Buddhism Books
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
University of California Press Encountering the Dharma
Book SynopsisOffers a look at Soka Gakkai Buddhism, one of Japan's most influential and controversial religious movements. In this work, an American professor of religion trying to come to terms with the death of his wife, travels to Japan in search of the spirit of the Soka Gakkai. Here, he tells of his journey.Trade Review"Seager does a superb job of giving outsiders an inside look at Soka Gakkai Buddhism." - David Machacek, author of Soka Gakkai in America: Accommodation and Conversion "This book paints vivid portraits of the major players of Soka Gakkai. Seager is forthright about the checkered political path Soka Gakkai has taken in Japan, while providing insight into why the rough spots occur." - Phillip Hammond, D. Mackenzie Brown Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara "Encountering the Dharma is a marvelous book that bristles with fresh observations about Japanness and Americanness, the local and the global, spirituality and secularity. Exhaustively researched and elegantly written, this is the definitive work on the globalization of Soka Gakkai." - Stephen Prothero, author of American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon"Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface 1. Mystic Opportunity 2. Creating Value 3. Mentor's Vision 4. Rising Star 5. Sea Change 6. Countervailing Trends 7. Zuiho-bini 8. World House 9. Intrepid Navigators Notes Glossary Bibliography Index
£25.16
University of California Press Crowded by Beauty
Book SynopsisPhilip Whalen was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and key figure in the literary and artistic scene that unfolded in San Francisco in the 1950s and '60s. When the Beat writers came West, Whalen became a revered, much-loved member of the group. This book deals with his life and work.Trade Review"With this book, Schneider has opened the window on a man who was not originally one of the 'famous Beats' but who may find a posthumous place in the new generation's pantheon." Shambhala Times "An unconventional man deserves an unconventional biography ... A major figure in both American poetry and the growth of Zen Buddhist practice in America, Whalen was brilliant, erudite, humorous, earthy yet chaste, improvident, as lovable to those who knew him as he probably will be, thanks to Schneider, to those who read about him." - STARRED Booklist "If Whalen was a poet's poet, then Schneider's book is a biographer's biography... Schneider, who was ordained as a Zen priest in 1977, writes with verve and precision, and draws creatively on Whalen's unpublished journals and voluminous correspondence. Quotations are woven into the text and make for lively reading." San Francisco Chronicle "The whole book is a must-read." The Allen Ginsberg Project "Not only one of the most keenly observed books on the Beats ever published, but it's also a fascinating exploration of the life and dharma of one of the first American-born Zen teachers." -- Steve Silberman Buddhadharma "One garners from this well written and sensitive biography of a key American author a sense of the energy and openness of the whole Beat and San Francisco Poetry Renaissance of the 1950s to 1970s." -- Larry Smith New York Journal of Books "Crowded by Beauty serves as a reminder that among all the celebrity and cachet of rebelliously prescient intellects, the one most radical in his approach to American poetry has been overlooked." -- Pat Nolan The New Black Bart Poetry Society
£22.50
University of California Press A Garland of Feminist Reflections
Book SynopsisRepresents the major aspects of the author's work and provides an overview of her methodology in women's studies in religion and feminism. This work demonstrates how feminist scholars in the 1970s shifted the paradigm away from an androcentric model of humanity and forever changed the way we study religion.Trade Review"In this book, the reader absorbs the intelligence of Rita Gross' mind, the frustrations and sorrows of her role as a reformer, her perseverance and her yearning." Shambhala Sun "An indispensable collection of her best collected writing from the past forty years... Gross' writing is strikingly beautiful." Feminist Review "This compilation only whets the reader's appetite for another such volume." WaterwheelTable of ContentsI. INTRODUCTORY MATERIALS Introducing A Garland of Feminist Reflections 1. How Did This Ever Happen to Me? A Wisconsin Farm Girl Who Became a Buddhist Theologian When She Grew Up II. FIVE ESSAYS ON METHOD 2. Androcentrism and Androgyny in the