Buddhism Books

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Book SynopsisMakes available in English the seminal treatises in Korea’s greatest interreligious debate of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. ‘On Mind, Material Force, and Principle’, ‘An Array of Critiques of Buddhism’ and ‘Exposition of Orthodoxy’ are presented here with extensive annotation.

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Book SynopsisIn 1975, when political scientist Benedict Anderson reached Wat Phai Rong Wua, a massive temple complex in rural Thailand conceived by Buddhist monk Luang Phor Khom, he felt he had wandered into a demented Disneyland. One of the world's most bizarre tourist attractions, Wat Phai Rong Wua was designed as a cautionary museum of sorts; its gruesome statues depict violent and torturous scenes that showcase what hell may be like. Over the next few decades, Anderson, who is best known for his work, Imagined Communities, found himself transfixed by this unusual amalgamation of objects, returning several times to see attractions like the largest metal-cast Buddha figure in the world and the Palace of a Hundred Spires. The concrete statuaries and perverse art in Luang Phor's personal museum of hell included, \u201cside by side, an upright human skeleton in a glass cabinet and a life-size replica of Michelangelo's gigantic nude David, wearing fashionable red underpants from the top of which poked part of a swollen, un-Florentine penis,\u201d alongside dozens of statues of evildoers being ferociously punished in their afterlife. In The Fate of Rural Hell, Anderson unravels the intrigue of this strange setting, endeavoring to discover what compels so many Thai visitors to travel to this popular spectacle and what order, if any, inspired its creation. At the same time, he notes in Wat Phai Rong Wua the unexpected effects of the gradual advance of capitalism into the far reaches of rural Asia. Both a one-of-a-kind travelogue and a penetrating look at the community that sustains it, The Fate of Rural Hell is sure to intrigue and inspire conversation as much as Wat Phai Rong Wua itself.

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Book SynopsisTraces the archeological and historical record of King Anawrahta (1044-1077) and his seminal position in forming modern Myanmar, based on the few sources that have been recovered.Trade ReviewIn exploring how Anawrahta's reign has been presented or understood over the past several centuries, the author shows the range of historical sources that are available in this kind of endeavor and how they may be read and used in different ways... Recommended. * Choice *Goh has made contributions to the study of Burmese history and, by extension, Burma Studies more widely. * New Mandala *Drawing upon a close critical analysis of extant Burmese sources as well as Chinese-language sources, this work is a significant accomplishment that will be of interest not only to Southeast Asia specialists, but also to historians of any field who are interested in the complex connections between history and memory. * American Historical Review *A must-read for those interested not only in pre-modern Southeast Asia, but also in understanding how the past is reinvented in our time. * Journal of the Siam Society *

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Book SynopsisDuring the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Thai poets produced epics depicting elaborate myths and legends which intermingled the human, natural, and supernatural worlds.

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Book SynopsisThough the Drigung Kagyu was one of the most prominent and powerful schools of Tibetan Buddhism during its early period (12th - 14th century), its art is still relatively poorly known, even among Tibetans. With its mother monastery destroyed twice, once in the late 13th century and again during the Great Cultural Revolution, much of the art was lost or dispersed. The iconography of the Drigung School is examined with regard to its three main periods - early, middle, and late - in combination with the distinctive influences of the Sharri, Khyenri, and Driri styles. The book aims elucidate to the painting traditions of the Drigung Kagyu School and investigate lineage depictions and methods of dating, while referring to previously overlooked Tibetan sources, both ancient and modern. The publication and related exhibition also explores the beneficial quality ascribed to the works of art and the elements they contain.Trade Review"In this fifth volume of his landmark "Masterworks of Tibetan Painting" series, Jackson continues patiently and systematically to lay the groundwork for a new art history of Tibetan painting—one more firmly supported by specifics of provenance, subject, and style." * Choice *Table of ContentsDirector's Statement Foreword Preface Introduction: The Drigung Kagyu Maps 1. Drigung Thel's Branches and Main Surviving Mural Sites 2. Early Research on Drigung Kagyu Art 3. Recent Research on Drigung Kagyu Painting 4. Written Sources 5. Early Drigung Kagyu Painting 6. Paintings from the Middle Period of Drigung Kagyu Art 7. Full-color Paintings of Peaceful Dieties in the Drigung Style 8. Paintings of Semiwrathful and Wrathful Deities in the Drigung Style 9. Recent Mural Sites in Lamayuru and Phyang 10. Three Artists in Drigung Thel Monasteries of Ladakh in the Twentieth Century 11. Beneficial to See: Early Drigung Painting / Christian Luczanits 12. The Elusive Lady to Nanam: An Introduction to the Protectress Achi Chokyi Drolma / Kristen Muldowney Roberts Appendix A. The Main Lineage of Drigung Appendix B. The Hierarchs of Drigung with Contemporary Head Lamas of Kailash and Ladakh, and Kings of Ladakh Appendix C. Monasteries of the Drigung Kagyu Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBuddhist Philosophy: A Comparative Approach presents a series of readings that examine the prominent thinkers and texts of the Buddhist tradition in the round, introducing contemporary readers to major theories and debates at the intersection of Buddhist and Western thought.Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors vii Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xiii Editor’s Introduction 1Steven M. Emmanuel 1 Buddhist Philosophy as a Way of Life: The Spiritual Exercises of Tsongkhapa 11Christopher W. Gowans 2 The Other Side of Realism: Panpsychism and Yog¨¡c¨¡ra 29Douglas Duckworth 3 Emergentist Naturalism in Early Buddhism and Deweyan Pragmatism 45John J. Holder 4 Metaphysical Dependence, East and West 63Ricki Bliss and Graham Priest 5 Metaphysics and Metametaphysics with Buddhism: The Lay of the Land 87Tom J.F. Tillemans 6 Are Reasons Causally Relevant for Action? Dharmak¨©rti and the Embodied Cognition Paradigm 109Christian Coseru 7 Zen’s Nonegocentric Perspectivism 123Bret W. Davis 8 Rhetoric of Uncertainty in Zen Buddhism and Western Literary Modernism 145Steven Heine 9 From the Five Aggregates to Phenomenal Consciousness: Toward a Cross©\Cultural Cognitive Science 165Jake H. Davis and Evan Thompson 10 Embodying Change: Buddhism and Feminist Philosophy 189Erin A. McCarthy 11 Buddhist Modernism and Kant on Enlightenment 205David Cummiskey 12 Compassion and Rebirth: Some Ethical Implications 221John Powers Further Reading 239 Index 243

