our globalizing world needs. --David R. Loy, author of A New Buddhist Path Dale Wright's What is Buddhist Enlightenment? is a deeply humane book, rich with timely and profound reflections on what it might look like to aspire to the fully realized life of someone somehow 'enlightened.' Wright eloquently thinks along with the Buddhist tradition about an idea (enlightenment) that's central, as well, to the modern West, yielding insights into what the Buddhist tradition might have to teach us, right here at the historical moment where we find ourselves, about how to be human. --Dan Arnold, Associate Professor of the Philosophy of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School Dale Wright takes on the daunting task of clarifying Buddhist enlightenment, and he skillfully does so in relation to karma, the bodhisattva ideal, meditative reading, and other facets of Buddhism. His critical exploration of Zen enlightenment in relation to morality and language is especially illuminating and will serve as a needed corrective to popular misconceptions. And his ten theses on contemporary enlightenment provide a rich foundation for developing and practicing enlightenment in this historical moment. --Christopher Ives, author of Imperial-Way Zen: Ichikawa Hakugen's Critique and Lingering Questions for Buddhist Ethics A relevant and informative supplement to the Western practitioner's journey of development. -Tricycle How should we understand enlightenment today? For Buddhism no question is more important, and Dale Wright's insightful responses are exactly what contemporary Buddhists need to think about--if Buddhism is to become what our globalizing world needs. --David R. Loy, author of A New Buddhist Path Dale Wright's What is Buddhist Enlightenment? is a deeply humane book, rich with timely and profound reflections on what it might look like to aspire to the fully realized life of someone somehow 'enlightened.' Wright eloquently thinks along with the Buddhist tradition about an idea (enlightenment) that's central, as well, to the modern West, yielding insights into what the Buddhist tradition might have to teach us, right here at the historical moment where we find ourselves, about how to be human. --Dan Arnold, Associate Professor of the Philosophy of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School Dale Wright takes on the daunting task of clarifying Buddhist enlightenment, and he skillfully does so in relation to karma, the bodhisattva ideal, meditative reading, and other facets of Buddhism. His critical exploration of Zen enlightenment in relation to morality and language is especially illuminating and will serve as a needed corrective to popular misconceptions. And his ten theses on contemporary enlightenment provide a rich foundation for developing and practicing enlightenment in this historical moment. --Christopher Ives, author of Imperial-Way Zen: Ichikawa Hakugen's Critique and Lingering Questions for Buddhist Ethics