Methodology of History of Religions 3. Where Have We Been? Where Do We Need to Go? Key Questions for Women Studies in Religion and Feminist Theology 4. The Place of the Personal and the Subjective in Religious Studies 5. Methodology: Tool or Trap? Comments from a Feminist Perspective 6. What Went Wrong? Feminism and Freedom from the Prison of Gender Roles III. THEORY APPLIED: THREE TESTS 7. Menstruation and Childbirth as Ritual and Religious Experience among Native Australians 8. Toward a New Model of the Hindu Pantheon: A Report on Twenty-Some Years of Feminist Reflection 9. The Prepatriarchal Hypothesis: An Assessment IV. FEMINIST THEOLOGY 10. Steps toward Feminine Imagery in Jewish Theology 11. Is the (Hindu) Goddess a Feminist? 12. Life-Giving Images in Vajrayana Buddhist Ritual 13. Feminist Theology as Theology of Religions V. BUDDHIST FEMINISM: FEMINIST BUDDHISM 14. The Clarity in the Anger 15. Why (Engaged) Buddhists Should Care about Gender Issues 16. The Dharma of Gender 17. Yeshe Tsogyel: Enlightened Consort, Great Teacher, Female Role Model 18. Buddhist Women and Teaching Authority 19. Is the Glass Half-Empty or Half-Full? A Feminist Assessment of Buddhism at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century 20. Being a North American Buddhist Woman: Reflections of a Feminist Pioneer Notes
£27.00
University of California Press A History of Modern Tibet Volume 4
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Prodigious precision. . . . It shows the complexity of relations within the Tibetan administration, between the latter and the Chinese administration in Lhasa, and within the Chinese intelligentsia in Tibet itself." * Journal of Chinese Studies *
£60.35
University of California Press Man in the Universe
Book Synopsis
£64.00
University of California Press Ajanta
£63.90
Harvard University Press An Early Tibetan Survey of Buddhist Literature
Book SynopsisThis study and edition of Bcom Idan ral gri's (12271305) Bstan pa rgyas pa rgyan gyi nyi 'od was likely composed in the late 13th century. It is a systematic list of Sutras, Tantras, Shastras, and related genres translated primarily from Sanskrit and other Indic languages, holding a vital place in the history of Buddhist literature.
£32.26
Harvard University, Asia Center Power of Place
Book SynopsisMountains have always been integral components of China’s religious landscape. Early in Chinese history five mountains were co-opted into the imperial cult and declared sacred peaks—yue—demarcating and protecting the imperium’s boundaries. Here, Robson demonstrates the value of local and Buddho-Daoist studies in research on Chinese religion.Trade ReviewThis volume breaks new ground in the ever-growing body of scholarship on important mountains in China, and thus deserves the close attention of anyone interested in Chinese culture in general and Chinese religious history in particular. -- J. M. Hargett * Choice *
£35.66
Harvard University, Asia Center The Princess Nun
Book SynopsisThe first full-length biography of a premodern Japanese nun, The Princess Nun is the story of Bunchi (16191697), daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo and founder of Enshoji. The study incorporates issues of gender and social status into its discussion of Bunchi's ascetic practice to rewrite the history of Buddhist reform and Tokugawa religion.
£35.66
Harvard University Press Materials Toward the Study of Vasubandhus Vimsika
Book SynopsisJonathan A. Silk provides the most comprehensive philological accounting of this fundamental work of Indian Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu. The edition and translation of the Sanskrit text includes core verses and author commentary based directly on manuscript evidence, accompanied by texts from the Tibetan Tanjurs and a manuscript from Dunhuang.
£23.36
Harvard University Press An Early Text on the History of Rwa sgreng
Book SynopsisMaho Iuchi presents the first known work devoted solely to Rwa sgreng monastery, the mother monastery of the Bka' gdams school founded by 'Brom ston Rgyal ba'i 'byung gnas in 1057. This illuminates the history of Rwa sgreng monastery and the early Bka' gdams school—and more broadly, important aspects of Tibetan history.
£30.56
Harvard University Press The Korean Buddhist Empire A Transnational
Book SynopsisKorean Buddhists, despite living under colonial rule, reconfigured sacred objects, festivals, urban temples, propagation—and even their own identities—to modernize and elevate Korean Buddhism. By focusing on six case studies, this book highlights the centrality of transnational relationships in the transformation of colonial Korean Buddhism.