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Book SynopsisBuddhist Philosophy: A Comparative Approach presents a series of readings that examine the prominent thinkers and texts of the Buddhist tradition in the round, introducing contemporary readers to major theories and debates at the intersection of Buddhist and Western thought. Takes a comparative, rather than oppositional, approach to Buddhist philosophy, exploring key theories and debates at the intersection of Eastern and Western thought Addresses a variety of topics that represent important points of convergence between the Buddhist and Western philosophical traditions Features contributions from a wide array of acclaimed international scholars in the discipline Provides a much-needed cross-cultural treatment of Buddhist philosophy appropriate for undergraduate students and specialists alike Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors vii Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xiii Editor’s Introduction 1Steven M. Emmanuel 1 Buddhist Philosophy as a Way of Life: The Spiritual Exercises of Tsongkhapa 11Christopher W. Gowans 2 The Other Side of Realism: Panpsychism and Yog¨¡c¨¡ra 29Douglas Duckworth 3 Emergentist Naturalism in Early Buddhism and Deweyan Pragmatism 45John J. Holder 4 Metaphysical Dependence, East and West 63Ricki Bliss and Graham Priest 5 Metaphysics and Metametaphysics with Buddhism: The Lay of the Land 87Tom J.F. Tillemans 6 Are Reasons Causally Relevant for Action? Dharmak¨©rti and the Embodied Cognition Paradigm 109Christian Coseru 7 Zen’s Nonegocentric Perspectivism 123Bret W. Davis 8 Rhetoric of Uncertainty in Zen Buddhism and Western Literary Modernism 145Steven Heine 9 From the Five Aggregates to Phenomenal Consciousness: Toward a Cross©\Cultural Cognitive Science 165Jake H. Davis and Evan Thompson 10 Embodying Change: Buddhism and Feminist Philosophy 189Erin A. McCarthy 11 Buddhist Modernism and Kant on Enlightenment 205David Cummiskey 12 Compassion and Rebirth: Some Ethical Implications 221John Powers Further Reading 239 Index 243

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Book SynopsisA Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism offers a comprehensive, nuanced, and chronological account of the evolution of Buddhist religion in Japan from the sixth century to the present day.Trade Review“In short, this study is a welcome contribution to the field and will make an excellent textbook for the classroom.” (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 1 October 2015)"The great value of the book is to direct readers to approaches and theories perhaps overlooked by more general histories of Buddhism. Each chapter includes its own bibliography and notes, making the book useful for study of narrow sections of Japan’s history." (Buddhist Art News 2016)Table of ContentsList of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Early Historical Contexts (Protohistory to 645) 13 2 Ancient Buddhism (645–950) 45 3 Early Medieval Buddhism (950–1300): The Dawn of Medieval Society and Related Changes in Japanese Buddhist Culture 87 4 Late Medieval Buddhism (1300–1467): New Buddhisms, Buddhist Learning, Dissemination and the Fall into Chaos 135 5 Buddhism and the Transition to the Modern Era (1467–1800) 171 6 Modern Buddhism (1800–1945) 209 7 Buddhism Since 1945 231 Character Glossary 255 Index 000

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Book SynopsisA new history of Buddhism that highlights the insights and experiences of women from diverse communities and traditions around the worldBuddhist traditions have developed over a period of twenty-five centuries in Asia, and recent decades have seen an unprecedented spread of Buddhism globally. From India to Japan, Sri Lanka to Russia, Buddhist traditions around the world have their own rich and diverse histories, cultures, religious lives, and roles for women.Wherever Buddhism has taken root, it has interacted with indigenous cultures and existing religious traditions. These traditions have inevitably influenced the ways in which Buddhist ideas and practices have been understood and adapted. Tracing the branches and fruits of these culturally specific transmissions and adaptations is as challenging as it is fascinating.Women in Buddhist Traditions chronicles pivotal moments in the story of Buddhist women, from the beginning of Buddhist history until toTrade ReviewThe Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, the founder and a prominent leader of Sakyadhita—the only international organization for Buddhist women—and a major force of the movement for the restoration of the full ordination lineage for nuns in traditions where it had lapsed— has done more than anyone in the contemporary world to advance the role of women in Buddhism. In this volume she discusses the role that women play in that religious tradition, providing illuminating historical and doctrinal context, careful attention to the cultural and doctrinal variety within the Buddhist world and the diversity of experience of Buddhist women, and an insider’s understanding of the contemporary context of globalized Buddhism in which women are taking an increasing leadership role. Required reading for anyone interested in women in Buddhism. -- Jay Garfield, author of Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to PhilosophyWomen in Buddhist Traditions is a clear, substantiated, and nuanced account of the historical developments of women’s activities and contributions to the tradition. It lays a carefully articulated and highly-readable foundation and contextualization of the earliest activities relevant to women across vast geographical and cultural contexts. The significance of the volume is enhanced by contextualizing women’s concerns with Buddhist ethics. This informative volume is a deep resource for those wanting to understand the dynamics and issues Buddhist women navigate in cross-cultural perspective. It is perfect for classroom use, whether at undergraduate or graduate level. -- Paula K. R. Arai, author of Women Living Zen, Brining Zen Home, and Painting EnlightenmentSweeping in its historical and geographical breadth, presenting the essential primary texts and latest research, and beautifully written in clear and accessible prose, this book is destined to become the standard introduction to the topic of women in Buddhism. -- José Ignacio Cabezón, President, American Academy of ReligionThis is a wonderful book, by one of the premier scholars of women in Buddhism. It presents a comprehensive overview of the history of women’s contributions to Buddhist traditions in a clearly written and authoritative style, along with a nuanced and thought-provoking discussion of contemporary issues. A must read for anyone interested in women’s religious lives. -- John Powers, Deakin universityA sweeping and well-informed primer on a number of key social and doctrinal issues affecting women in Buddhism, past and present, across Asia and beyond. Karma Lekshe Tsomo’s many years of tireless advocacy for Buddhist nuns shines through each chapter with special attention to the vexing issue of nun’s full ordination. -- Holly Gayley, author of Love Letters from Golok: A Tantric Couple in Modern TibetBuddhist women are active all over the world in changing their tradition to make it more inclusive, therefore more useful. Karma Lekshe Tsomo is a noted authority who not only chronicles the progress but has been instrumental in it. An excellent book for classes, discussion groups, and/or research. * Water Women's Alliance *With this extensive historical study, Tsomo provides a fundamental and comprehensive study of Buddhist traditions, showing a profound understanding of gender aspects and their contemporary relevance. * Religious Studies Review *

