Field-Being Interpretation of Buddhist Philosophy

About the Book

Buddhism is a religion despite the negative attitude of some in the West, who espouse that since it has no god, it is atheistic and, therefore, cannot be a religion. A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices that unite into one single moral community. A. N. Whitehead fortified this definition by saying, “Religion is what the individual does with his own solitariness.” Buddhism satisfies these definitions by guiding the individual in self-reliance and introspection rather than entreaty to an unseen god or spirit. It is hoped that the nine essays in this book depict situations where a set of symbolic forms and acts relate man to the ultimate condition of his existence. The essays in this book have been written between the years of 1998 and 2000 while Albert Shansky, the author, was executive vice president of the International Institute of Field-Being at Fairfield University.

About the Author

Albert Shansky studied philosophy and religion at Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut. He received Shambala training at the Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and studied Islam at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut. He has trained as a lay monk at the Hosshinji Monastery in Obama, Japan, and at the Eiheiji Monastery in Fukui, Japan. He is a member of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, the American Academy of Religion, the American Philosophical Association, the Society of Asian and Comparative Philosophy, the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, and the Association of Asian Studies. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was executive vice president of the International Institute of Field-Being at Fairfield University for six years and was also Review and Feature Editor of the Field-Being Journal, Uroboros.