£32.26
Princeton University Press Buddhism in China
Book SynopsisTraces the development of Buddhism in China since the Han Dynasty and describes its impact on Chinese culture.Trade Review"A precious contribution to Buddhistic studies ... The first true history of Chinese Buddhism written in a Western language. Not only does it till an important gap in research, but it is composed and written in a masterly manner."--Pacific Affairs
£45.00
Princeton University Press The Lotus Sutra
Book SynopsisThe Lotus Sutra is arguably the most famous of all Buddhist scriptures. Composed in India in the first centuries of the Common Era, it is renowned for its inspiring message that all beings are destined for supreme enlightenment. Here, Donald Lopez provides an engaging and accessible biography of this enduring classic. Lopez traces the many roles tTrade Review"In the raft of entertaining characters found in the [Lotus Sutra] itself ... Lopez's book adds a cast of historical figures across two millennia united only by their passion for the book... Lopez's book shows us that translators are the unsung heroes of religious, as much as literary, history."--Chandrahas Choudhury, Wall Street Journal "With scholarly acumen, contextual nuance, and adaptive storytelling, he deftly traces the historical trajectory of the Lotus Sutra by examining various people, places, and political contexts that influenced the transmission of the text... A great pedagogical tool, Lopez's book is also an enjoyable read for anyone interested in Buddhism and Eastern religion, or the global reach of a single sacred text."--Publishers Weekly "In The Lotus Sutra: A Biography, Donald Lopez promises to trace the various roles of the Lotus Sutra as it has traversed the globe - and he delivers."--Paul Swanson, BuddhadharmaTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 1 Plot Summary 12 2 The Lotus Sutra in India 21 3 The Lotus Sutra in China 43 4 The Lotus Sutra in Japan 65 5 Across the Atlantic 116 6 The Lotus Sutra in the Twentieth Century 179 7 Across the Pacific 208 Notes 223 Index 243
£22.50
Princeton University Press Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Lopez Jr. and Stone’s detailed analysis makes for a welcome, admirable addition to the large repertoire of more general Lotus Sutra studies." * Publishers Weekly *"The Lotus Sūtra . . . is given a near perfect summary when the authors write that it is a 'sūtra that never ends, an assembly that never disperses, and a mission that is ongoing'."---Nilanjan Bhowmick, Los Angeles Review of Books"While scholarly in nature, this work’s engaging, thoughtful manner serves its subject well. Essential for readers with academic-level interest in Buddhist studies." * Library Journal *
£22.50
Princeton University Press American JewBu
Book SynopsisTaking readers from the 19th century to today, the author shows how Buddhism in the U.S. has given rise to new contemplative forms within American Judaism and shaped the way Americans understand and practice Buddhism.Trade Review"Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies""[A] fascinating book."---Simon Rocker, Jewish Chronicle"The book leaves the reader with something that Jews and Buddhists alike may find familiar: more questions than answers, but a feeling that getting further from a solution has somehow made you wiser."---Matthew Abrahams, Tricycle"American JewBu offers a unique perspective on the current, lively debate on religious mixing. The book is fluently written and highly illuminating. It offers an accessible entry to important questions in the study of lived religious practice." * Sociology of Religion *
£22.50
Princeton University Press Visualizing Dunhuang
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Bei Shan Tang Catalogue Prize, Association for Asian Studies""Spectacular. . . . Impressive [and] important. . . . The nine volumes deliver brilliantly on the promise to assist the reader in visualizing Dunhuang and invite further research."---Sarah E. Fraser, Archives of Asian Art
£1,140.00
Princeton University Press Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Lopez Jr. and Stone’s detailed analysis makes for a welcome, admirable addition to the large repertoire of more general Lotus Sutra studies." * Publishers Weekly *"The Lotus Sūtra . . . is given a near perfect summary when the authors write that it is a 'sūtra that never ends, an assembly that never disperses, and a mission that is ongoing'."---Nilanjan Bhowmick, Los Angeles Review of Books"While scholarly in nature, this work’s engaging, thoughtful manner serves its subject well. Essential for readers with academic-level interest in Buddhist studies." * Library Journal *
£19.00
Princeton University Press American JewBu
Book SynopsisTaking readers from the 19th century to today, the author shows how Buddhism in the U.S. has given rise to new contemplative forms within American Judaism and shaped the way Americans understand and practice Buddhism.Trade Review"Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies""[A] fascinating book."---Simon Rocker, Jewish Chronicle"The book leaves the reader with something that Jews and Buddhists alike may find familiar: more questions than answers, but a feeling that getting further from a solution has somehow made you wiser."---Matthew Abrahams, Tricycle"American JewBu offers a unique perspective on the current, lively debate on religious mixing. The book is fluently written and highly illuminating. It offers an accessible entry to important questions in the study of lived religious practice." * Sociology of Religion *
£18.04
Princeton University Press Passionate Enlightenment
Book SynopsisThis treatise challenges Western assumptions concerning medieval Tantric Buddhism. The author draws on interviews and archival research to demonstrate that Tantric beliefs promoted co-operative relationships between men and women and relied upon women as a source of spiritual insight.
