Buddhism Books
The Sri Lanka Institute of Traditional Studies Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism
Book Synopsis
£8.95
The University of Chicago Press Ordinary Images
Book SynopsisSituating his study in the gaps between conventional categories such as Buddhism, Daoism and Chinese popular art, Stanley K. Abe examines the large body of sculpture, paintings and other religious imagery produced for China's common classes from the third to the sixth centuries CE.
£88.00
The University of Chicago Press A Monastery in Time The Making of Mongolian
Book SynopsisDescribes the life of a Mongolian Buddhist monastery - the Mergen Monastery in Inner Mongolia - from inside its walls. From the Qing occupation of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through the Cultural Revolution, the authors tell a story of religious formation, suppression, and survival over a history that spans three centuries.Trade Review"A Monastery in Time is a tremendously original product of almost fifteen years of painstaking scholarship. Caroline Humphrey and Hurelbaatar Ujeed combine an ethnography of a particular site, the Mergen Monastery in Inner Mongolia, with a theoretically informed description of what a tradition - the Mongolian Buddhist tradition or any tradition - actually is. The results are impressive both for the theory and for the ethnography of an important but little-known religious community." (Christopher P. Atwood, Indiana University)"
£28.00
The University of Chicago Press Grains of Gold
Book SynopsisIn 1941, philosopher and poet Gendun Chopel (1903-51) sent a large manuscript by ship, train, and yak across mountains and deserts to his homeland in the northeastern corner of Tibet. He would follow it five years later, returning to his native land after twelve years in India and Sri Lanka.Trade Review"Gendun Chopel's Grains of Gold is the magnum opus of arguably the single most brilliant Tibetan scholar of the twentieth century, and the team of Donald S. Lopez Jr. and renowned translator Thupten Jinpa is the ideal combination of talents to expertly render its eclectic contents into faithful but accessible English. This excellent translation will be enthusiastically (and gratefully) welcomed by both scholars and general readers." -Lauran Hartley, Columbia University"
£39.90
The University of Chicago Press Nothing Three Inquiries in Buddhism TRIOS
Book SynopsisThough contemporary European philosophy and critical theory have long had a robust engagement with Christianity, there has been no similar engagement with Buddhism-a surprising lack, given Buddhism's global reach and obvious affinities with much of Continental philosophy. This volume fills that gap, bringing together three scholars to offer individual, distinct, yet complementary philosophical takes on Buddhism. Focused on nothing-essential to Buddhism, of course, but also a key concept in critical theory from Hegel and Marx through deconstruction, queer theory, and contemporary speculative philosophy-the book explores different ways of rethinking Buddhism's nothing. Through an elaboration of sunyata, or emptiness, in both critical and Buddhist traditions; an examination of the problem of praxis in Buddhism, Marxism, and psychoanalysis; and an explication of a Buddaphobia that is rooted in modern anxieties about nothingness, Marcus Boon, Eric Cazdyn, and Timothy Morton open up new spa
£76.00
The University of Chicago Press Nothing
Book Synopsis
£23.00
The University of Chicago Press From Stone to Flesh
Book SynopsisWe have come to admire Buddhism for being profound but accessible, as much a lifestyle as a religion. The credit for creating Buddhism goes to the Buddha, a figure widely respected across the Western world for his philosophical insight, his teachings of nonviolence, and his practice of meditation. But who was this Buddha, and how did he become the Buddha we know and love today? Leading historian of Buddhism Donald S. Lopez Jr. tells the story of how various idols carved in stone variously named Beddou, Codam, Xaca, and Fo - became the man of flesh and blood that we know simply as the Buddha. He reveals that the positive view of the Buddha in Europe and America is rather recent, originating a little more than a hundred and fifty years ago. For centuries, the Buddha was condemned by Western writers as the most dangerous idol of the Orient. He was a demon, the murderer of his mother, a purveyor of idolatry. Lopez provides an engaging history of depictions of the Buddha from classical accounts and medieval stories to the testimonies of European travelers, diplomats, soldiers, and missionaries. He shows that centuries of hostility toward the Buddha changed dramatically in the nineteenth century, when the teachings of the Buddha, having disappeared from India by the fourteenth century, were read by European scholars newly proficient in Asian languages. At the same time, the traditional view of the Buddha persisted in Asia, where he was revered as much for his supernatural powers as for his philosophical insights. From Stone to Flesh follows the twists and turns of these Eastern and Western notions of the Buddha, leading finally to his triumph as the founder of a world religion.
£18.00
The University of Chicago Press Strange Tales of an Oriental Idol An Anthology of
Book SynopsisWe tend to think that the Buddha has always been seen as the compassionate sage admired around the world today, but until the nineteenth century, Europeans often regarded him as a nefarious figure, an idol worshipped by the pagans of the Orient. Donald S. Lopez Jr. offers here a rich sourcebook of European fantasies about the Buddha drawn from the works of dozens of authors over fifteen hundred years, including Clement of Alexandria, Marco Polo, St. Francis Xavier, Voltaire, and Sir William Jones. Featuring writings by soldiers, adventurers, merchants, missionaries, theologians, and colonial officers, this volume contains a wide range of portraits of the Buddha. The descriptions are rarely flattering, as all manner of reports some accurate, some inaccurate, and some garbled came to circulate among European savants and eccentrics, many of whom were famous in their day but are long forgotten in ours. Taken together, these accounts present a fascinating picture, not only of the Buddha as
£24.00
The University of Chicago Press Prisoners of ShangriLa
Book SynopsisPrisoners of Shangri-La is a provocative analysis of how the West cultivated the "romance" of Tibet, and how that romance gradually came to imprison those who sought Tibetan independence from China.
£19.00
The University of Chicago Press From Politics to the Pews How Partisanship and
Book SynopsisThrough incisive discussions of topics ranging from practice, power, and pedagogy to ritual, history, sex, and death, the authors offer new directions for the understanding of Buddhism, taking constructive and sometimes polemical positions in an effort both to demonstrate the shortcomings of assumptions about the religion and the potential.
£27.00
The University of Chicago Press Strange Tales of an Oriental Idol An Anthology
Book SynopsisWe tend to think that the Buddha has always been seen as the compassionate sage admired around the world today, but until the nineteenth century, Europeans often regarded him as a nefarious figure, an idol worshipped by the pagans of the Orient. Donald S. Lopez Jr. offers here a rich sourcebook of European fantasies about the Buddha drawn from the works of dozens of authors over fifteen hundred years, including Clement of Alexandria, Marco Polo, St. Francis Xavier, Voltaire, and Sir William Jones. Featuring writings by soldiers, adventurers, merchants, missionaries, theologians, and colonial officers, this volume contains a wide range of portraits of the Buddha. The descriptions are rarely flattering, as all manner of reports some accurate, some inaccurate, and some garbled came to circulate among European savants and eccentrics, many of whom were famous in their day but are long forgotten in ours. Taken together, these accounts present a fascinating picture, not only of the Buddha as
£76.00
University of Chicago Press Daemons are Forever Contacts and Exchanges in
Book SynopsisTrade Review"David Gordon White’s new book, Dæmons are Forever: Contacts and Exchangesin the Eurasian Pandemonium, is one of the most significant monographs in the academic study of religion in recent years. With impressive geographical and temporal scopes—ranging from East and South Asia all the way to Northern and Western Europe, and from reconstructed prehistorical protomyths to contemporary ethnography—the book impressively attempts to narrate the long story of vital religious contacts and exchanges across Eurasia. . . . Dæmons are Forever charts a path for future insights into Eurasia’s interconnected histories." * Reading Religion *"This is an excellent resource for advanced or graduate students and researchers, and it could serve as a reference covering the myriad stories, creatures, and Indo-European features included. . . . Dæmons are Forever is both capstone and cornerstone, a summation of a professional scholarly career and the laying of a foundation for the continuing work of a professor emeritus." * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *“Not only does White address an immense geographic space with stupefying erudition, but he examines an equally vast historical time period, using texts from High Antiquity to contemporary ethnography. . . . This work reveals the immense erudition and intellectual virtuosity of the author, an admirable expert not only of the religions of the Indian sub-continent, but also of a wide array of Euro-asian religious traditions.” * Archives de sciences sociales des religions (Translated from French) *“White is unique in combining the characters of an old-fashioned, obsessively knowledgeable linguist, an Eliadean (or even Frazerian) comparatist, and a cutting-edge theorist with a particular penchant for the dark, the bent, and the anarchic in human religious life. This book makes full use of all his talents, presenting a broad view, constantly enlivened with astonishing details, of the too-long-misunderstood role of the demonic in the history of religions.” * Wendy Doniger, University of Chicago *“A revelatory book that brims with erudition and ambition, making connections that span thousands of miles and cross not only centuries but millennia. White has written a book that issues a series of challenges to how we should look at South Asia and worlds far beyond.” * Peter Frankopan, Worcester College *Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Note on Translations 1 Dæmon-ology 2 Of Filth and Phylacteries 3 The Demons Are in the Details: Demonological Sciences and Technologies, East and West 4 Medieval and Modern Child Abductions 5 Odysseus in Taprobane 6 Perilous Fountains 7 Imagining a Connected History of Religions Acknowledgments Notes References Index
£31.00
The University of Chicago Press Charming Cadavers Horrific Figurations of the
Book SynopsisIn this study of sexuality, desire, the body and women, Liz Wilson investigates first-millennium Buddhist notions of spirituality. She argues that despite the marginal role women played in monastic life, they occupied a very conspicuous place in Buddhist hagiographic literature.