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Book SynopsisA new history of Buddhism that highlights the insights and experiences of women from diverse communities and traditions around the worldBuddhist traditions have developed over a period of twenty-five centuries in Asia, and recent decades have seen an unprecedented spread of Buddhism globally. From India to Japan, Sri Lanka to Russia, Buddhist traditions around the world have their own rich and diverse histories, cultures, religious lives, and roles for women.Wherever Buddhism has taken root, it has interacted with indigenous cultures and existing religious traditions. These traditions have inevitably influenced the ways in which Buddhist ideas and practices have been understood and adapted. Tracing the branches and fruits of these culturally specific transmissions and adaptations is as challenging as it is fascinating.Women in Buddhist Traditions chronicles pivotal moments in the story of Buddhist women, from the beginning of Buddhist history until toTrade ReviewThe Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, the founder and a prominent leader of Sakyadhita—the only international organization for Buddhist women—and a major force of the movement for the restoration of the full ordination lineage for nuns in traditions where it had lapsed— has done more than anyone in the contemporary world to advance the role of women in Buddhism. In this volume she discusses the role that women play in that religious tradition, providing illuminating historical and doctrinal context, careful attention to the cultural and doctrinal variety within the Buddhist world and the diversity of experience of Buddhist women, and an insider’s understanding of the contemporary context of globalized Buddhism in which women are taking an increasing leadership role. Required reading for anyone interested in women in Buddhism. -- Jay Garfield, author of Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to PhilosophyWomen in Buddhist Traditions is a clear, substantiated, and nuanced account of the historical developments of women’s activities and contributions to the tradition. It lays a carefully articulated and highly-readable foundation and contextualization of the earliest activities relevant to women across vast geographical and cultural contexts. The significance of the volume is enhanced by contextualizing women’s concerns with Buddhist ethics. This informative volume is a deep resource for those wanting to understand the dynamics and issues Buddhist women navigate in cross-cultural perspective. It is perfect for classroom use, whether at undergraduate or graduate level. -- Paula K. R. Arai, author of Women Living Zen, Brining Zen Home, and Painting EnlightenmentSweeping in its historical and geographical breadth, presenting the essential primary texts and latest research, and beautifully written in clear and accessible prose, this book is destined to become the standard introduction to the topic of women in Buddhism. -- José Ignacio Cabezón, President, American Academy of ReligionThis is a wonderful book, by one of the premier scholars of women in Buddhism. It presents a comprehensive overview of the history of women’s contributions to Buddhist traditions in a clearly written and authoritative style, along with a nuanced and thought-provoking discussion of contemporary issues. A must read for anyone interested in women’s religious lives. -- John Powers, Deakin universityA sweeping and well-informed primer on a number of key social and doctrinal issues affecting women in Buddhism, past and present, across Asia and beyond. Karma Lekshe Tsomo’s many years of tireless advocacy for Buddhist nuns shines through each chapter with special attention to the vexing issue of nun’s full ordination. -- Holly Gayley, author of Love Letters from Golok: A Tantric Couple in Modern TibetBuddhist women are active all over the world in changing their tradition to make it more inclusive, therefore more useful. Karma Lekshe Tsomo is a noted authority who not only chronicles the progress but has been instrumental in it. An excellent book for classes, discussion groups, and/or research. * Water Women's Alliance *With this extensive historical study, Tsomo provides a fundamental and comprehensive study of Buddhist traditions, showing a profound understanding of gender aspects and their contemporary relevance. * Religious Studies Review *

