Buddha at the Apocalypse : Awakening From a Culture of Destruction

Timely and audacious, Buddha at the Apocalypse challenges us to look directly at the devastating assumptions underlying the very mechanisms of the modern world. We believe with certainty in the inevitable forward march of progress, in the natural rightness of humankind’s control of the environment, and, most pervasively, in the idea of an epic struggle that requires righteousness to utterly destroy evil. These images of apocalypse and dominance pervade our language, our politics, and, with coming of 2012, even our escapist entertainment. In Buddha at the Apocalypse, Kurt Spellmeyer offers us an alternative view that comes like breath of cool, fresh air in these times. Drawing on the Buddha, Spellmeyer makes an impassioned clarion call to awaken from the culture of destruction — or perish within it. The book also features a foreword by the most high-profile Buddhist academic in America — and possibly the world. Spellmeyer Challenges Us To Look Directly At The Devastating Assumptions Underlying The Very Mechanisms Of The Modern World-- And Offers A Clarion Call To Awaken From A Pervasive Culture Of Destruction Into A Natural, Sustainable, And Sane Peace. He References The Bible, Popular Culture, Zen, And Western Philosophy In Addressing Two Questions: How Did We Get Here, And What Can We Do Now. An Answer To Pervasive Cynicism And Decline, Spellmeyer Shows How To Accept And Connect With Reality In Dark Times. Introduction : Welcome To The Apocalypse -- In The Beginning Of History -- World Despising And The Origins Of The Modern World -- An End To History, An End To Suffering -- One Body : The Hidden Ground Of Liberation -- From Revolutionary Thinking To An Ecology Of Mind -- Images Of Order In A Complex World -- On And Off The Road Of History -- Conclusion : Buddha At The Apocalypse. Kurt Spellmeyer ; Foreword By Robert A.f. Thurman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 Part 1......Page 32 1 IN THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY......Page 34 2 WORLD DESPISING AND THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN WORLD......Page 48 Part 2......Page 64 3 AN END TO HISTORY, AN END TO SUFFERING......Page 66 4 ONE BODY—THE HIDDEN GROUND OF LIBERATION......Page 84 5 FROM REVOLUTIONARY THINKING TO AN ECOLOGY OF MIND......Page 102 6 IMAGES OF ORDER IN A COMPLEX WORLD......Page 120 7 ON AND OFF THE ROAD OF HISTORY......Page 138 Conclusion......Page 154 Notes......Page 166 Index......Page 182 About the Author......Page 191 Timely and audacious, Buddha at the Apocalypse challenges us to look directly at the devastating assumptions underlying the very mechanisms of the modern world - and offers a clarion call to awaken from a pervasive culture of destruction into a natural, sustainable, and sane peace. Kurt Spellmeyer references the Bible, popular culture, Zen, and Western philosophy in addressing two questions: how did we get here, and what can we do now. An answer to pervasive cynicism and decline, Buddha at the Apocalypse shows how to accept and connect with reality in dark times.