£30.00
Columbia University Press Selected Writings of Nichiren
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£80.00
Columbia University Press The Lotus Sutra
Book SynopsisA translation of "The Lotus Sutra" which has been regarded as one of the illustrious scriptures in the Mahayana Buddhist canon.Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Expedient Means 3. Simile and Parable 4. Belief and Understanding 5. The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs 6. Bestowal of Prophecy 7. The Parable of the Phantom City 8. Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples 9. Prophecies Conferred on Learners and Adepts 10. The Teacher of the Law 11. The Emergence of the Treasure Tower 12. Devadatta 13. Encouraging Devotion 14. Peaceful Practices 15. Emerging from the Earth 16. The Life Span of the Thus Come One 17. Distinctions in Benefits 18. The Benefits of Responding with Joy 19. Benefits of the Teacher of the Law 20. The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging 21. Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One 22. Entrustment 23. Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King 24. The Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound 25. The Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds 26. Dharani 27. Former Affairs of King Wonderful Adornment 28. Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy
£19.80
Columbia University Press Spirited Women Gender Religion and Cultural
Book SynopsisThis is the study of a small group of Tibetan Buddhists called the Nyishangba who have maintained an egalitarian culture, where women own land and have equal rights, including in social and religious institutions, and where the usual subordination of women does not appear to occur.Trade ReviewDrawing threads of individual oral histories together with detailed ethnographic inquiry, Watkins weaves a colorful background to her analysis of gender relations among the Nyeshangte of the Nepal Himalaya... The author traces through the history of the Nyeshangte people, their traditional trading practices and the historical and modern factors which have transformed their way of life. Royal Society for Asian Affairs
£28.80
Columbia University Press Contemplative Science
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewProvocative, challenging, and engaging, Contemplative Science should be read by all serious students of the mind, scientists, contemplatives, and religious scholars alike. Alan Wallace has a breathtaking command of knowledge rooted in Buddhism but embracing the physical and cognitive sciences and most importantly informed by meditation practice. This book will help set the stage for a unique development in the twenty-first-century--a genuine collaboration between the contemplative traditions and Western science. -- Richard J. Davidson, William James and Vilas Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison Contemplative Science is a must read for anyone interested in consciousness. Alan Wallace challenges neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, and Buddhists, with lucid, provocative scholarship. -- Paul Ekman, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Francisco, and author of Emotions Revealed [From] one of the most prominent voices in the discussions... Contemplative Science is a useful primer. -- Benjamin Bogin Buddhadharma Wallace makes a strong case. -- George Scialabba Boston Globe A copy should go to every scientist - both physical and contemplative - in the land. -- David Fontana The Scientific and Medical NetworkTable of ContentsAcknowledgments 1 - Principles of Contemplative Science 2 - Where Science and Religion Collide 3 - The Study of Consciousness, East and West 4 - Spiritual Awakening and Objective Knowledge 5 - Buddhist Nontheism, Polytheism, and Monotheism 6 - Worlds of Intersubjectivity 7 - Samatha: The Contemplative Refinement of Attention 8 - Beyond Idolatry: The Renaissance of a Spirit of Empiricism Notes Bibliography
£22.50
Columbia University Press Buddhist Philosophy of Language in India
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewLawrence J. McCrea and Parimal G. Patil havce provided us with a fine translation of a rare and difficult Sanskrit text by Jnanasrimitra, a Buddhist philosopher who lived in the late tenth and early eleventh century... Excellent... This work will remain the standard English translation of Jnanasrimitra's Monograph on Exclusion for many years to come. International Journal of Hindu StudiesTable of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. Jnanasrimitra's Intellectual World and Its History Jnanasrimitra's Intellectual Contexts Philosophical Traditions and Text Traditions Sanskrit Intellectual Practices Sources of Knowledge 2. The Buddhist Epistemological Tradition: Dignaga and Dharmakirti Objects and Their Status The Elements of Inferential Reasoning 3. Dharmottara's Epistemological Revolution 4. Jnanasrimitra's Reworking of the Theory of Exclusion Relativization of Internal and External Conditionally Adopted Positions 5. Translation Practices Editorial Conventions Numbering System Jnanasrimitra's Monograph on Exclusion Outline Translation Sanskrit Text of the Monograph on Exclusion Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index
£79.20
Columbia University Press Buddhist Philosophy of Language in India
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewLawrence J. McCrea and Parimal G. Patil havce provided us with a fine translation of a rare and difficult Sanskrit text by Jnanasrimitra, a Buddhist philosopher who lived in the late tenth and early eleventh century... Excellent... This work will remain the standard English translation of Jnanasrimitra's Monograph on Exclusion for many years to come. International Journal of Hindu StudiesTable of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. Jnanasrimitra's Intellectual World and Its History Jnanasrimitra's Intellectual Contexts Philosophical Traditions and Text Traditions Sanskrit Intellectual Practices Sources of Knowledge 2. The Buddhist Epistemological Tradition: Dignaga and Dharmakirti Objects and Their Status The Elements of Inferential Reasoning 3. Dharmottara's Epistemological Revolution 4. Jnanasrimitra's Reworking of the Theory of Exclusion Relativization of Internal and External Conditionally Adopted Positions 5. Translation Practices Editorial Conventions Numbering System Jnanasrimitra's Monograph on Exclusion Outline Translation Sanskrit Text of the Monograph on Exclusion Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index
£25.20
Columbia University Press Reaching for the Moon On Asian Religious Paths
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWhat a refreshing experience to read an honest book like Reaching for the Moon. It is not a speculation or mindless display of technical knowledge about other religious traditions. The author--a man of sincere religious faith--writes about other persons' religious faiths with profound affection, respect and understanding. Morgan is aware of many stumbling blocks and hazards for genuine inter-religious understanding and cooperation. But he also exemplifies A- through his own life A- the rich reward for such a spiritual pilgrimage. This book will be an invaluable guide for those who wish to learn from followers of religious ways other than one's own. Like all his earlier volumes, this one will give many helpful pointers to a wide variety of readers. ReviewTable of Contents1. Reaching for the Moon 2. Realities In Our Natural Environment 3. Realities Seen As Sacred 4. Guidance Some Asian Religious Communities Offer 5. Some Asian Ways of Following a Religious Path 6. Reflective Meditation 7. Devotional Meditation 8. Some Problems Along the Way
£28.80
Columbia University Press The Body Incantatory
Book SynopsisThe Body Incantatory reveals the histories and logics of practice of deeply embodied forms of Buddhist ritual. Paul Copp vividly captures the diversity of Buddhist practice among medieval monks, ritual healers, and other individuals lost to history, offering a corrective to accounts that have overemphasized elite, canonical materials.Trade ReviewThe Body Incantatory rightly calls into question the commonplace assumption that high esoteric Buddhism 'erased' an older 'proto-esoteric' incantation culture or relegated it to obsolescence. In doubting this assumption and studying the discourses and uses of dharani 'incantations' in medieval Chinese Buddhist culture, this book significantly contributes to our understanding of Buddhism in China in several significant ways. -- Daniel B. Stevenson, University of Kansas This book engages a wide range of new materials, primarily unstudied texts and new archaeological evidence. It advances some key discussions that have recently been occupying the field of the study of Chinese religions and is filled with some real gems of scholarship that will excite the reader and inspire reflection. -- James Robson, Harvard University This exhilarating book profoundly revises our understanding of Buddhist spells in medieval China. Both provocative and persuasive, it provides the first in-depth analysis of such spells manifested across a wide range of written, verbal, and material forms and compels us to reevaluate their fundamental importance in Buddhist practices. -- Wu Hung, University of Chicago Buddhist dharani-verbal but often unintelligible incantations that took on an astonishing array of material forms-exist at the intersection of the domain of meanings and the domain of things, making them particularly 'good to think with.' And in The Body Incantatory Paul Copp does some wonderful thinking. His comprehensive and erudite study is a major contribution not only to the study of medieval Chinese Buddhism but also to our understanding of religious ritual and material culture writ large. -- Robert Sharf, University of California, Berkeley Groundbreaking... I believe this book will become a classic as well as pioneering work for the study of Buddhist spells. -- Youn-mi Kim Studies in Chinese Religions An important and thought-provoking contribution... Eschewing the method of broad philological [survey] in favor of close readings of selected texts and-more importantly-material objects, Copp successfully illuminates several oft-overlooked aspects of medieval Chinese dhara?i, and in the process brings to light new insights on the permutations of both Buddhist and Chinese religious cultures. -- Josh Capitanio Journal of Chinese Religions An important contribution to the scholarly understanding of religious ritual and material culture. -- Richard D. McBride II Journal of the American Oriental Society Copp has earned a reputation as the leading expert on Chinese Buddhist dharani (incantation), and this book is likely to remain the definitive study on this topic for some time to come. Religious Studies Review An important contribution to our understanding of medieval Chinese religious life... A valuable resource for scholars working in comparative religion. Review of Religion and Chinese Society Copp is to be commended for his bid to redirect and reshape the study of medieval Chinese Buddhism in The Body Incantatory. -- Dominic Steavu Journal of Asian StudiesTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface: The Body Incantatory Thanks Abbreviations Introduction: Dharanis and the Study of Buddhist Spells 1. Scripture, Relic, Talisman, Spell 2. Amulets of the Incantation of Wish Fulfillment 3. Dust, Shadow, and the Incantation of Glory 4. Mystic Store and Wizard's Basket Coda: Material Incantations and the Study of Medieval Chinese Buddhism Appendix 1. Suiqiu Amulets Discovered in China Appendix 2. Stein no. 4690: Four Spells Notes Glossary Sources Index