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Book SynopsisWith air pollution now intimately affecting every resident of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko seeks to understand how, as a physical constant throughout the winter months, the murky and obscuring nature of air pollution has become an active part of Mongolian religious and ritual life. Enlightenment and the Gasping City identifies air pollution as a boundary between the physical and the immaterial, showing how air pollution impresses itself on the urban environment as stagnation and blur. She explores how air pollution and related phenomena exist in dynamic tension with Buddhist ideas and practices concerning purification, revitalisation and enlightenment. By focusing on light, its intersections and its oppositions, she illuminates Buddhist practices and beliefs as they interact with the pressing urban issues of air pollution, post-socialist economic vacillations, urban development, nationalism, and climate change.Trade ReviewThis illuminating book will appeal mostly to professional scholars and graduate students in Mongolian and Buddhist studies. * Choice *Author Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko follows lay Mongolian Buddhists and invites us to reflect both on their discourses of "light," which are explicitly linked to purification and religious. * Lion's Roar: Buddhist Wisdom for Our Time *The pages of this book bring to life vivid scenes of the functioning of Mongolian society, culture, customs, day-to-day life, and the environmental landscape of Ulaanbaatar in such a way that the lonely capital city of Mongolia dances to life in front of the reader's eyes. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Terms Introduction 1. Dust and Obscuration in a New Economy 2. A History of Enlightenment in Mongolia 3. Buddhism, Purification, and the Nation 4. Ignorance and Blur 5. Networks and Visibility 6. Karma and Purification 7. Removing Blockages, Increasing Energy 8. Temple Critiques 9. White Foods, Purification, and Enlightenment Conclusion: Stillness and Movement Glossary Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisWith air pollution now intimately affecting every resident of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko seeks to understand how, as a physical constant throughout the winter months, the murky and obscuring nature of air pollution has become an active part of Mongolian religious and ritual life. Enlightenment and the Gasping City identifies air pollution as a boundary between the physical and the immaterial, showing how air pollution impresses itself on the urban environment as stagnation and blur. She explores how air pollution and related phenomena exist in dynamic tension with Buddhist ideas and practices concerning purification, revitalisation and enlightenment. By focusing on light, its intersections and its oppositions, she illuminates Buddhist practices and beliefs as they interact with the pressing urban issues of air pollution, post-socialist economic vacillations, urban development, nationalism, and climate change.Trade ReviewThis illuminating book will appeal mostly to professional scholars and graduate students in Mongolian and Buddhist studies. * Choice *Author Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko follows lay Mongolian Buddhists and invites us to reflect both on their discourses of "light," which are explicitly linked to purification and religious. * Lion's Roar: Buddhist Wisdom for Our Time *The pages of this book bring to life vivid scenes of the functioning of Mongolian society, culture, customs, day-to-day life, and the environmental landscape of Ulaanbaatar in such a way that the lonely capital city of Mongolia dances to life in front of the reader's eyes. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Terms Introduction 1. Dust and Obscuration in a New Economy 2. A History of Enlightenment in Mongolia 3. Buddhism, Purification, and the Nation 4. Ignorance and Blur 5. Networks and Visibility 6. Karma and Purification 7. Removing Blockages, Increasing Energy 8. Temple Critiques 9. White Foods, Purification, and Enlightenment Conclusion: Stillness and Movement Glossary Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisReceived wisdom has it that Buddhism disappeared from India, the land of its birth, between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, long forgotten until British colonial scholars re-discovered it in the early 1800s. Its full-fledged revival, so the story goes, only occurred in 1956, when the Indian civil rights pioneer Dr. B.R. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with half a million of his Dalit (formerly "untouchable") followers. This, however, is only part of the story. Dust on the Throne reframes discussions about the place of Buddhism in the subcontinent from the early nineteenth century onwards, uncovering the integral, yet unacknowledged, role that Indians played in the making of modern global Buddhism in the century prior to Ambedkar's conversion, and the numerous ways that Buddhism gave powerful shape to modern Indian history. Through an extensive examination of disparate materials held at archives and temples across South Asia, Douglas Ober explores Buddhist religious dynamics in an age of expanding colonial empires, intra-Asian connectivity, and the histories of Buddhism produced by nineteenth and twentieth century Indian thinkers. While Buddhism in contemporary India is often disparaged as being little more than tattered manuscripts and crumbling ruins, this book opens new avenues for understanding its substantial socio-political impact and intellectual legacy.Trade Review"This is the first comprehensive study in any language of the revival of interest in Buddhism in nineteenth and twentieth-century India. It transforms the way we view modern Indian religious and political life. Through careful archival investigation, Douglas Ober uncovers numerous sources and topics that have been ignored or dealt with in piecemeal fashion. He uses this array of materials to create a compelling argument for the vital of importance of Buddhism in modern Indian religious life, politics, intellectual history, and culture. By highlighting the contributions of Indian scholars, advocates, and practitioners to the revival of Buddhism in twentieth-century India, Ober gives us a much more accurate picture of modern global Buddhism. This is a major, foundational contribution to religious and Buddhist history."—Richard Jaffe, author of Seeking Sakyamuni: South Asia in the Formation of Modern Japanese Buddhism"This is a book I've been waiting for—a powerful account of the contestations and challenges that marked the return of Buddhism to the public sphere. It forces us to think of the role of human agency in shaping the present and future in India—perhaps even in the world."—Uma Chakravarti, author of The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism"It is a fantastic read, almost like a detective novel in parts, and you turn the page wondering how Buddhism was discovered, how it fared in various contexts. Douglas Ober's mastery of sources, his adept linking of various geographies, ideas, and events are so effortlessly done that they belie the immense labor and reading and writing that have no doubt gone into the making of this book."—V Geetha, author of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the Question of Socialism in India "This splendid book overturns the standard but faulty story of Buddhism's supposed disappearance from India by the thirteenth century. It completely recasts our understanding of modern Buddhism and its role in nineteenth and twentieth-century India. A marvelous combination of history, philosophy, and story-telling, Dust on the Throne is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand Buddhism in our world today."—Evan Thompson, author ofWaking, Dreaming, Being andWhy I Am Not a Buddhist"An engrossing and lively account of how modern India 'rediscovered' and re-engaged with Buddhism in the last two centuries, featuring a cast of compelling historical characters.Going far beyond standard assumptions and understandings about the decline and revival of Buddhism in India,Dust on the Throne is a must-read for all who are interested in south Asian history, both recent and ancient."—Tony Joseph, author of Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From"Dust on the Throne offers a new perspective on the history of Buddhism in India during the colonial period and early years of Independence. Marshalling an array of evidence that foregrounds the role of individuals and institutions (some known, some forgotten) in the context of subcontinental and global networks, it dispels many long-cherished notions about Buddhism's decline and revival in its homeland, offering a convincing alternative narrative."—Upinder Singh, author of History of Ancient and Early Medieval India"Douglas Ober's Dust on the Throne weaves a fascinating history of individuals, institutions, and events that animated modern Buddhism. The book provides rare insights into a range offorgotten Indianswhose contributions were as impressive as those of better-known colonials.Its exploration of the footprint of Buddhist discourses among the masses is equally captivating. This will remain a definitive study on the many streams that constituted the quest for Buddhism inModern India."—Nayanjot Lahiri, author of Ashoka in Ancient India"[Dust on the Throne] is vast and dense, shining light on many of the Indian historians, scholars, translators, ethnographers, and laborers whose engagement with ancient and modern Buddhism galvanized 19th- and 20th-century public discourse. Rather than fragmented, however, the confluence of geographies, perspectives, and demographics demonstrate how dynamic and complex local expertise and agency in the resurgence of Buddhism within India have been."—Liesl Schwabe, Los Angeles Review of Books"Ober's exhaustive survey assembles Buddhism's disparate histories from different regions of modern India and contextualizes the formation of its multiple stands. He effectively dismantles the idea of European discovery of Buddhism and challenges the overemphasis on the contribution of Dharmapala and Ambedkar's scholarship."—Abishek Singh Amar, Tricycle"Dust on the Throne: The Search for Buddhism in Modern India, an erudite study by the historian Douglas Ober, is an exception to the brahmin-centric trend, and an outstanding intervention for many reasons. Right from its thoughtful title – which captures the deep history and 'revival' of the region's Buddhist past – the book tells us a different story than the brahmin-centric narratives of so much other scholarship. Ober shows how the widespread notion that Buddhism in the Subcontinent had died by the thirteenth century or earlier, and showed no trace of life into the modern period, is at most a 'useful fiction', if not a foolish conclusion outright."—Gajendran Ayyathurai, Himal SouthasianTable of Contents0. Introduction 1. The Agony of Memory 2. Dispelling Darkness 3. Banyan Tree Buddhism 4. Brahmanizing Buddhism 5. The Snake and the Mongoose 6. When the Buddha met Marx 7. The Buddha Nation Conclusion: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAn insightful look at the historical damages early colonizers of America caused and how their descendants may recognize and heal the harm done to the earth and the native peoples Inherited Silence tells the story of beloved land in California’s Napa Valley—how the land fared during the onslaught of colonization and how it fares now in the drought, development, and wildfires that are the consequences of the colonial mind. Author Louise Dunlap’s ancestors were among the first Europeans to claim ownership of traditional lands of the Wappo people during a period of genocide. As settlers, her ancestors lived the dream of Manifest Destiny, their consciousness changing only gradually over the generations. When Dunlap’s generation inherited the land, she had already begun to wonder about its unspoken story. What had kept her ancestors from seeing and telling the truth of their history? What had they brought west with them from the very earliest colonial experience in New England? Dunlap looks back into California’s and America’s history for the key to their silences and a way to heal the wounds of the land, its original people, and the harmful mind of the colonizer. It’s a powerful story that will awaken others to consider their own ancestors’ role in colonization and encourage them to begin reparations for the harmful actions of those who came before. More broadly, it offers a way for every reader to evaluate their own current life actions and the lasting impact they can have on society and our planet.Trade Review"Louise Dunlap is not afraid to look at the truth and then tell the truth of her early California settler family, a reckoning that becomes an important history of Napa Valley’s wine country." -- Greg Sarris, Chairman, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria; author of Becoming Story"How can European descendants of enslavers and colonizers face with honesty the brutal pain and destruction our ancestors wrought? How can we grieve and then begin to heal? In this bold and moving love letter to the land, Louise Dunlap breaks twelve generations of silence. A keen learner from Indigenous peoples and from the land she loves, Dunlap charts out a path toward rehumanization and healing. A beautifully-written memoir that is hard to put down." -- Christine Sleeter, Professor Emerita, California State University Monterey Bay; author of Family History in Black and White"Louise Dunlap offers the reader a wonderful way of living as a part of the whole: the whole of ourselves, the whole of nature, and the whole of the cosmos. She is a wise Bodhisattva who has dedicated her practice to waking up for the benefit of us all, a courageous being who offers a pathway to decolonize our hearts and minds. And she lets us know that it is possible to do so." -- —Dr. Larry Ward, author of America's Racial Karma, and Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward, senior dharma teachers in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition and directors of The Lotus Institute"What would Justice and Healing look like when the Land speaks and uncovers the Silence of centuries-old stories of theft and genocide? Now an Elder, Louise Dunlap tells the story of how the Land of the Wappo and Patwin spoke to her heart and soul and gave her the courage to uncover the Silence. I read this book with tears of grief and gratitude and a longing for a deeper sense of justice and healing." -- Leny Mendoza Strobel, Founding Elder, Center for Babaylan Studies"Confronting the wrongs of the past is a way of honouring our ancestors, both those who have come before and those who are yet to come. We need to be taught by the failures and mistakes we have inherited and continue to reproduce in order to enable the possibility that only new mistakes will be made in the future. We need to be able to say: the buck stops here! This book is a step in that direction." -- Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, Professor, Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change, University of British Columbia"Louise Dunlap, in Inherited Silence, performs work very like a traditional healer with roots and herbs. Deep in the silences, the forests of the past, she unearths painful stories, absorbing them to remove any toxins they may carry. Then with love and compassion, she restores in them the healing properties of the land where they are rooted." -- Bobby Marie, community educator and activist, South Africa"For those of us still living on the land our ancestors stole for us, Inherited Silence shows us some of the first steps we must take towards healing and repair. Louise demonstrates that this work isn't about disowning our ancestors, but becoming closer to them by telling the truth of their times, committing to transform and transmute the trauma they caused, and not letting racial violence or climate chaos be the final chapter of their legacy." -- Morgan Curtis, Ancestors & Money Coach