£17.09
Princeton University Press The Legend of King Asoka
Book SynopsisAn English translation of the Asokavadana text, the Sanskrit version of the legend of King Asoka, first written in the second century A.D. Emperor of India during the third century B.C. and one of the most important rulers in the history of Buddhism, Asoka has hitherto been studied in the West primarily from his edicts and rock inscriptions in manyTable of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. vii*Preface, pg. xi*CHAPTER ONE The Legend and Its Background, pg. 3*CHAPTER TWO Dirt and Dharma: Kingship in the Asokavadana, pg. 38*CHAPTER THREE King and Layman: Asoka's Relationship to the Buddhist Community, pg. 71*CHAPTER FOUR Asoka and the Buddha, pg. 101*CHAPTER FIVE Asoka: Master of Good Means and Merit Maker, pg. 134*Introduction to the Translation, pg. 169*The Legend of Asoka, pg. 173*APPENDIX Sanskrit Legends about Asoka Not Appearing in the Asokavadana, pg. 295*Glossary, pg. 305*Bibliography of Works Cited, pg. 313*Index, pg. 329
£43.20
Princeton University Press Tsong Khapas Speech of Gold in the Essence of
Book SynopsisTable of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*List of Illustrations, pg. ix*Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, pg. xi*Preface, pg. xiii*Note, pg. xviii*I. Reverence to the Guru, Manjughosha!, pg. 3*II. Shambhu, Meghavahana, Hiranyagarbha, pg. 8*III. I bow devoted to Maitreya and Manjughosha, pg. 18*IV. I bow my head to the feet of Nagarjuna and Asanga, pg. 21*V. Respectfully I bow to those Master Scholars, pg. 33*VI. Many who did not realize That, pg. 49*VII. But I have seen It quite precisely, pg. 63*VIII. You who aspire to Peerless Philosophy, pg. 89*The Short Essence of True Eloquence, pg. 175*Prologue, pg. 187*I. Statements from the Elucidation of Intention, pg. 191*II. Explanations of the Scripture's Statements, pg. 209*III. The Essential Centrist Message, pg. 253*IV. Explanations of the Followers of the Savior Nagarjuna, pg. 265*V. The Dialecticist Elucidation of the Holy Intention, pg. 288*VI. Avoidance of Contradiction between the (Dialecticist) System and the Scriptures, pg. 345*VII. The Chief Reason for Negation of Ultimate Status, pg. 364*Glossary of Technical Terms, pg. 387*List of Abbreviations, pg. 401*Bibliography of Principal Sources, pg. 407*Index, pg. 421
£133.60
Princeton University Press The Legend and Cult of Upagupta Sanskrit Buddhism
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1992 "Makes a substantial contribution to the fields of religious and Buddhist studies. The grace of Strong's prose and the detail with which he recounts stories, myths, and rituals related to the Upagupta, provide specialist and generalist with an important new resource."--Journal of ReligionTable of ContentsList of Figures and TablesPrefaceNote and AbbreviationsIntroduction3Pt. 1Upagupta in IndiaCh. 1Provisions for the Buddha's Absence23Ch. 2Monk and Monkey: Upagupta's Karmic Past44Ch. 3Birth and Lineage, Patriarchs, and the Forest-Monk Tradition57Ch. 4Lay Life, Ordination, and Arhatship75Ch. 5Upagupta and Mara: Bhakti and the Buddha Body93Ch. 6Master-Disciple Relations118Ch. 7Upagupta and Asoka145Pt. 2Upagupta in Southeast AsiaCh. 8The Southeast Asian Context: Upagupta and Theravada Orthodoxy171Ch. 9The Lokapannatti Legend186Ch. 10Mythic Elaborations and Ritual Developments209Ch. 11Upagupta and the Arhat Cults236Ch. 12Communal Cults: Upagupta as Protector of Festivals253Ch. 13Personal Rewards and Domestic Rites273Conspectus and Conclusion291Notes297Glossary347Bibliography of Works Cited353Index377
£117.30
Cornell University Press The Lotus and the Lion
Book SynopsisBuddhism is indisputably gaining prominence in the West, as is evidenced by the growth of Buddhist practice within many traditions and keen interest in meditation and mindfulness. In The Lotus and the Lion, J. Jeffrey Franklin traces the historical...Trade Review"Whereas most Victorianists are aware of such bestsellers as Edwin Arnold's poem about the Buddha, 'The Light of Asia,' few understand the sheer scope of the 19th-century Buddhism industry. Franklin collects wide-ranging references to, studies of, and polemics about Buddhism, ranging from poems and tracts to novels and religious scholarship. Drawing on postcolonial theory, especially theories of hybridity, the author argues that the 19th-century imperial encounter with Buddhism reshaped Britain as much as it did Britain's colonies. As Franklin demonstrates, Victorians drew on Buddhism (however understood or misunderstood) to criticize Christianity and to develop their own religions—for example theosophy—even as more orthodox Christians also saw the growing presence of Buddhism in Britain itself as part of an atheist threat. The author further demonstrates Buddhism's complex influence on bestselling novelists like H. Rider Haggard and Marie Corelli. But in his most provocative chapter he takes on Rudyard Kipling's Kim, arguing that a Buddhist reading of the text denies the 'polarization' beloved of Western critics (e.g., between India and the Great Game or the self and the other). An exceptionally lucid, accessible study. Summing Up: Highly recommended."