£91.52
Columbia University Press Spreading Buddhas Word in East Asia
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBringing together leading specialists in the Chinese Buddhist canon, Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia makes a major contribution to our understanding of both the textual and the social history of one of the most impressive textual projects in the history of the world. -- John Kieschnick, Stanford University The Sinitic Buddhist canons rank among the largest bodies of sacred literature ever produced by any religious tradition. The compilation, editing, and publication of these massive collections required a commitment of money and manpower that was the medieval equivalent of the moon landings of the 1960s. This groundbreaking volume gives these canons the sustained attention they have long deserved from the scholarly community and will help to demonstrate that they are among the preeminent cultural achievements of the wider Sinitic world. -- Robert E. Buswell Jr., University of California, Los Angeles One measure of the maturity of a discipline is its critical awareness of its sources. This collection of nine expert and groundbreaking essays on the Chinese Buddhist canon, augmented by a magisterial preface by a doyen of the field and two eminently useful bibliographical appendices, marks a genuine advance in the study of Chinese Buddhism. Now, with the appearance of this quite essential book, students of Buddhism in China have a reliable map and a guide to what is arguably the largest single collection of authoritative texts of any of the world's great religions. All who study Chinese Buddhism must keep this book handy as they pursue their research into scholarly territory now more clearly mapped. -- Robert M. Gimello, University of Notre Dame Intellectually sound, informative and well written... [Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia] introduce[s] readers to the political, economic, social, and religious complexities involved in the creation and dissemination of one of the world's largest repositories of sacred literature... Highly recommended. Choice The editors should be commended for bringing together these essays and shedding light on this important and neglected topic of Buddhist study. Journal of the American Academy of Religion A significant contribution... The volume importantly encourages scholars to continue fusing together multiple disciplines. H-BuddhismTable of ContentsPreface, by Lewis Lancaster Acknowledgments Conventions Introduction, by Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia Part I: Overview 1. The Chinese Buddhist Canon Through the Ages: Essential Categories and Critical Issues in the Study of a Textual Tradition, by Jiang Wu 2. From the "Cult of the Book" to the "Cult of the Canon": A Neglected Tradition in Chinese Buddhism, by Jiang Wu Part II: The Formative Period 3. Notions and Visions of the Canon in Early Chinese Buddhism, by Stefano Zacchetti 4. Fei Changfang's Lidai sanbao ji and Its Role in the Formation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, by Tanya Storch Part III: The Advent of Printing 5. The Birth of the First Printed Canon: The Kaibao Edition and Its Impact, by Jiang Wu, Lucille Chia, and Chen Zhichao 6. The Life and Afterlife of Qisha Canon, by Lucille Chia 7. Managing the Dharma Treasure: Collation, Carving, Printing, and Distribution of the Canon in Late Imperial China, by Darui Long Part IV: The Canon Beyond China 8. Better Than the Original: The Creation of Goryeo Canon and the Formation of Giyang Pulgyo, by Jiang Wu and Ron Dziwenka 9. Taisho Canon: Devotion, Scholarship, and Nationalism in the Creation of the Modern Buddhist Canon in Japan, by Greg Wilkinson Appendix 1. A Brief Survey of the Printed Editions of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, by Li Fuhua and He Mei Appendix 2. The Creation of the CBETA Electronic Tripitaka Collection in Taiwan, by Aming Tu Bibliography List of Contributors Index
£70.00
Columbia University Press Food of Sinful Demons Meat Vegetarianism and the
Book SynopsisGeoffrey Barstow explores the tension between Buddhist ethics and Tibetan cultural norms to offer a novel perspective on the spiritual and social dimensions of meat eating within Tibetan religiosity. Barstow offers a detailed analysis of the debates over meat and vegetarianism from the tenth century through the Chinese invasion in the 1950s.Trade ReviewA creative and nuanced exploration of Tibetan religiosity that has heretofore remained largely in the dark. An important and exciting book. -- Andrew Quintman, Yale University A very welcome and entirely novel work on the place of vegetarianism in Tibet, Food of Sinful Demons will make a solid scholarly contribution to religious studies, Buddhist studies and Tibetan studies. Covering a topic of broad interest in fields from religion to animal rights, it offers something new for specialists but is also accessible to undergraduates as well as educated Buddhists trying to understand the role of vegetarianism and meat-eating in Tibetan Buddhism. -- Gray Tuttle, Leila Hadley Luce Associate Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies, Columbia University In this first in-depth study of the history of vegetarianism in Tibet, Geoffrey Barstow clearly shows that vegetarianism has always existed in Tibetan culture and was essentially motivated by compassion for the animals. Food of Sinful Demons is a most welcome contribution to the important debate over the relationships between and among vegetarianism, health, and religion. -- Matthieu Ricard, author of A Plea for the Animals: The Moral, Philosophical and Evolutionary Imperative to Treat All Beings with CompassionTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration and TranslationMap of TibetIntroduction1. A Brief History of Vegetarianism in Tibet2. Meat in the Monastery3. The Importance of Compassion4. Tantric Perspectives5. A Necessary Evil6. A Positive Good7. Seeking a Middle WayEpilogue: Con temporary TibetTibetan Names and TermsNotesBibliographyIndex
£80.39
Columbia University Press Love Letters from Golok
Book SynopsisLove Letters from Golok chronicles the courtship between two Buddhist tantric masters, Tare Lhamo (1938–2002) and Namtrul Rinpoche (1944–2011), and their passion for reinvigorating Buddhism in eastern Tibet during the post-Mao era. Holly Gayley retrieves the personal and prophetic dimensions of their courtship and its consummation.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary set of letters between a man and woman lie at the heart of this study of love, religious transcendence, and cultural trauma in post-Cultural Revolution Tibet. I know of no body of material that gives a more intricate picture of how Tibetan Tantric Buddhism could penetrate and transform worldly troubles and politics into the sublime aspirations of tantric vision. Gayley offers us an unparalleled view of 20th century Tibetan religion as it touched every aspect of human life. Plus an astonishing account of a female master whose romance with another master elevated them both into heroes for Eastern Tibet during most challenging times. -- Janet Gyatso, Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies, Harvard University Holly Gayley has that rarest of gifts, a scholar's eye and a story-teller's ear. Her book is filled with nuance and insight about the power of Tibetan cultural narratives of gendered spiritual prowess and the navigation of coded relationships. Never merely theoretical, Gayley grounds every observation in dynamic detail and a story-line compelling as any novel. -- Anne C. Klein, Professor Rice University and co-Founder, Dawn Mountain Author of Meeting the Great Bliss Queen, translator of Khetsun Sangpo's Strand of Jewels Gayley weaves together life writing, ethnography, and letters in an unprecedented fashion, and it pays off: her treatment of difficult primary sources - translated here for the first time - is inviting and engaging. Love Letters from Golok addresses issues of real and abiding concern in contemporary China. -- Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia and Chair of the Religious Studies departmentTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Translation Introduction: Journey to Golok 1. Daughter of Golok: Tare Lhamo's Life and Context 2. Local Heroine: The Hagiography of Cultural Trauma 3. Inseparable Companions: A Buddhist Courtship and Correspondence 4. Emissaries of Padmasambhava: Tibetan Treasures and Healing Trauma 5. A Tantric Couple: The Hagiography of Cultural Revitalization Epilogue: The Legacy of a Tantric Couple Appendix A: Catalogue of the Letters of Namtrul Rinpoche Appendix B: Catalogue of the Letters of Tare Lhamo Abbreviations Notes Glossary of Tibetan Names Bibliography Index
£91.52
Columbia University Press Readings of Dogens Treasury of the True Dharma