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Book SynopsisAn insightful look at the historical damages early colonizers of America caused and how their descendants may recognize and heal the harm done to the earth and the native peoples Inherited Silence tells the story of beloved land in California’s Napa Valley—how the land fared during the onslaught of colonization and how it fares now in the drought, development, and wildfires that are the consequences of the colonial mind. Author Louise Dunlap’s ancestors were among the first Europeans to claim ownership of traditional lands of the Wappo people during a period of genocide. As settlers, her ancestors lived the dream of Manifest Destiny, their consciousness changing only gradually over the generations. When Dunlap’s generation inherited the land, she had already begun to wonder about its unspoken story. What had kept her ancestors from seeing and telling the truth of their history? What had they brought west with them from the very earliest colonial experience in New England? Dunlap looks back into California’s and America’s history for the key to their silences and a way to heal the wounds of the land, its original people, and the harmful mind of the colonizer. It’s a powerful story that will awaken others to consider their own ancestors’ role in colonization and encourage them to begin reparations for the harmful actions of those who came before. More broadly, it offers a way for every reader to evaluate their own current life actions and the lasting impact they can have on society and our planet.Trade Review"Louise Dunlap is not afraid to look at the truth and then tell the truth of her early California settler family, a reckoning that becomes an important history of Napa Valley’s wine country." -- Greg Sarris, Chairman, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria; author of Becoming Story"How can European descendants of enslavers and colonizers face with honesty the brutal pain and destruction our ancestors wrought? How can we grieve and then begin to heal? In this bold and moving love letter to the land, Louise Dunlap breaks twelve generations of silence. A keen learner from Indigenous peoples and from the land she loves, Dunlap charts out a path toward rehumanization and healing. A beautifully-written memoir that is hard to put down." -- Christine Sleeter, Professor Emerita, California State University Monterey Bay; author of Family History in Black and White"Louise Dunlap offers the reader a wonderful way of living as a part of the whole: the whole of ourselves, the whole of nature, and the whole of the cosmos. She is a wise Bodhisattva who has dedicated her practice to waking up for the benefit of us all, a courageous being who offers a pathway to decolonize our hearts and minds. And she lets us know that it is possible to do so." -- —Dr. Larry Ward, author of America's Racial Karma, and Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward, senior dharma teachers in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition and directors of The Lotus Institute"What would Justice and Healing look like when the Land speaks and uncovers the Silence of centuries-old stories of theft and genocide? Now an Elder, Louise Dunlap tells the story of how the Land of the Wappo and Patwin spoke to her heart and soul and gave her the courage to uncover the Silence. I read this book with tears of grief and gratitude and a longing for a deeper sense of justice and healing." -- Leny Mendoza Strobel, Founding Elder, Center for Babaylan Studies"Confronting the wrongs of the past is a way of honouring our ancestors, both those who have come before and those who are yet to come. We need to be taught by the failures and mistakes we have inherited and continue to reproduce in order to enable the possibility that only new mistakes will be made in the future. We need to be able to say: the buck stops here! This book is a step in that direction." -- Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, Professor, Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change, University of British Columbia"Louise Dunlap, in Inherited Silence, performs work very like a traditional healer with roots and herbs. Deep in the silences, the forests of the past, she unearths painful stories, absorbing them to remove any toxins they may carry. Then with love and compassion, she restores in them the healing properties of the land where they are rooted." -- Bobby Marie, community educator and activist, South Africa"For those of us still living on the land our ancestors stole for us, Inherited Silence shows us some of the first steps we must take towards healing and repair. Louise demonstrates that this work isn't about disowning our ancestors, but becoming closer to them by telling the truth of their times, committing to transform and transmute the trauma they caused, and not letting racial violence or climate chaos be the final chapter of their legacy." -- Morgan Curtis, Ancestors & Money Coach

