This volume offers a rich and accessible introduction to contemporary research on Buddhist ethical thought. It includes contributions of many of the leading scholars in this field, on topics including the nature of Buddhist ethics, karma and rebirth, mindfulness, narrative, intention, free will, politics, anger, and equanimity.

This volume offers a rich and accessible introduction to contemporary research on Buddhist ethical thought for interested students and scholars, yet also offers chapters taking up more technical philosophical and textual topics. A Mirror is For Reflection offers a snapshot of the present state of academic investigation into the nature of Buddhist Ethics, including contributions from many of the leading figures in the academic study of Buddhist philosophy. Over the past decade many scholars have come to think that the project of fitting Buddhist ethical thought into Western philosophical categories may be of limited utility, and the focus of investigation has shifted in a number of new directions. This volume includes contemporary perspectives on topics including the nature of Buddhist ethics as a whole, karma and rebirth, mindfulness, narrative, intention, free will, politics, anger, and equanimity.

The paradox of Buddhist ethics, as any philosophical paradox, can humble people in their dangerous religious certainties and start them wondering afresh about the best way to live their lives during troubling times. Buddhist practitioners are also credited to provide strong exemplars in the world of people who practice what they preach (or rather, decline to preach) and who strive for modest, morally exemplary lives, grounded in kindness. After all, if there is no self, what point exists in acting self-servingly? For these reasons alone, Buddhist ethics constitutes a worthy contemplation. Thanks for this new volume that rethinks how that paradox arises and how it may be resolved, for that inquiry itself constitutes good works.