Book SynopsisThe Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shōbōgenzō) is the masterwork of Dōgen (1200–1253), founder of the Sōtō Zen Buddhist sect in Kamakura-era Japan. Steven Heine provides a comprehensive introduction to this essential Zen text, offering a textual, historical, literary, and philosophical examination of Dōgen’s treatise.Trade ReviewThis book, quite simply, may be the single best detailed survey and explanation of what Dogen was on about that I have ever read by an academic. * Treeleaf *[This] volume is warmly recommended to all students of Buddhism. -- Lehel Balogh, Hokkaido University * Religious Studies Review *Readings of Dōgen’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is a wise book. -- Zuzana Kubovčáková * Journal of Buddhist Ethics *With clarifying beams of insight, Heine deftly evinces how Dōgen’s teachings are a creative response to a range of Buddhist sutras, kōans, and Chinese and Japanese teachers. Illuminating with philosophical virtuosity the dynamic nature of Dōgen’s written teachings and erudite explication of entangled versions of Dōgen’s writings, Heine animates Dōgen’s teachings and practices as he offers nuggets of sagacity throughout. -- Paula Arai, author of Painting Enlightenment: Healing Visions of the Heart SutraVigorous and insightful, Readings of Dōgen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye provides a deep inspection of central themes in Dōgen's vast literal legacy. In a clear and inspiring manner, Heine’s analysis sheds crucial light that clarifies both the beauty and complexity of this giant Zen Master. -- Eitan Bolokan, Tel Aviv UniversityHeine has written a comprehensive, detailed, and accessible analysis of the textual, religious, and philosophical intricacies of Dōgen’s master work, Shōbōgenzō. This careful work of synthesis builds on his own original scholarship on Zen and the Shōbōgenzō itself, and is one of the most thorough overviews of Dōgen’s thought to date. -- Richard Jaffe, author of Seeking Sakyamuni: South Asia in the Formation of Japanese BuddhismHeine illuminates Dōgen's innovative re-readings of Zen tradition, highlighting his insights into 'being-time' and the 'oneness of practice realization.' Grounded in recent scholarship and embracing historical, literary, and practice perspectives, this comprehensive treatment of the Treasury will be welcomed by Dōgen enthusiasts and others interested in Japanese Buddhism. -- Jacqueline Stone, author of Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismA foremost Dōgen expert's long-awaited, thorough, and comprehensive examination of the sublime thinker whose monumental elucidation of dharma is beginning to inspire meditators and beyond worldwide. -- Kazuaki Tanahashi, author of Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master DōgenShōbōgenzō, Dōgen's brilliant guidebook for the practice of Zen, is now widely recognized as one of Buddhism's greatest masterworks. The importance of the text and its complex difficulties cannot be overemphasized. Steven Heine's Readings provides excellent guidance through the text's crucial issues. Truly, a monumental achievement—now the best book on Dōgen. -- Dale S. Wright, author of Buddhism: What Everyone Needs to KnowTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsPrefacePart I. Textual Sources and Resources1. Creativity and Originality: Orientations, Reorientations, and Disorientations2. Receptivity and Reliability: Numerous Levels of Significance3. Multiplicity and Variability: Differing Versions and InterpretationsPart II. Religious Teachings and Practices4. Reality and Mentality: On Perceiving the World of Sentient and Insentient Beings5. Temporality and Ephemerality: On Negotiating Living and Dying6. Expressivity and Deceptivity: To Speak or Not to Speak7. Reflexivity and Adaptability: The Functions and Dysfunctions of Meditation8. Rituality and Causality: On Monastic Discipline and MotivationAppendix 1: Titles of Treasury FasciclesAppendix 2: Comparison of Versions of the TreasuryAppendix 3: Timeline for Dōgen and the TreasuryAppendix 4: Complete Translations of the TreasuryCharacter GlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex
£93.60
Columbia University Press Readings of Dogens Treasury of the True Dharma
Book SynopsisThe Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shōbōgenzō) is the masterwork of Dōgen (1200–1253), founder of the Sōtō Zen Buddhist sect in Kamakura-era Japan. Steven Heine provides a comprehensive introduction to this essential Zen text, offering a textual, historical, literary, and philosophical examination of Dōgen’s treatise.Trade ReviewThis book, quite simply, may be the single best detailed survey and explanation of what Dogen was on about that I have ever read by an academic. * Treeleaf *[This] volume is warmly recommended to all students of Buddhism. -- Lehel Balogh, Hokkaido University * Religious Studies Review *Readings of Dōgen’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is a wise book. -- Zuzana Kubovčáková * Journal of Buddhist Ethics *With clarifying beams of insight, Heine deftly evinces how Dōgen’s teachings are a creative response to a range of Buddhist sutras, kōans, and Chinese and Japanese teachers. Illuminating with philosophical virtuosity the dynamic nature of Dōgen’s written teachings and erudite explication of entangled versions of Dōgen’s writings, Heine animates Dōgen’s teachings and practices as he offers nuggets of sagacity throughout. -- Paula Arai, author of Painting Enlightenment: Healing Visions of the Heart SutraVigorous and insightful, Readings of Dōgen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye provides a deep inspection of central themes in Dōgen's vast literal legacy. In a clear and inspiring manner, Heine’s analysis sheds crucial light that clarifies both the beauty and complexity of this giant Zen Master. -- Eitan Bolokan, Tel Aviv UniversityHeine has written a comprehensive, detailed, and accessible analysis of the textual, religious, and philosophical intricacies of Dōgen’s master work, Shōbōgenzō. This careful work of synthesis builds on his own original scholarship on Zen and the Shōbōgenzō itself, and is one of the most thorough overviews of Dōgen’s thought to date. -- Richard Jaffe, author of Seeking Sakyamuni: South Asia in the Formation of Japanese BuddhismHeine illuminates Dōgen's innovative re-readings of Zen tradition, highlighting his insights into 'being-time' and the 'oneness of practice realization.' Grounded in recent scholarship and embracing historical, literary, and practice perspectives, this comprehensive treatment of the Treasury will be welcomed by Dōgen enthusiasts and others interested in Japanese Buddhism. -- Jacqueline Stone, author of Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismA foremost Dōgen expert's long-awaited, thorough, and comprehensive examination of the sublime thinker whose monumental elucidation of dharma is beginning to inspire meditators and beyond worldwide. -- Kazuaki Tanahashi, author of Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master DōgenShōbōgenzō, Dōgen's brilliant guidebook for the practice of Zen, is now widely recognized as one of Buddhism's greatest masterworks. The importance of the text and its complex difficulties cannot be overemphasized. Steven Heine's Readings provides excellent guidance through the text's crucial issues. Truly, a monumental achievement—now the best book on Dōgen. -- Dale S. Wright, author of Buddhism: What Everyone Needs to KnowTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsPrefacePart I. Textual Sources and Resources1. Creativity and Originality: Orientations, Reorientations, and Disorientations2. Receptivity and Reliability: Numerous Levels of Significance3. Multiplicity and Variability: Differing Versions and InterpretationsPart II. Religious Teachings and Practices4. Reality and Mentality: On Perceiving the World of Sentient and Insentient Beings5. Temporality and Ephemerality: On Negotiating Living and Dying6. Expressivity and Deceptivity: To Speak or Not to Speak7. Reflexivity and Adaptability: The Functions and Dysfunctions of Meditation8. Rituality and Causality: On Monastic Discipline and MotivationAppendix 1: Titles of Treasury FasciclesAppendix 2: Comparison of Versions of the TreasuryAppendix 3: Timeline for Dōgen and the TreasuryAppendix 4: Complete Translations of the TreasuryCharacter GlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex
£27.00
Columbia University Press The Buddhas Wizards
Book SynopsisBelief in wizard-saints who protect their devotees and intervene in the world is widespread among Burmese Buddhists. The Buddha’s Wizards is a historically informed, ethnographic study that explores the supernatural landscape of Buddhism in Myanmar to explain the persistence of wizardry as a form of lived religion in the modern era.Trade ReviewWhen hospital visiting hours are over in contemporary Myanmar, Thomas Nathan Patton reports in this compelling book, the supernatural heroes known as weizzā stay behind—in images and statues of them, in dreams, and sometimes in visions—to comfort and embolden the sick. This is one example of how the men and women of modern-day Myanmar make lives for themselves in the everyday company of Buddhist wizard-saints, to the anxious consternation of religious and political authorities. Written with historical depth, attentive throughout to comparative phenomena in other religions, and based on extensive fieldwork, The Buddha’s Wizards is a major contribution to the critical reexamination of lived religion in the modern world. -- Robert A. Orsi, author of History and PresenceIn this path-breaking and richly textured study, Patton presents a much needed revision of the literature on Burmese Buddhist practices. His comprehensive study accounts of the ways in which many lay Buddhists in Myanmar form affective relations with wizards like Bo Min Gaung in dreams, visions, and through their material embodiments of power. Buddhist wizards and the stories about them transcend not only time and space; they also help devotees or fight the threat of Buddhist decline while giving voice to traditional Theravada sentiments. The reader will leave this book with a nuanced understanding of Theravada Buddhist practices as lived religion and its imaginaries that goes far beyond monolithic depictions of Buddhist institutions or texts by showing the reader how followers of the Buddha’s wizards make sense of the world around them. Anthropologists of religion and scholars of Buddhism, Southeast Asia, and especially Myanmar will want to introduce their students to Patton’s wonderful book. -- Juliane Schober, author of Modern Buddhist Conjunctures in Myanmar: Cultural Narratives, Colonial Legacies, and Civil SocietyPatton’s gift to us is that he has opened a door into the mystical and miraculous world of the weizzā, Burmese Buddhism’s furtive wizard-saints. Resisting