—Choice, July 2009"I have been hoping someone would write this book. The sustained readings of Corelli, Haggard, Blavatsky, Edwin Arnold, and Kipling are significant. Most works on Buddhism and Western literature tend to offer weak analogies—how an author's views are 'like' certain Buddhist ones—but J. Jeffrey Franklin actually traces the relationships. The Lotus and the Lion will have a unique place in criticism, forever changing our view of Victorian religion by placing it in its global context."—James Najarian, Boston College"What did Elizabeth Gaskell know about the Dalai Lama? What did Marie Corelli and H. Rider Haggard know about Buddhist ideas of reincarnation and karma? If your reflex answer is 'nothing,' The Lotus and the Lion will surprise you. The assumption that the Victorians knew very little about Buddhism or that such references form mere Orientalist gestures may, J. Jeffrey Franklin suggests, tell us more about ourselves than about them. Franklin chronicles his own 'eye-opening' encounter with the Victorian knowledge of Buddhism in a well-researched and intriguing book that should make scholars open their eyes in turn."—Lisa Surridge, University of Victoria
£39.60
Stanford University Press Double Exposure
Book SynopsisThis book explores the possible relations between Western types of rationality and Buddhism. It also examines some clichés about Buddhism and questions the old antinomies of Western culture (faith and reason, or idealism and materialism). The use of the Buddhist notion of the Two Truths as a hermeneutic device leads to a double or multiple exposure that will call into question our mental habits and force us to ask questions differently, to think in a new key.Double Exposure is somewhat of an oddity. Written by a specialist for nonspecialists, it is not a book of vulgarization. Although it aims at a better integration of Western and Buddhist thought, it is not an exercise in comparative philosophy or religion. It is neither a contribution to Buddhist scholarship in the narrow sense, nor a contribution to some vague Western spirituality. Cutting across traditional disciplines and blurring established genres, it provides a leisurely but deeply insightful stroll through phTrade Review"Faure's analysis is agile, complex, and perceptive....Double Exposure is a subtle and challenging reflection on both Buddhist and Western culture and thought and should be read by anyone concerned with their encounter in the contemporary world."—The Journal of Religion
£22.79
Stanford University Press Goddess on the Frontier
Book SynopsisTrade Review"No other work has linked gendered religious symbols to the complex process of identity-making in such a long historical span, and with such analytical depth. Meticulously researched and lucidly written, this book makes an important and timely contribution to dialogues about religion, gender, and ethnicity in China." -- Xiaofei Kang * George Washington University *"A compelling interdisciplinary study of a fascinating religio-cultural phenomenon on the frontiers of China, India, and Southeast Asia. Bryson has skillfully combined historical research with fieldwork to produce a methodologically sophisticated portrait of a regionally important goddess through her many historical and contemporary vicissitudes." -- Robert Ford Campany * Vanderbilt University *"A tour de force of historical and ethnographic inquiry, Goddess on the Frontier sheds invaluable light on the religion and culture of southwest China. Combining meticulous scholarship with sophisticated theory, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the interplay of gender, ethnicity, and religion." -- Meir Shahar * Tel Aviv University *"Goddess on the Frontier vividly portrays religious life in Dali (Yunnan). Megan Bryson's interdisciplinary research shows how the manifold images of the goddess Baijie resulted from local worshippers adapting to the impact of Buddhism and Han Chinese culture by subverting stereotypes of sexually uninhibited minority women, while still emphasizing indigenous ideals of feminine fertility."— Paul R. Katz, Academia Sinica"Bryson hits her target well...The scholarship is excellent, the sources well researched, and the ancillary references useful." -- John W. Dardess * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *"Megan Bryson's new book, Goddess on the Frontier: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Southwest China, offers not only another example of the growing academic discourse on Dali, one of the most popular tourist destinations nowadays in Southwest China, but also an ingenuous case study of Baijie, an iconic figure in the cultural life of the Bai people in Dali....Clarifying, refreshing, and thought provoking, the book is a very layered analysis of Baijie." -- Yuemin He * Religion and the Arts *"[T]he author has successfully created a fascinating study of a Chinese frontier where histories, borders, cultures, religions, and ethnicities converge. Bryson has deftly combined historiography and art history with ethnography, and is thereby able to present before our eyes a sophisticated picture of a local goddess." -- Naran Bilik * Nova Religio *"This is an outstanding work of scholarship on gender and religion in Chinese history. Bryson selected a perfect case study to shed light on how people in frontier zones develop regional identities from a range of possibilities, and the role gender plays in these possibilities."