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Book SynopsisA volume in Advances in Workplace Spirituality: Theory, Research, and Application Series Editor Louis W. (Jody) Fry, Texas A&M University - Central Texas INNER PEACE-GLOBAL IMPACT describes underlying principles of Tibetan wisdom traditions relevant for successful leadership in the 21st century as well as Tibetan teachers whose entrepreneurial actions were critical to the development of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. With first-person narratives, personal stories, scholarly research, and commentaries by noted social scientists, this book is written for everyone who wants ideas to revitalize leadership. It is rich with vivid pictures of deep personal experience. Long-time Western Tibetan Buddhist practitioners describe how their practice has influenced them in fields as diverse as scientific research, social work, art, dance, and university teaching. The Dalai Lama is seen through the eyes of his long-time friend, eminent author Huston Smith, as well as through the experiences of Thupten Jinpa, his 25-year English translator. Sogyal Rinpoche shares his vision for transforming traditional ways of studying, while Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, a 10th generation Tibetan yogi, reflects on the challenges of teaching in a Western culture where perspectives differ so vastly from those of Tibet. With insights from Tibetan lamas and Western thought leaders including Peter Senge, Bill George, and Margaret Wheatley, this book creates new visions for leadership and the workplace.

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Book SynopsisThis text is a collection of essays by noted curriculum scholar and philosopher of education, David W. Jardine. It ranges over twenty?five years of work with teachers and students in schools. The main purpose of these essays is to provide teachers with new ways of thinking about their circumstances that side step some of the panic and exhaustion that is all too typical of many school settings. Using ideas and images from Buddhism, ecological thinking, and hermeneutics, the author shows how these lineages help with the practical work of thinking and acting differently regarding the knowledge entrusted to teachers and students in schools. It offers the image of living fields of relations as an alternative to the fragmented, industrial?assembly machinations that drive much curriculum thinking and practice. It roots this alternative in solid scholarly work, both inside and outside of the orbit of educational literature. This book can provide encouragement and example to those working in schools who have sensed the shifting of human consciousness and conscience over the past decades towards issues of sustainability, interrelatedness, diversity, ancestry, ecological well?being, and dependent co?arising. It provides solid classroom?based examples coupled with substantial scholarly delving into the roots of such work in long?standing streams of thinking that are born outside of the usual orbits of educational theory and practice, but that provide that practice with a refuge and a relief and an alternative. This book can also provide examples to those doing graduate work in education of how interpretive research into classrooms can be conducted, and how this work is must be solid, well?rooted, scholarly and meticulously thought out. It is useful as a handbook and sourcebook for interpretive research or hermeneutic research, and provides a wide array of sources and themes for the conduct of such work.