colonial, state, and institutional religious power, the wizards belong to the people. In affective bonds with their devotees, they disrupt, occupy, heal, and transform. Readers will not forget their encounter with the most potent wizard of all, Grandpa Bo Min Gaung. Grandpa is more proximate and accessible to his devotees than the Buddha himself. Patton’s intimate and vivid ethnographic study of the material and spiritual worlds of lived religion in Myanmar will transform how we think about Buddhism. -- Jennifer Scheper Hughes, author of Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lived Religion and Local Faith from the Conquest to the PresentBeginning from the very first page, Patton whisks us away on an exciting journey through the magical world of the Buddhist wizards of Myanmar. Based on in-depth and long-term ethnographic research, this book provides an intimate and deeply empathetic exploration of the roles wizards play as healers, bestowers of good luck, defenders of the faith, spirit guides and teachers, and, most importantly, as familiar presences in the everyday lives of contemporary Burmese Buddhists. -- C. Pierce Salguero, author of Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern SourcesIn The Buddha’s Wizards, the prose sparkles—the writing is crisp without being dry and evocative without being flowery—and Patton has achieved a nice balance between personal stories, primary research, and secondary source citations. He puts the voices of actual Burmese weizzā and practitioners (both female and male) first and foremost while also drawing upon a plethora of Burmese-language sources. -- Justin Thomas McDaniel, author of The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical MonkAn elegant, rich, and thought-provoking study. Thomas Nathan Patton weaves theoretical reflection through graceful ethnographic and historical narrative and in the process develops a sophisticated framework for thinking about religious bodies and their worlds. -- Donovan Schaefer, author of Religious Affects: Animality, Evolution, and Power[An] elucidating anthropological monograph on Burmese Buddhism. . . . Filled with absorbing stories of wizards and magic, this book would fit easily into undergraduate or graduate courses on Asian religions and Southeast Asia. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Eloquently demonstrates the power of studying religions as lived phenomena. I hope it will find readers far and wide, both among specialists and in the undergraduate classroom. * Reading Religion *An accessible text suitable for undergraduate students and scholars alike interested in Buddhist encounters with modernity and Southeast Asian lived religiosity broadly. * Religious Studies Review *A multilayered history and ethnography. . . . Patton’s work is especially important for the way in which he allows the voices of his informants to be heard. * Choice *Well-written and informative. * New Books Asia *A work of lucid scholarship on a novel topic of interest not only to students of Theravada Buddhism but also to ethnographers, theorists of affect, and historians of religion. -- Justin W. Henry, Georgia College & State University * Bulletin for the Study of Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsA Note on AbbreviationsA Note on TransliterationIntroduction1. Vanguards of the Sāsana2. The Buddha’s Chief Wizard3. Women of the Wizard King4. Pagodas of Power5. Wizards in the ShadowsConclusionNotesReferencesIndex
£19.80
Columbia University Press Buddhism and Medicine An Anthology of Modern and
Book SynopsisA companion to Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources, this work presents a collection of modern and contemporary texts and conversations from across the Buddhist world dealing with the multifaceted relationship between Buddhism and medicine covering the early modern period to the present.Trade ReviewBuddhism and Medicine is an invaluable sourcebook for the complex interplay between religion and medicine in Asia. It breaks ground on an astonishing range of topics and materials, and should be of interest to historians, anthropologists, and scholars of religion. -- Robert H. Sharf, D. H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of California, BerkeleyThis excellent volume should be an essential resource for students and scholars in the fields of Buddhism and science, medicine, magic, and healing. By drawing on a wide variety of both textual and ethnographic sources from colonial critiques to modern Facebook posts from across the Buddhist world, the editor and his contributors have provided a rare view into the study of Buddhism and medicine that goes far beyond the contemporary study of mindfulness and well-being. -- Justin Thomas McDaniel, author of The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk: Practicing Buddhism in Modern ThailandIn this elegant sourcebook, C. Pierce Salguero and his collaborators demonstrate, with unprecedented scope, how very diverse are the world's Buddhisms and the world's medicines. Neither romanticizing nor dismissing the contributions of Asian religion to the history of healing, this project teaches us much about how humans have dealt with suffering, today and in the past. -- Judith Farquhar, Max Palevsky Professor Emerita of Anthropology, University of ChicagoHealth and illness have always been concerns of practitioners. These translations of exemplary medical texts from the recent past demonstrate the enduring medical tradition within Buddhism. Not merely a religious tradition, or a system of doctrinal claims, or the texts that contain those claims and their philosophic rationales, Buddhism is effectively a culture in its own right. -- Richard K. Payne, author of Language in the Buddhist Tantra of Japan: Indic Roots of MantraThe book always provides the tools the reader needs to make sense of what is being presented. Overall it succeeds wonderfully in conveying the vitality of the ongoing encounter of Buddhism and medicine. Readers with any interest in thisfield are likely tofind it a constant source of stimulation and enlightenment. * Isis *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroductionEarly Modernity1. Buddhist Monastic Physicians’ Encounters with the Jesuits in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Japan, as Told from Both Sides, by Katja Triplett2. On Sickness, Society, and the New Self in Early Edo Japan: Soshin’s Dharma Words (Seventeenth Century), by Katja Triplett3. Buddhism and Scholarly Medicine in Seventeenth-Century China: Three Preaces to the Work of Yu Chang (1585–1664), by Volker Scheid4. An Eighteenth-Century Mongolian Treatise on Smallpox Inoculation: Lobsang Tsültim’s “The Practice of Preparing Medicine for the Planting of Heaven’s White Flower” (1785), by Batsaikhan Norov, Vesna A. Wallace, and Batchimeg Usukhbayar5. Psychosomatic Buddhist Medicine at the Dawn of Modern Japan: Hara Tanzan’s “On the Difference Between the Brain and the Spinal Cord” (1869), by Justin B. Stein6. No Sympathy for the Devils: A Colonial Polemic Against Yakṣa Healing Rituals (1851), by Alexander McKinley7. “Enveloped in the Deep Darkness of Ignorance and Superstition”: Western Observers of Buddhism and Medicine in the Kingdom of Siam in the Colonial Era, by C. Pierce SalgueroRuptures and Reconciliations8. Three Tibetan Buddhist Texts on the Dangers of Tobacco (Late Nineteenth to Twenty-First Century), by Joshua Capitanio9. Buddhism and Biomedicine in Republican China: Taixu’s “Buddhism and Science” (1923) and Ding Fubao’s Essentials of Buddhist Studies (1920), by Gregory Adam Scott10. Reconciling Scripture and Surgery in Tibet: Khyenrap Norbu’s Arranging the Tree Trunks of Healing (1952), by William A. McGrath11. Healing Wisdom: An Appreciation of a Twentieth-Century Japanese Scientist’s Paintings of the Heart Sūtra, by Paula K. R. Arai12. Mantras for Modernity: Nida Chenagtsang’s "Mantra Healing Is an Indispensable Branch of Tibetan Traditional Medicine” (2015) and “A Rough Explanation of How Mantras Work” (2003), by Ben P. Joffe13. Science and Authority in Tibetan Medicine: Gönpokyap’s “Extraordinarily Special Features of the Human Body” (2008), by Jenny Bright14. “Eat Less Meat to Save the World”: Monk Changlyu’s The Book of Diagnosis and Natural Foods (2014), by Emily S. WuHybridities and Innovations15. Taiwanese Tantra: Guru Wuguang’s Art of Yogic Nourishment and the Esoteric Path (1966), by Cody R. Bahir16. Making a Modern Image of Jīvaka: “First Encounters with Jīvaka Komārabhacca, the High Guru of Healers and the Inspiration for Sculpting His Image” (1969), by Anthony Lovenheim Irwin17. Gross National Happiness: Buddhist Principles and Bhutanese National Health Policy, by Charles Jamyang Oliphant of Rossie18. Using Buddhist Resources in Post-disaster Japan: Taniyama Yōzō’s “Vihāra Priests and Interfaith Chaplains” (2014), by Levi McLaughlin19. Medicine Wizards of Myanmar: Four Recent Facebook Posts, by Thomas Nathan PattonMeditation and Mental Health20. Naikan and Psychiatric Medicine: Takemoto Takahiro’s Naikan and Medicine (1979), by Clark Chilson21. A Contemporary Shingon Priest’s Meditation Therapies: Selections from the Writings of Ōshita Daien (2006–2016), by Nathan Jishin Michon22. Mindfulness in Westminster: The All-Party Parliamentary Group’s Mindful UK (2014), by Joanna Cook23. Medicalizing Sŏn Meditation in Korea: An Interview with Venerable Misan Sŭnim, by Lina Koleilat24. Misuses of Mindfulness: Ron Purser and David Loy’s “Beyond McMindfulness” (2013), by David L. McMahanCrossing Boundaries25. Rediscovering Living Buddhism in Modern Bengal: Maniklal Singha’s The Mantrayāna of Rārh (1979), by Projit Bihari Mukharji26. Conversations with Two (Possibly) Buddhist Folk Healers in China, by Thomas David DuBois27. Interview with a Contemporary Chinese American Healer, by Kin Cheung and C. Pierce Salguero28. “We Need to Balance Out the Boisterous Spirits and Gods”: Buddhism in the Healing Practice of a Contemporary Korean Shaman, by Minjung Noh and C. Pierce Salguero29. Among Archangels, Aliens, and Ascended Masters: Quan Yin Bodhisattva Joins the New Age Pantheon, by C. Pierce SalgueroBuddhist Healing in Practice30. Buddhism and Resistance in Northern Thai Traditional Medicine: An Interview with an Unlicensed Thai Folk Healer, by Assunta Hunter31. Burmese Alchemy in Practice: A Conversation with Master U Shein, by Céline Coderey32. Mental Illness in the Sowa Rigpa Clinic: A Conversation with Dr. Teinlay P. Trogawa, by Susannah Deane33. Biographical Interview with the Tantric Meditator Tshampa Tseten from Bhutan, with a Translation of His “Edible Letters,” by Mona Schrempf34. Japanese Buddhist Women’s “Way of Healing,” by Paula K. R. Arai35. Conversations About Buddhism and Health Care in Multiethnic Philadelphia, by C. Pierce SalgueroAppendix: Geographic Table of ContentsGlossaryReferencesList of ContributorsIndex
