Nirvana And Other Buddhist Felicities

This book presents a new answer to the question: what is nirvana? Part 1 distinguishes between systematic and narrative thought in the Pali texts of Theravada Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia, arguing that nirvana produces closure in both, and setting nirvana in the wider category of Buddhist felicities. Part 2 explores other Buddhist Utopias (both eutopias, "good places," and ou-topias, "no-places"), and relates Buddhist utopianism to studies of European and American Utopian writing. The book ends with a close reading of the Vessantara Jdtaka, which highlights the conflict between the ascetic quest for closure and ultimate felicity, and the ongoing demands of ordinary life and society. Steven Collins discusses these issues in relation to textuality, world history, and ideology in premodern civilizations, aiming to contribute to a new vision of Buddhist history, which can hold both the inside and the outside of texts together. CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS 12 NIRVANA AND OTHER BUDDHIST FELICITIES CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS Edited by John Clayton (Boston University), Steven Collins (University of Chicago), and Nicholas de Lange (University of Cambridge) 1. LOUIS JACOBS Religion and the individual: a Jewish perspective 2. ANNE-HUNT OVERZEE The body divine: the symbol of the body in the works ofTeilhard de Chardin and Rdmdnuja 3. NIKKY-GUNINDER KAUR SINGH The feminine principle in the Sikh vision of the Transcendent 4. FRIEDHELM HARDY The religious culture of India: power, love and wisdom 5. TESSA BARTHOLOMEUSZ Women under the Bo tree: Buddhist nuns in Sri Lanka 6 OLIVER LEAMAN Evil and suffering in Jewish philosophy 7. DAVID SMITH The dance of Siva: religion, art and poetry in South India 8. edited by S A R A H COAKLAY Religion and the body 9. RAYMOND BRADY WILLIAMS Christian pluralism in the United States: the Indian immigrant experience 10. KEVIN TRAINOR Relics, ritual and representation in Buddhism: rematerializing the Sri Lankan Theravdda tradition 11. J U L I A CHING Mysticism and kingship in China: the heart of Chinese wisdom 12. STEVEN COLLINS Nirvana and other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali imaginaire NIRVANA AND OTHER BUDDHIST FELICITIES Utopias of the Pali imaginaire STEVEN COLLINS Professor in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Chicago I CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, United Kingdom 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Steven Collins 1998 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1998 Typeset in 11 / 1 2 % pt New Baskerville [SE] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of