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Book SynopsisThis text is a collection of essays by noted curriculum scholar and philosopher of education, David W. Jardine. It ranges over twenty?five years of work with teachers and students in schools. The main purpose of these essays is to provide teachers with new ways of thinking about their circumstances that side step some of the panic and exhaustion that is all too typical of many school settings. Using ideas and images from Buddhism, ecological thinking, and hermeneutics, the author shows how these lineages help with the practical work of thinking and acting differently regarding the knowledge entrusted to teachers and students in schools. It offers the image of living fields of relations as an alternative to the fragmented, industrial?assembly machinations that drive much curriculum thinking and practice. It roots this alternative in solid scholarly work, both inside and outside of the orbit of educational literature. This book can provide encouragement and example to those working in schools who have sensed the shifting of human consciousness and conscience over the past decades towards issues of sustainability, interrelatedness, diversity, ancestry, ecological well?being, and dependent co?arising. It provides solid classroom?based examples coupled with substantial scholarly delving into the roots of such work in long?standing streams of thinking that are born outside of the usual orbits of educational theory and practice, but that provide that practice with a refuge and a relief and an alternative. This book can also provide examples to those doing graduate work in education of how interpretive research into classrooms can be conducted, and how this work is must be solid, well?rooted, scholarly and meticulously thought out. It is useful as a handbook and sourcebook for interpretive research or hermeneutic research, and provides a wide array of sources and themes for the conduct of such work.

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Book SynopsisThis first book by insight meditation teacher and workshop leader Gemma Polo Pujol is full of profoundly transformative teachings. For many people, their path to meditation and dharma is through suffering, and these short pieces are unequivocally aware of this and offer an immediate sense of peace that many of us have thought was not possible. You feel in safe hands – Gemma has trained for decades within the great spiritual traditions and has taught for a long time, including in her own retreat centre. She does not charge for her teachings, continuing an ancient spiritual tradition of dana, of making the teachings available to all and honouring that which is priceless. Gemma has chosen ten headings in an order that reflects the different stages of the spiritual journey. Chapters range from The Call and Abiding In The Light to The Soul's Journey and A Place of Presence. At the end of each chapter she offers a practical exercise or meditation. This is one of the best books of inspirational writings published for quite some time. There’s an incredible patient wisdom that runs through the words, born out of years of experience in teaching and a deep experience of life.

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Book SynopsisEinstein famously stated that there are only two ways to live: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is. When we’re undefended, psychologically naked with nothing standing between us and our immediate experience, then everyday miracles are within reach. Opening to the moment unfolding right before our eyes, exactly as it is, becomes a doorway into a magical landscape. What Was in Buddha's Left Hand? inspires us to experience the world with refreshing openness and appreciation, where we might discover enlightenment where we least expect to find it.

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Book SynopsisWhat does President George Washington have in common with the Buddha, Sakyamuni? Author and teacher, Robert Sachs, brings together the lessons and teachings of these two great men; one an exemplary political figure, the other, the founder of one of the world’s great wisdom traditions. The result is a guidebook to study, carry with you, and apply to cultivate healthy, intelligent, and communication and action inspired by and rooted in civility.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the early teachings of Buddhism associated with the life of the Buddha, Siddhatta Gotama. In these teachings, the Buddha put forward his famous Four Noble Truths concerning the nature of suffering, its causes, the Truth that it can be overcome, and a pathway to end suffering. The suffering experienced in the contemporary coronavirus pandemic may seem to be very distant from the Buddhas message delivered over two thousand years ago, but the teaching of the Four Noble Truths is as relevant today as it was all that time ago. So this book melds the two, occasionally with discrete treatment of past and present but ever cognizant of the ways in which the teachings of the past inform the present crisis. To understand coronaviruses, the book examines the nature of viruses, their origins, causes and the ways in which they are both friends and enemies of humankind. Importantly and crucially, the book investigates how far humanity itself is the cause of its own suffering in the pandemics that arise no less in the coronaviruses that have emerged in the twenty-first century. Chapters include: The Buddha; Viruses: Friends and Enemies; The Noble Truth of Suffering; The Second Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering; The Third Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering; The Fourth Noble Truth: The Noble Eightfold Path; The Noble Eightfold Path: Mindfulness and Concentration; The Brahma-vihara: Love: Compassion: Sympathetic Joy: Equanimity.

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Book SynopsisThis is an interspiritual commentary -- largely though not exclusively Buddhist-inspired -- on the life of Elijah as recounted in the Bible. It treats the externals of his life as metaphors for internal mind-states, his story as a labyrinth-like journey toward enlightenment, an unfolding realization of the non-duality of himself and God. Elijah begins with a henotheistic conception of God as a national deity connected to the land of Israel and progresses to a realization of God as the ground of being, being-itself, the God of those who struggle with God, which is the deeper meaning of the name Israel. While the inner dimension is emphasized, there is also a focus on the political dimension of the story, which liberation theologians call God’s preferential option for the poor, and here it is called the politics of anatta -- the core Buddhist principle of not-self.