£100.00
Columbia University Press Wisdom as a Way of Life
Book SynopsisThis wide-ranging and powerful book argues that Theravada Buddhism provides ways of thinking about the self that can reinvigorate the humanities and offer broader insights into how to learn and how to act.Trade ReviewCollins’ previous books have all been field-changing works. Wisdom as a Way of Life is no exception. This powerful work provides original and stimulating ways of understanding Pali texts while creating a bridge between scholars of the Pali world and intellectual historians working elsewhere. His thoughtful comparative engagement with studies of asceticism and courtly-literary culture offers much of value to scholars of South and Southeast Asia, as well as other premodern arenas. -- Anne M. Blackburn, author of Locations of Buddhism: Colonialism and Modernity in Sri LankaSteven Collins' last book is a gift. Providing a fresh reading on texts and stories we thought we knew, Collins makes the case that the Pali literature associated most often with Theravada Buddhism is also much more than that—it is a treasure trove of insight into the human condition and how we might meaningfully navigate it. Collins' genuine respect and appreciation for the sophisticated commentary to be found in Pali texts, combined with his signature straight talk and pull-no-punches style, makes for a provocative book that will be equally rewarding and illuminating to scholars of Buddhist texts and researchers of Buddhist practice. I am grateful to the editor and his collaborators for making this posthumous manuscript available to the rest of us and for placing its intellectual contributions in the context of Collins' other work. After reading it, I find it impossible to experience anything having to do with Theravada Buddhism—its rituals, its texts, its art—in quite the same way again. -- Nancy Eberhardt, author of Imagining the Course of Life: Self-Transformation in a Shan Buddhist CommunityIn his books and articles, Steve Collins asked that we approach Pali texts—narratives and systematic ones—on their own terms, and demanded that we make every effort to understand their arguments and assumptions without reducing them to our own categories. At the same time, he also required that we also recognize our shared humanity with the authors who held such different notions about the nature of the world and experience. That like ours, the cultures and societies that privileged Pali as a prestige language, were filled with laughter, anger, love, birth, and death. Wisdom as a Way of Life is a fitting realization of his vision and approach to these texts. His interpretation of the corpus of the previous lives of the Buddha is rich and incisive, and his interrogation into askesis and monasticism provides us with many questions worth thinking through. In bringing this forth, McDaniel deserves our deep felt gratitude and respect. -- Thomas Borchert, editor of Educating Monks: Minority Buddhism on China’s Southwest BorderWisdom as a Way of Life shows a brilliant mind at work and at struggle with the problems of his primary field of interest. Steven Collins introduces us to the blacksmith's shop: we feel his sweat, we sense his temper, we regret a few easy or even failed strokes, but we see the artwork taking shape. -- Louis Gabaude, Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-OrientScholars, friends, colleagues, and students will treasure this last instance of Collins' distinctive and humane sensibility. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsPreface, by Dan ArnoldEditor’s Introduction, by Justin Thomas McDanielPart One: WisdomPart Two: Practices of SelfConclusionAfterword: Reading Collins Today, and Tomorrow, by Charles HalliseyNotesIndex
£93.60
Columbia University Press Esoteric Buddhism in China
Book Synopsis
£93.60
Columbia University Press In the Forest of the Blind
Book SynopsisMatthew W. King offers a groundbreaking account of the literary, social, and political history of the circulation, translation, and interpretation of Faxian’s The Record of Buddhist Kingdoms. He reads its many journeys at multiple levels, contrasting the textual and interpretative traditions of the European academy and the Inner Asian monastery.Trade ReviewA lucidly written, thoroughly researched and consistently fascinating account of the modern travels of an ancient travelogue. * Inner Asia *The questions King asks demand complex answers, but raising them in the first place is what makes this book unique. It's a very significant contribution to Buddhist studies, and shines a whole new light on how we look at texts such as Faxian's. -- John Butler * Asian Review of Books *This is a fascinating study by a considerable scholar. -- T.H. Barrett * Journal of the American Oriental Society *Starting with Faxian's remarkable memoir of his trip from China to India in the fifth century CE to gather Buddhist teachings, this book takes the reader on a journey of journeys. Matthew King's ingenious 'circular' historiography tracks the travel of a Chinese Buddhist monk to the Buddha's birthplace; the journey of the memoir of that travel to European scholars in the nineteenth century; and then how the Orientalist scholarship that the memoir inspired made its way back to Siberia, Inner Asian scholars, and finally displaced Tibetan refugee scholars in northern India: all in service of delivering Buddhist Asia into the realm of knowledge. Replete with an expert English translation of the Tibetan translation of the Mongolian translation of the French translation of the original Chinese memoir (you get the idea), this masterfully conceived book will captivate Asianists and historians of knowledge alike. -- Janet Gyatso, author of Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern TibetThis beautifully written 'travelogue' of Faxian's Record takes us on the text's journeys from Chang'an to Paris, thence from the French into Buriyati Mongol and into the Tibetan lands. Matthew King, who is as learned a polyglot as the writers he discusses, discloses the different cosmic pasts 'made anew from a history.' -- Prasenjit Duara, author of The Crisis of Global Modernity: Asian Traditions and a Sustainable FutureIn the Forest of the Blind, another excellent and interesting book by Matthew W. King, calls for new interpretative frameworks from those that dominated social and intellectual history in Western academia. King's idea to trace and follow the reception of Faxian's fifth-century classic, Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat’s interpretation, and its reception in Inner Asia is innovative and fascinating. -- Vesna Wallace, author of The Inner Kalacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the IndividualKing succeeds in not only offering a fascinating insight into Fǎxiǎn’s Record but also forces the reader to acknowledge how they are privy to and even part of the ongoing debate on how Western and non-Westernepistemologies should be interpreted. * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsConventionsIntroduction1. Chang’an to India2. Beijing to Paris3. Buddhist Asia to Jambudvīpa4. Jambudvīpa to Science5. Science to History of the DharmaConclusionAppendix. The Inner Asian RecordNotesBibliographyIndex
£107.20
Columbia University Press In the Forest of the Blind
Book SynopsisMatthew W. King offers a groundbreaking account of the literary, social, and political history of the circulation, translation, and interpretation of Faxian’s The Record of Buddhist Kingdoms. He reads its many journeys at multiple levels, contrasting the textual and interpretative traditions of the European academy and the Inner Asian monastery.Trade ReviewA lucidly written, thoroughly researched and consistently fascinating account of the modern travels of an ancient travelogue. * Inner Asia *The questions King asks demand complex answers, but raising them in the first place is what makes this book unique. It's a very significant contribution to Buddhist studies, and shines a whole new light on how we look at texts such as Faxian's. -- John Butler * Asian Review of Books *This is a fascinating study by a considerable scholar. -- T.H. Barrett * Journal of the American Oriental Society *Starting with Faxian's remarkable memoir of his trip from China to India in the fifth century CE to gather Buddhist teachings, this book takes the reader on a journey of journeys. Matthew King's ingenious 'circular' historiography tracks the travel of a Chinese Buddhist monk to the Buddha's birthplace; the journey of the memoir of that travel to European scholars in the nineteenth century; and then how the Orientalist scholarship that the memoir inspired made its way back to Siberia, Inner Asian scholars, and finally displaced Tibetan refugee scholars in northern India: all in service of delivering Buddhist Asia into the realm of knowledge. Replete with an expert English translation of the Tibetan translation of the Mongolian translation of the French translation of the original Chinese memoir (you get the idea), this masterfully conceived book will captivate Asianists and historians of knowledge alike. -- Janet Gyatso, author of Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern TibetThis beautifully written 'travelogue' of Faxian's Record takes us on the text's journeys from Chang'an to Paris, thence from the French into Buriyati Mongol and into the Tibetan lands. Matthew King, who is as learned a polyglot as the writers he discusses, discloses the different cosmic pasts 'made anew from a history.' -- Prasenjit Duara, author of The Crisis of Global Modernity: Asian Traditions and a Sustainable FutureIn the Forest of the Blind, another excellent and interesting book by Matthew W. King, calls for new interpretative frameworks from those that dominated social and intellectual history in Western academia. King's idea to trace and follow the reception of Faxian's fifth-century classic, Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat’s interpretation, and its reception in Inner Asia is innovative and fascinating. -- Vesna Wallace, author of The Inner Kalacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the IndividualKing succeeds in not only offering a fascinating insight into Fǎxiǎn’s Record but also forces the reader to acknowledge how they are privy to and even part of the ongoing debate on how Western and non-Westernepistemologies should be interpreted. * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsConventionsIntroduction1. Chang’an to India2. Beijing to Paris3. Buddhist Asia to Jambudvīpa4. Jambudvīpa to Science5. Science to History of the DharmaConclusionAppendix. The Inner Asian RecordNotesBibliographyIndex
