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The Glory of the Literary World

by Sangharakshita

It could be argued that we live at the beginning of a second renaissance, sparked off by the translation of oriental literature into Western languages. Sangharakshita demonstrates the spirit with which to approach Buddhist literature in order to appreciate its immense riches.

N.B. Poor original recording.

Tracks (click play to listen)

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1. The treasures of oriental literature as a second Renaissance; comparison with the European Renaissance; Buddhist canonical works as the most valuable of all oriental works of literature; Buddhavachana and the oral tradition (14:57) 
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2. Definitions of 'literature' - Carlyle, Godwin, Mackail (11:09) 
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3. Lu Chi's definition (9:13) 
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4. Ezra Pound's definition and Robert Louis Stevenson's (8:21) 
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5. The 'quasi-fundamentalist' approach to Buddhist texts versus reading for enjoyment and as literature (16:42) 
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6. The functions of literature - De Quincy (6:03) 
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7. Buddhist canonical literature as poetry (2:15) 


Total running time: 1:08:40