––Ping Yao, Journal of Chinese Religions"By employing such a thorough methodology, Bryson has compiled a volume of immense use to anyone in the field of Chinese religions, especially those seeking a window into the interaction of religion, ethnicity, and gender." -- Joseph Chadwin * Religious Studies Review *"Goddess on the Frontier is an intellectual powerhouse....I wholeheartedly recommend the study for its depth of otherwise unavailable historical and anthropological information on the Dali region, for its potential strength in graduate training, and for its firm insistence that frontier regions of the Chinese heartland need to be studied on their own terms." -- Stephanie Balkwell * H-Buddhism *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Dali chapter abstractThe introduction gives an overview of the goddess Baijie's four identities and the book's main themes of religion, ethnicity, and gender. It starts by examining the relationship between deities and society, with a focus on gendered deities, local deities, and deities of the Chinese frontier. It also introduces the Dali region, which it locates both in Zomia, the mountainous, stateless region that covers much of Southeast Asia and southwest China, and in relation to the Chinese state. Baijie's different forms illustrate how people in Dali managed the tensions between their local identities and the increasing proximity of the Chinese state. Finally, the introduction addresses historiographical and methodological issues that arise in studying Dali and concludes with an outline of each chapter. 1Baijie's Background: Religion and Representation in the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms chapter abstractChapter one goes back to the Nanzhao (649-903) and Dali kingdoms (937-1253) to understand the broader context in which the Buddhist Baijie arose. It shows that though Nanzhao and Dali rulers adopted most of their Buddhist texts from Chinese territory, they embraced Indian Buddhist images and claimed Indian origins for their Buddhist tradition. Moreover, it was their worship of distinctive deities with Indian iconography that distinguished their Buddhist tradition from that of Tang and Song China. This emphasis on India did not just stem from India's prestige as Buddhism's birthplace, but also from Dali's position in relation to China. While Nanzhao and Dali rulers could not claim equality with Chinese rulers as Sons of Heaven, their relative proximity to India meant that they could claim superiority as Buddhist monarchs. 2Holy Consort White Sister: Baijie Shengfei and Dali Buddhism chapter abstractThe second chapter focuses on the Buddhist Baijie Shengfei, a hybrid figure whose identity combines elements of the Indian goddess Lakmī and local dragon maidens. This chapter demonstrates how her hybridity and gendered characteristics relate to Dali rulers' religious self-representation. It argues that though Baijie Shengfei appears in tantric Buddhist materials as the consort of the wrathful Indian Buddhist protector Mahākāla, she herself does not embody the sexuality or violence seen in images of many Indian and Tibetan tantric goddesses. Dali rulers embraced images of fierce tantric masculinity, as shown in Dali-kingdom depictions of Mahākāla, but this did not extend to female figures like Baijie. This stemmed from Dali rulers' close interactions with China, in which Dali could exploit stereotypes of martial masculine barbarism to their advantage, but not stereotypes of sexually uninhibited barbarian femininity. 3Little White Sister: Baijie Amei, Dragons, and Kingship in Ming Dali chapter abstractThis chapter examines Baijie's next form, Baijie Amei, which developed in the fifteenth century after the Dali kingdom had become part of the Ming dynasty. Baijie Amei's legend shows how Dali elites drew on Chinese historiographical conventions in formulating a local Bai ethnic identity. According to her legend, Baijie Amei was born from a giant plum and conceived Duan Siping, founder of the Dali kingdom, after touching a dragon. This story mirrors Chinese tales about great rulers that claim dragon paternity, but diverges from Chinese conventions by giving Baijie Amei her own miraculous birth. Chinese officials accepted that male rulers could have miraculous births, but not that their mothers could, too. Baijie Amei remained a powerful symbol for Bai elites in Dali who claimed direct descent from her and worshiped her as a goddess that linked them to the illustrious Bai lineage of Dali's independent history. 