£29.75
Columbia University Press Conjuring the Buddha
Book SynopsisJacob P. Dalton offers a history of early tantric Buddhist ritual through the lens of the Tibetan manuscripts discovered near Dunhuang on the ancient Silk Road. He argues that the spread of ritual manuals offered Buddhists an extracanonical literary form through which to engage with their tradition in new and locally specific ways.Trade ReviewWhen we read the tantras, they often strike us as merely magic. How did these strange texts, filled with demonic deities, become the foundation for the empowering rituals and sophisticated meditations so widely practiced across the Buddhist world? This book, with its profound analyses and precise translations, finally answers that question. -- Donald S. Lopez Jr., Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, University of MichiganBased on a somewhat random cache of largely tenth-century Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang, Jacob Dalton delivers to us a masterful new narrative of much of the history of Indo-Tibetan tantric Buddhism. This innovative history rests on the plastic and more human genre of local ritual manuals, rather than the formalized tantric scriptures. Dalton's lens of analysis allows us to see the creative shifts in ritual practice that unfolded over the centuries, from the chanting of spells to self-visualization, the inner experiences of sexual yoga, and beyond. Replete with full translations of key works, this book is highly recommended for university courses on Buddhist ritual and tantrism, not to mention lay students of Asian religion and yogic practitioners alike. -- Janet Gyatso, author of Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern TibetThis unique, approachable and well-organized book not only mines an extraordinary number of Dunhuang manuscripts, of which Dalton is one of the acknowledged experts, but also offers excellent examinations of the practices and controversies in the development of forms of Buddhist tantra in the eighth century. -- Ronald M. Davidson, author of Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric MovementTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. Ritual Manuals and the Spread of the Local2. From Dhāraṇī to Tantra: The SarvadurgatipariśodhanaAppendix: A Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Initiation Manual3. Evoking Possession: The Sarvatathāgata-tattvasaṃgrahaAppendix: Tattvasaṃgraha-sādhanopāyika4. Secretory Secrets: Sexual Yoga in Early MahāyogaAppendix: The Generation of Fortune Sādhana5. Circles of Blazing Breaths: A Manual for Mantra RecitationAppendix: Samādhi Sādhana with CommentaryConclusionsNotesBibliographyIndex
£93.60
Columbia University Press Conjuring the Buddha
Book SynopsisJacob P. Dalton offers a history of early tantric Buddhist ritual through the lens of the Tibetan manuscripts discovered near Dunhuang on the ancient Silk Road. He argues that the spread of ritual manuals offered Buddhists an extracanonical literary form through which to engage with their tradition in new and locally specific ways.Trade ReviewWhen we read the tantras, they often strike us as merely magic. How did these strange texts, filled with demonic deities, become the foundation for the empowering rituals and sophisticated meditations so widely practiced across the Buddhist world? This book, with its profound analyses and precise translations, finally answers that question. -- Donald S. Lopez Jr., Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, University of MichiganBased on a somewhat random cache of largely tenth-century Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang, Jacob Dalton delivers to us a masterful new narrative of much of the history of Indo-Tibetan tantric Buddhism. This innovative history rests on the plastic and more human genre of local ritual manuals, rather than the formalized tantric scriptures. Dalton's lens of analysis allows us to see the creative shifts in ritual practice that unfolded over the centuries, from the chanting of spells to self-visualization, the inner experiences of sexual yoga, and beyond. Replete with full translations of key works, this book is highly recommended for university courses on Buddhist ritual and tantrism, not to mention lay students of Asian religion and yogic practitioners alike. -- Janet Gyatso, author of Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern TibetThis unique, approachable and well-organized book not only mines an extraordinary number of Dunhuang manuscripts, of which Dalton is one of the acknowledged experts, but also offers excellent examinations of the practices and controversies in the development of forms of Buddhist tantra in the eighth century. -- Ronald M. Davidson, author of Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric MovementTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. Ritual Manuals and the Spread of the Local2. From Dhāraṇī to Tantra: The SarvadurgatipariśodhanaAppendix: A Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Initiation Manual3. Evoking Possession: The Sarvatathāgata-tattvasaṃgrahaAppendix: Tattvasaṃgraha-sādhanopāyika4. Secretory Secrets: Sexual Yoga in Early MahāyogaAppendix: The Generation of Fortune Sādhana5. Circles of Blazing Breaths: A Manual for Mantra RecitationAppendix: Samādhi Sādhana with CommentaryConclusionsNotesBibliographyIndex
£27.00
University of Illinois Press Issei Buddhism in the Americas
Book SynopsisA wide-ranging exploration of Asian immigrant religionTrade Review"In expanding the geographical frame of scholarly narratives and appealing to new primary sources, Issei Buddhism in the Americas opens bold new conversations about Buddhism in the western hemisphere."--Thomas Tweed, author of Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of ReligionTable of ContentsContributors are Noriko Asato, Michihiro Ama, Masako Iino, Tomoe Moriya, Lori Pierce, Cristina Rocha, Keiko Wells, Duncan Ryuken Williams, and Akihiro Yamakura.
£19.94
Indiana University Press Emptiness and Omnipresence An Essential
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThose who take the journey with Ziporyn will find a rich and rewarding work, not simply due to the mind-boggling Tiantai doctrine, but also because of Ziporyn's respect for the tradition and his extraordinary finesse in presenting its demanding ideas. * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Just Here Is the End of Suffering: Letting Suffering Be in Early Buddhism 2. Rafts and Arrows: The Two Truths in Pre-Tiantai Buddhism 3. Neither Thus Nor Otherwise: Mahāyāna Approaches to Emptiness 4. Buddha-nature and Original Enlightenment 5. How to Not Know What You're Doing: Introduction to the Lotus Sūtra 6. The New Middle Way: Highlights of the Lotus Sūtra in Tiantai Context 7. The Interpervasion of All Points of View: From the Lotus Sūtra to Tiantai 8. Tiantai: The Multiverse as You 9. Experiencing Tiantai: Experiments with Tiantai Practice 10. Tiantai Ethics and the Worst Case Scenario Epilogue: So Far and Yet So Close NotesBibliography and Suggested ReadingIndex
£59.50
University of Notre Dame Press Moral Discourse in a Pluralistic World
Book SynopsisBy clarifying the ways in which agreement on moral issues between people from different traditions can be pursued through moral discourse, this book provides a coherent conceptual framework for addressing the political, social and environmental problems arising from unresolved moral conflict.Trade Review“The book is a helpful contribution to ongoing conversations about whether and how persons from very different moral traditions may argue productively about moral issues across cultural and religious gulfs.” —Theological Studies“Moral Discourse in a Pluralistic World is not only an eloquent philosophical work, but also very relevant for moral practice. It is a book to be studied and taken to heart.” —Journal of Moral Education
£87.55
University of Washington Press The Rebirth of Bodh Gaya
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Readers that are interested in Indian history and current affairs, as well as those curious about the heritage management aspects of a World Heritage designation will surely enjoy this book ." * World Heritage Site Blog *"[W]ith a long and wide-open lens, he explores Bodh Gaya's overlapping histories, governance and land reform struggles, and the religio-ethnic complexities at work in its centuries-old place making...He tacks among the global, national, and hyperlocal forces that have shaped Bodh Gaya's built environment, sought to reclaim India's Buddhist heritage, and formed a dense network of pan-Asian Buddhists that dominate the ritual life of Bodh Gaya, often in tension with local authorities and Hindu and Muslim residents." * American Ethnologist *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Translation and Transliteration Map of Bodh Gaya Introduction 1. The Light of Asia 2. Rebuilding the Navel of the Earth 3. The Afterlife of Zamindari 4. Tourism in the Global Bazaar 5. A Master Plan for World Heritage Conclusion Notes Glossary References Index
£110.48
University of Washington Press The Rebirth of Bodh Gaya
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Readers that are interested in Indian history and current affairs, as well as those curious about the heritage management aspects of a World Heritage designation will surely enjoy this book ." * World Heritage Site Blog *"[W]ith a long and wide-open lens, he explores Bodh Gaya's overlapping histories, governance and land reform struggles, and the religio-ethnic complexities at work in its centuries-old place making...He tacks among the global, national, and hyperlocal forces that have shaped Bodh Gaya's built environment, sought to reclaim India's Buddhist heritage, and formed a dense network of pan-Asian Buddhists that dominate the ritual life of Bodh Gaya, often in tension with local authorities and Hindu and Muslim residents." * American Ethnologist *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Translation and Transliteration Map of Bodh Gaya Introduction 1. The Light of Asia 2. Rebuilding the Navel of the Earth 3. The Afterlife of Zamindari 4. Tourism in the Global Bazaar 5. A Master Plan for World Heritage Conclusion Notes Glossary References Index
