Contemporary reception and distortion of Buddhism on the example of authors around the journal Ruch filosofický. Nirvana, salvation and correction of human affairs in the context of the texts of Vincenc Lesný, Vladimir Hoppe and others
Abstract
The basic starting point of this study is the article What is Buddhist nirvana according to the Pali Canon, published by Vincenc Lesný in Ruch filosofický in 1921, where he tried to introduce the Buddhist concept of nibbánam (or nirvánam) to the philosophical audience, and the distinction between "nibbánam during life" and "nibbánam after death" will be particularly important. This study has taken full advantage of the fact that Lesný chose to publish his text in this journal to compare his conception of nirvana with the positions that other contributors to this periodical, who were already attempting to construct very novel and idiosyncratic thought in their own time, were trying to build.
The central comparative material, in addition to the mention of others, is the metaphysics of Vladimír Hoppe, as developed primarily in his 1925 treatise The Natural and Spiritual Foundations of the World and Life, as well as his understanding of Buddhism.