4Lady of Cypress Chastity: Baijie Furen in the Ming and Qing chapter abstractAs the Ming dynasty continued and gave way to the Qing, more migrants from the empire's eastern and central regions made their way to Yunnan. Baijie Furen, the third form of Baijie, emerged as a result of this increasing contact between Han outsiders and Dali locals. This chapter argues that Baijie Furen, portrayed in legend as an eighth-century widow martyr, supplanted the earlier forms of Baijie because of her multifaceted identity: for Dali elites, she signified the region's long history of Confucian virtues, which marked it as civilized; for Ming and Qing elites, her exceptional example proved that imperial civilizing projects could succeed. In both cases Baijie Furen served as a proxy for the Bai people because male elites correlated a population's civilization with women's sexual propriety. 5Baijie the Benzhu: Village Religion in Contemporary Dali chapter abstractBaijie's significance shifts again in the modern period with the adoption of the terms ethnicity and religion. In the reform era (1978-present) Baijie again represents difference from Chinese identity, but in this period the language of ethnicity demarcates Bai from Han. However, the use of this language differs within the Dali population: male Bai elites present Baijie as a symbol of Bai ethnic culture, while most people who worship Baijie as their village guardian use gendered terms instead of ethnic discourse. Male Bai elites claim a modern, rational identity similar to the image of the Han and displace tradition, religiosity, and ethnic difference onto rural populations and women. This chapter relies in part on ethnographic research that examines how people not involved in textual production represent Baijie, which offers a new perspective on how gender plays a role in demarcating Bai ethno-cultural identities. Conclusion: Ethnicity and Gender in the Cult of the Goddess Baijie chapter abstractThe conclusion returns to the book's central question of how people in the frontier zone of Dali develop gendered local identities out of multiple possibilities. Baijie's examples, from the Dali kingdom to the present, show that people Dali locals have combined local and translocal elements in different ways in response to historical changes. Representations of Dali identity strategically use gendered symbols that correlate to local and translocal forces, so that Baijie's roles as dragon maiden, mother, and martyr tie her to Dali while also making her legible within universalizing semiotic systems.
£49.30
University of Pennsylvania Press Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China
Book SynopsisThis interdisciplinary study examines the reception of Ayurvedic knowledge and other Indian medical teachings in medieval China through analysis of Buddhist texts, including translations from Indian languages as well as Chinese compositions between the second and ninth centuries.Trade Review"C. Pierce Salguero skillfully uses religious studies, translation studies, and anthropology in his investigations. He provides a clear and nuanced account of the complex processes that brought Buddhist doctrines to China and enriched them with new ideas and practices. In the process he demonstrates that here, as elsewhere, 'knowledge about disease, healing, and the body is always inextricably interwoven with the social, economic, political, and personal histories of the people involved in its production and consumption." * Nathan Sivin, University of Pennsylvania *"A welcome reframing of the transmission of Buddhist medicine to China. Salguero reimagines this process not as the clash of monoliths but as numerous specific acts of translation. He invites us to see how people made meaning within and between traditions, rather than contenting ourselves with enumerating the contents of traditions as if they were inert containers of ideas." * Robert Ford Campany, Vanderbilt University *"An excellent contribution which sets the stage for very important future work. Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China provides a detailed analytical perspective on a question of profound importance in the intellectual history of Asia." * Joseph S. Alter, University of Pittsburgh *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. The Buddhist Medical Transmission Chapter 2. Translators and Translation Practice Chapter 3. Translating Medicine in Buddhist Scriptures Chapter 4. Rewriting Buddhist Medicine Chapter 5. Popularizing Buddhist Medicine Conclusion List of Abbreviations Notes List of Chinese and Japanese Characters References Index Acknowledgments
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MP-VIR Uni of Virginia Precarious Balance
Book SynopsisExplores various themes of Sri Lanka’s long history in novel and constructive ways. Topics include Sinhala Buddhists’ sense of manifest destiny arising from Sri Lanka’s oldest historical chronicles, the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa; and concepts of order and legitimation of power in ancient Ceylon.