£33.98
University of Washington Press Buddhas and Ancestors
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Buddhas and Ancestors would be an excellent addition in any upper-level undergraduate or graduate class on premodern Korean history, Korean religions, or Buddhism in East Asia." * Journal of Asian Studies *"[A] work of impressive scholarship." * IIAS Newsletter (International Institute for Asian Studies) *
£110.48
University of Washington Press Buddhas and Ancestors
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Buddhas and Ancestors would be an excellent addition in any upper-level undergraduate or graduate class on premodern Korean history, Korean religions, or Buddhism in East Asia." * Journal of Asian Studies *"[A] work of impressive scholarship." * IIAS Newsletter (International Institute for Asian Studies) *
£33.98
University of Washington Press Three Early Mahayana Treatises from Gandhara
Book Synopsis
£100.88
University of Washington Press The Buddha on Meccas Verandah
Book SynopsisExamines the many ways in which people living along an international border negotiate their ethnic, cultural, and political identitiesTrade Review“Johnson’s careful documentation of local histories is an important contribution and gives unusual time depth to his discussion of contemporary ethnic identification. Consequently, this book is a valuable addition to studies of Thai ethnicities, particularly the complex formations of Thai-ness that take shape on and around the borders of Thailand. -- Mary Beth Mills * Pacific Affairs: Volume 86 *"The Buddha on Mecca’s Verandah is a captivating narrative of how a marginalized minority inhabiting the complex reality of a borderland area manages its cultural political identity....This book presents the results of a much-needed investigation that further contributes to our understanding of inter-ethnic relations in Malaysia, Thailand's own religious politics, and the legacy of British colonialism in Southeast Asia to mention just a few. More generally it is a welcome addition to the literature on ethno-religious diversity, borderland histories, and identity construction." -- Chiara Formichi * Southeast Asian Studies *"This ethnographic consideration of an overlooked borderland is a welcome addition to Southeast Asian Studies. Recommended." * Choice *"Original and important. . . . The Buddha on Mecca’s Verandah remains one of the most nuanced and detailed ethnographic studies of a single minority community in Malaysia. The range of sources Johnson employs, the nuance of analysis, and the depth of his arguments make this study an essential one to scholars and graduate students interested in Buddhism, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, and minority identity." -- Jeffrey Samuels * Journal of Asian Studies *"An empirically rich, clearly written ethnography. . . . Johnson’s monograph raises descriptive dilemmas and interpretative questions that are worth pursuing more broadly in academic scholarship on modern Asian Buddhism. . . . The overall vision of Ban Bor On as a mobile village of Thai Buddhists struggling with and against their invisible, minority, and peripheral status as Malaysia citizens is illuminating, accessible, and thought-provoking whether one is a general academic reader or a regional or disciplinary specialist." -- Erick White * H-Buddhism *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Orthography and Terminology Introduction 1. Places 2. Gaps 3. Forms 4. Circuits 5. Dreams Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
£110.48
University of Washington Press The Buddha on Meccas Verandah
Book SynopsisExamines the many ways in which people living along an international border negotiate their ethnic, cultural, and political identitiesTrade Review“Johnson’s careful documentation of local histories is an important contribution and gives unusual time depth to his discussion of contemporary ethnic identification. Consequently, this book is a valuable addition to studies of Thai ethnicities, particularly the complex formations of Thai-ness that take shape on and around the borders of Thailand. -- Mary Beth Mills * Pacific Affairs: Volume 86 *"The Buddha on Mecca’s Verandah is a captivating narrative of how a marginalized minority inhabiting the complex reality of a borderland area manages its cultural political identity....This book presents the results of a much-needed investigation that further contributes to our understanding of inter-ethnic relations in Malaysia, Thailand's own religious politics, and the legacy of British colonialism in Southeast Asia to mention just a few. More generally it is a welcome addition to the literature on ethno-religious diversity, borderland histories, and identity construction." -- Chiara Formichi * Southeast Asian Studies *"This ethnographic consideration of an overlooked borderland is a welcome addition to Southeast Asian Studies. Recommended." * Choice *"Original and important. . . . The Buddha on Mecca’s Verandah remains one of the most nuanced and detailed ethnographic studies of a single minority community in Malaysia. The range of sources Johnson employs, the nuance of analysis, and the depth of his arguments make this study an essential one to scholars and graduate students interested in Buddhism, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, and minority identity." -- Jeffrey Samuels * Journal of Asian Studies *"An empirically rich, clearly written ethnography. . . . Johnson’s monograph raises descriptive dilemmas and interpretative questions that are worth pursuing more broadly in academic scholarship on modern Asian Buddhism. . . . The overall vision of Ban Bor On as a mobile village of Thai Buddhists struggling with and against their invisible, minority, and peripheral status as Malaysia citizens is illuminating, accessible, and thought-provoking whether one is a general academic reader or a regional or disciplinary specialist." -- Erick White * H-Buddhism *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Orthography and Terminology Introduction 1. Places 2. Gaps 3. Forms 4. Circuits 5. Dreams Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
£33.98
Yale University Press Psychotherapy without the Self
Book SynopsisEngaging with the teachings of the Buddha, as well as those of Freud and Winnicott, this book offers a look at desire, anger, and insight and helps reinterpret the Buddha's Four Noble Truths and central concepts, such as egolessness and emptiness in the psychoanalytic language of our time.Trade Review"The book is an autobiographical journey based on the author's personal experience and professional expertise, backed up by solid research findings from Buddhist scholars and well-known psychologists. . . . Ultimately, the author finds that both Buddhism and psychology can foster the willingness to be fully alive through accepting the unknown in ourselves. What is key is how in touch we are with what we are internalizing, even in our confusion."—Library Journal"An excellent introduction and amplification of connections between Buddhism and psychotherapy and what they contribute to our understanding of the human condition. This is not just an interesting read, but a meaningful one."—Michael Eigen, author of Feeling Matters and The Sensitive Self"Psychotherapy without the Self is mandatory reading for anyone seeking to understand today's axial event in psychoanalysis—the encounter of the Freudian and subsequent schools with the Buddhist psychological tradition. Epstein's insights are utterly penetrating, brilliant in uncanny comparisons and clear critical contrasts, altogether illuminating. It is elegantly and wittily written—a real pleasure to read. And don't worry, there is a self, just different from the one that can't be found!"—Robert A. F. Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, author of Inner Revolution and Infinite Life
£15.79
WW Norton & Co In Search of the Christian Buddha
Book SynopsisThe fascinating account of how the story of the Buddha was transformed into the legend of a Christian saint.Trade Review"A literary detective story of the first order, in which Donald S. Lopez Jr. and Peggy McCracken recapture the color and excitement of every breakthrough along the way." -- Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of God: A Biography
£18.99
University of California Press Emptiness in the MindOnly School of Buddhism
Book SynopsisComposed by Tibet's great yogi-scholar and founder of the Ge-luk-ba school, Dzong-ka-ba's (1357-1419) "The Essence of Eloquence" stands as a landmark in Buddhist philosophy. This title focuses on how the conflict between appearance and reality is presented in the Mind-Only, or Yogic Practice, School.
£27.90
University of California Press Text as Father
Book SynopsisThis beautifully written work sheds new light on the origins and nature of Mahayana Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts--the Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Tathagatagarbha Sutra, and Vimalakirtinirdesa. Treating these sutras as literary works rather than as straightforward philosophic or doctrinal treatises, Alan Cole argues that these writings were carefully sculpted to undermine traditional monastic Buddhism and to gain legitimacy and authority for Mahayana Buddhism as it was veering away from Buddhism's older oral and institutional forms. His sophisticated and sustained analysis of the narrative structures and seductive literary strategies used in these sutras suggests that they were specifically written to encourage devotion to the written word instead of other forms of authority, be they human, institutional, or iconic.Trade Review"An important and rewarding work that merits the attention of any serious scholar or student of Buddhist literature." H-Net ReviewsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Text as Father 2. Who's Your Daddy Now? Reissued Paternity in the Lotus Sutra 3. The Domino Effect: Everyone and His Brother Convert to the Lotus Sutra 000 4. "Be All You Can't Be" and Other Gainful Losses in the Diamond Sutra 5. Sameness with a Difference in the Tathagatagarbha Sutra 6. Vimalakirti, or Why Bad Boys Finish First Conclusion: A Cavalier Attitude toward Truth-Fathers Bibliography Index
£56.80
