Western Buddhist Review
Western Buddhist Review

Harold Bloom: the Embattled Canon and the Experiential Critic

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 20:26

Harold Bloom: the Embattled Canon and the Experiential Critic

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 20:26

This is a guest post by Vishvapani, re-published here from an early issue of The Western Buddhist Review


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The Western Canon
By Harold Bloom
Macmillan, London 1994, pp. 567


1. Introduction: contemporary criticism’s questions and answers
What should be our central question in approaching literature? The celebrated American literary critic Harold Bloom proposes one: What is literature for? This question may sound obvious, but it is not one with...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Bidding Farewell to Harold Bloom

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 19:09

Bidding Farewell to Harold Bloom

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 19:09

Here is a new appreciation of the critic and writer Harold Bloom, who died on October 14th 2019.

Vishvapani is a writer, broadcaster and Buddhist mindfulness teacher. His writing can be found at Wise Attention.

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The sadness I feel at learning of the death, aged 89, of the great literary critic Harold Bloom, is softened only by my incredulity that he was living at all; that is, living in a modern world to which he seemed so alien....

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Culture's Peak: An Interview with Harold Bloom by Vishvapani

By Vishvapani on Wed, 16 Oct, 2019 - 23:23

Culture's Peak: An Interview with Harold Bloom by Vishvapani

By Vishvapani on Wed, 16 Oct, 2019 - 23:23

This interview with the literary critic Harold Bloom was first published in Dharma Life, 5, Summer 1997. Harold Bloom died on October 14th 2019.

Vishvapani is a writer, broadcaster and Buddhist mindfulness teacher. His writing can be found at Wise Attention.

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When I first encountered Harold Bloom’s work, I discovered a remarkable mixture. Bloom is Professor of Humanities at Yale University, and is widely considered America’s leading literary critic. His many books combine an enormous breadth of reading...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

The Complete Works Retreat Podcast

By Candradasa on Mon, 18 Jan, 2016 - 19:43

Satyalila reporting from an inspiring retreat at Adhisthana in the UK for a group of volunteers who came together to help Vidyadevi and Kalyanaprabha with editorial work on the first two of the twenty-seven volumes that will make up the entire Complete Works of Sangharakshita. And to to collectively dedicate their efforts - spiritual and practical. 

We hear about some of what’s involved - from the intricacies of critical diacritics in Pali and Sanskrit terms, to the considerable detective...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Buddhist Voices - Kalyanaprabha On Editing Sangharakshita

By Candradasa on Thu, 3 Sep, 2015 - 11:14

An excellent conversation with Kalyanaprabha on what it’s like to work with and edit Sangharakshita, as his latest book, ‘A Moseley Miscellany’ hits the bookshops and the project to publish his Complete Works gets underway. Words and their meanings, the transformative effect of literature in a life, writing as a gateway to spiritual insight - these are just some of the topics covered as we hear from someone whose passion for literary work is both inspiring...

Community Highlights
Community Highlights

Sangharakshita: A Moseley Miscellany - Free Preview!

Sangharakshita: A Moseley Miscellany - Free Preview!

By Centre Team on Thu, 3 Sep, 2015 - 11:13

Sangharakshita’s new book, ‘A Moseley Miscellany’ is out! It’s the latest work edited by Kalyanaprabha under the Ibis books imprint distributed by Windhorse Publications - and we have a free preview for you!

Buy ‘A Moseley Miscellany - Prose and Verse 1997-2012’

Listen to Kalyanaprabha talk about editing this book and Sangharakshita’s Complete Works

Community Highlights
Community Highlights

Writers' Convention 2015 - Poem Flags (A Series)

By Candradasa on Mon, 27 Jul, 2015 - 18:13

Writers' Convention 2015 - Poem Flags (A Series)

By Candradasa on Mon, 27 Jul, 2015 - 18:13

A couple of weeks ago the first Triratna Writers Convention at Adhisthana took place, which was a great success. Here are the poetry flags the writers installed in the Sangharaskhita Library at the end of the Convention… 

Read and listen to posts...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Triratna Writers Convention 2015 - Be Here Now by Ananda

By Satyalila on Mon, 20 Jul, 2015 - 15:44

Satyalila and Ananda reflecting on the Writers Convention - both the nurturing and wildness aspects of it. And we get to hear Ananda give a wind-blown reading of his own poem, ‘Be Here Now’.

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Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Writers Convention 2015 - Day 4: A Full Day, Fully Lived

By Satyalila on Tue, 14 Jul, 2015 - 19:35

Writers Convention 2015 - Day 4: A Full Day, Fully Lived

By Satyalila on Tue, 14 Jul, 2015 - 19:35

After the lovely morning shrine room poem by Norman MacCaig, beautifully read by Steph, a full day’s immersion in poetry to close out our first convention of Triratna writers…

We’ll bring you soon Dhivan’s brilliant talk on Ted Hughes, and hopefully too the poetry reading from Vishvantara, Ananda & Manjusura. We also had time to install some “poem-flags” in the Sangharakshita Library - detailed pictures to follow! 

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Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Writers Convention 2015 - Small Boy by Norman MacCaig

By Satyalila on Tue, 14 Jul, 2015 - 19:19

Into the last day of the writers’ gathering proper and we hear how it started - with a beautiful, typically understated piece by Norman MacCaig read by Steph, a writer herself and one of the young women who has just finished a five-month intensive Dharma course at Adhisthana

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