£73.95
Fordham University Press Radical Egalitarianism Local Realities Global
Book SynopsisContributions from scholars in anthropology, religion, and area studies -- stemming from research in East and Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas – collected to represent a form of historically grounded, ethnographically driven social science that seeks to understand social phenomena by dialogically engaging global and local perspectivesTrade Review"Essays that reflect Stanley Tambiah's approach to historically grounded anthropology." -The Chronicle of Higher Education "Strives for thick description, close reading, and comparative agility." -- -Jim Boon Princeton University "The scholarship embodied in the collection is consistently high quality and the contributions combine theoretical rigor with rich empirical detail. The volume both reflects and extends Stanley J. Tambiah's contributions to anthropology." -- -Elizabeth Traube Wesleyan University
£59.40
Fordham University Press Radical Egalitarianism
Book SynopsisContributions from scholars in anthropology, religion, and area studies -- stemming from research in East and Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas – collected to represent a form of historically grounded, ethnographically driven social science that seeks to understand social phenomena by dialogically engaging global and local perspectivesTrade Review"Essays that reflect Stanley Tambiah's approach to historically grounded anthropology." -The Chronicle of Higher Education "Strives for thick description, close reading, and comparative agility." -- -Jim Boon Princeton University "The scholarship embodied in the collection is consistently high quality and the contributions combine theoretical rigor with rich empirical detail. The volume both reflects and extends Stanley J. Tambiah's contributions to anthropology." -- -Elizabeth Traube Wesleyan University
£25.19
Fordham University Press Crucified Wisdom Theological Reflection on
Book SynopsisThe first systematic discussion of the bodhisattva path in Māhayāna Buddhism from a Christian theological perspective.Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Bodhisattva Path and the Christ Path 1 Comparative Theology as Christian Theology • Some Historical Background • Theology of Religious Pluralism • Plan of This Book I Two Paths 1 Two Problems, Two Miracles 25 What to Study? • Bridging Gaps • The Miracle of the Bodhisattva • The Miracle of the Great Exchange • Matchless Wonders II Perfection of Wisdom and the Bodhisattva Path in Śāntideva 2 The Bodhisattva Path 59 Undertaking the Way of Enlightenment: Text and Reader • Cultivating Awakening Mind: Starting Where We Are 3 Extreme Wisdom, Groundless Compassion 82 Expanding and Dispelling the Self • Perfection of Wisdom • Back to the Bodhisattva • Being Buddha III Christian Reflections 4 The Bodhisattva as Aspirant: Creatures and No-Self 127 Creatures and No-Self • The Blessings of Emptiness • Mimetic Self: Too Little or Too Much? • No-Self and the Cross 5 The Bodhisattva as Buddha: Immanence and Emptiness 165 Buddha Nature • Theosis, Divine Energies, and Bare Awareness • Attainment and History • Attainment and Self-Consciousness • Practicing Bare Immanence • Christ and the Bodhisattva 6 How Do Buddhas Help?: Bodhisattva as Benefactor and Christ as Savior 209 Many Faces of Compassion • Three Ways That Bodhisattvas Help • Deity and Benefactor Meditation • Christian Reflections • Benefactor Practices in Christian Perspective • Bodhisattva and Christ I: Diversity and Person-Making • Bodhisattva and Christ II: Why Christ Suffers and Bodhisattvas Don’t Conclusion: Crucified Wisdom 261 Notes 271 Works Cited 309 Index 321
£81.90
University of Hawai'i Press The Record of TungShan Classics in East Asian
Book SynopsisAnother of the few books of those Zen Masters. This Master is also unusual in that Dogen claimed his lineage, but you will not find any zazen meditation in the pages of this book, only the Original Mind of Zen transmission.
£9.02
University of Hawai'i Press Tantric Art and Meditation Tendai Tradition
Book SynopsisDescribes the four basic meditations of Tantric Buddhism: the Eighteen-path Mandala, the Lotus-womb Mandala, the Vajra-thunder Mandala, and the Goma Rite of Fire. The book summarizes the teachings of Tendai Tantric Buddhism, as practiced on Mt. Hiei, Kyoto, by a Master of the Homan devotional (Bakhti) school.
£16.16
University of Hawai'i Press Lives of the Nuns Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries
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University of Hawai'i Press The Eminent Monk Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography Studies in East Asian Buddhism Kuroda Studies in East Asian Buddhism
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University of Hawai'i Press Pruning the Bodhi Tree
Book SynopsisIntroduces and analyses the ideas of critical Buddhism in relation to the targets of its critique and situates those ideas in the context of current discussions of postmodern academic scholarship, the separation of the disinterested scholar and committed religious practitioner, and the place of social activism within the academy.
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University of Hawai'i Press The Fox and the Jewel Shared and Private Meanings
Book SynopsisAn exploration of the rich complexity of the worship of the deity Inari in contemporary Japan. The work covers institutional and popular power in religion, the personal meaningfulness of religious figures and the communicative styles that preserve homogeneity in the face of factionalism.
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University of Hawai'i Press Letters of the Nun Eshinni Images of Pure Land Buddhism in Medieval Japan
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University of Hawai'i Press Dieu estil violent
Book SynopsisAn exploration of Buddhism during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279). It asserts, that, far from signalling a decline, the Sung was a period of great efflorescence in Buddhism. The studies presented focus largely on elite figures, elite traditions, and interactions among Buddhists and literati.Trade ReviewI know of no edited volume of as consistently excellent scholarship as this one.... Every contribution to this volume is of significant value. - Journal of Asian Studies
£16.96
University of Hawai'i Press Making Pilgrimages Meaning and Practice in Shikoku
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£24.76