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Book SynopsisIn this innovative book, S. Niggol Seo investigates the intrinsic and intriguing relationship between the fundamental teachings of Buddhism and the principles of economics and happiness. Offering a unique perspective on the topic, Seo delves deep into the theoretical foundations of economics and Buddhist teachings, highlighting how these seemingly polar opposite thought systems cross paths.Seo argues that when it comes to markets, prices, interest rates, growth, poverty, and environmental protection, Buddhism and economics share a number of common economic ideas. Written in an accessible style, Seo presents both a succinct and encompassing description of Buddhism for economists, as well as a comprehensive overview of economics. Buddha, Wisdom and Economics brings together in a balanced and systematic way the common ground between both endeavours. It further examines important topics in the field in light of Buddhist teachings, including economic growth and happiness, poverty and environmental protection.This thought-provoking book will be an invigorating read for undergraduate and postgraduate economics students and to those with a particular interest in development economics, religion, welfare and happiness studies. It also offers ground-breaking insights for economic policy-makers looking to better understand the intersection between Buddhism and economics.Trade Review‘Buddha, Wisdom and Economics: A Contribution to the Art of Happiness by S. Niggol Seo is a complicated and thoughtful treatise of two facets of the author's life. The first has been spent reading and absorbing the thoughts of the three Buddhas. The second has been a long professional education understanding economics and applying that understanding specifically to environmental economics. The aim of the book is to present a deeper understanding of Buddhism to economists and an introduction of economics to Buddhists.' -- Robert Mendelsohn, Yale University, USTable of ContentsContents: Preface viii About the Author 1 Introduction to Buddha, Wisdom and Economics 2 Buddha: a concise introduction with life stories for this audience 3 Perfection of wisdom: a concise introduction for this audience 4 Market: the foundation of economics 5 The value of something: material value versus inner value 6 Capital and interest rate: no possessions or earn profits? 7 Economic growth: happiness versus growth 8 Poverty: all people being equal versus getting people out of poverty 9 Environmental protection: protect all versus protect wisely 10 Personal reflections on bodhisattva deeds in the “reality” of the market Bibliography of the Sutras Cited Index

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Book SynopsisThis book brings together the studies of Jeaneane Fowler in Taoism, Chinese popular religion and the broader canvas of Chinese cosmogony, and those of Merv Fowler in Confucianism, Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism. 'Chinese Religions' requires no previous knowledge and thereby serves as an introduction to the religions of China, and places it in the wider context of Chinese history and philosophy. The facets of Chinese religions are as broad, multilayered and varied as the geographical vastness of China itself, yet so many Chinese beliefs have found their way into the West -- the theory of yin and yang, the I Ching, the Tao Te Ching are good examples. One of the greatest characteristics of Chinese religions is that they encompass virtually every avenue of religious thought throughout the long span of Chinese pre-historic and historical pathways.Table of ContentsContents include: Ancient China: The Three Dynasties; Religious Taoism; Rhythms of the Universe; Chan Buddhism; Confucianism; Pure Land Buddhism; Neo-Confucianism; Popular Religion; Classical Taoism; Chinese Religions Today.

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Book SynopsisIn 1983, a tiny group of people in Cardiff and a married couple in Aberporth West Wales were the only Welsh members of Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese movement based on the beliefs and teachings of the 13th century Buddhist, Nichiren Daishonin. Today, there are hundreds of members in Wales and the Borders. This book examines the history of the movement in these two areas, and draws on original research gleaned from the members themselves. The research elicits facets of their faith, practices, and study, as well as their testimonies to the success of such beliefs and practices in their daily lives. The book combines the twin goals of academic analysis of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin in general with the warmth of its expression in the lives of its adherents in Wales and the Borders.Table of ContentsContents include: The philosophy and history of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism; The history of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism in Wales and the Borders; The human revolution for a universal humanity; Practices, Experiences and Ceremonies; The 'Lotus Sutra'.

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Book SynopsisThe Pureland schools are the largest Buddhist denominations in Japan, and yet this approach to Buddhism is hardly known in the West. Pureland centres on our relationship with Amida Buddha, the embodiment of measureless love, light and life. It offers a fresh view of spirituality, recognising us in our mundane lives, whilst lifting us into relationship with the eternal. As ordinary people, we cannot fathom our own depths nor can we know the immensity of the universe. We can but stand in awe and reach out to what we intuitively know to be beyond the small orbit of our lives. Pureland is a path of simplicity and beauty, poetry and nature. It is the path of faith.Trade ReviewIn this profound work, Caroline Brazier looks at the apparent opposites of Pure Land Buddhism and psychotherapeutic practice in a deep and unifying manner. Leading us gently but firmly, she shows how the Other-power - which is the essence of the Pure Land (Jodo) Path - can be a vital factor in a full restoration of the harmony of self. The result is not only an essential book for Buddhists, for students of religion, and for therapists of all schools, but for anyone who seeks an improved ability to cope with the stresses of our everyday world. Jim Pym, editor of Pure Land Notes, and author of You Dont Have to Sit on the Floor.

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Book SynopsisA Cup of Buddha: reflections on truth discusses how to take the journey toward inner peace, toward truth in entertaining, simple language beyond the abstract and mystical concepts typically found in eastern philosophy books. The book applies eastern philosophy to western living utilizing pop culture and music metaphors to explore dense topics in an easy to digest format. Individuals are restless, and unhappy. We search for the water to put out our fire of discontent filling this space with self help books, food, new cars, relationships, and more, all with short term satisfaction but our fire still burns. We look outward, we look to others, yet the fire rages. A Cup of Buddha: reflections on truth addresses this fire within each of us, exploring the actual journey toward truth, understanding that each moment in life is everything, and we alone ultimately make this choice toward happiness.Trade ReviewThomas Craig speaks of the unknown in very pragmatic and understandable way in his book A Cup Of Buddha. He succeeds in bringing Buddhism into your everyday way of life. A wonderful read. (Lynn Andrews, Bestselling author of Medicine Woman)

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Book SynopsisMost of us have lived through painful, humiliating or traumatic experiences, leaving us haunted and conditioned by reactions that trap us in ongoing cycles of feeling hurt and hurting others. And on the wider political scale, we have obviously yet to learn the art of responding well to the hurts of terrorism, exploitation, or more local conflicts of interest. Either we resort to reciprocal violence, or claim too readily the status of innocent victim. The book begins by looking at three predominant negative responses. It then draws on a variety of traditions from the author's own Buddhist Christian perspective, exploring how deep meditation can help take us beyond the negative narratives of hurt. The author finds ambivalent but broadly positive images in childhood innocence and the tragicomic fool, and urges the importance of a radical and unconditional forgiveness of self and others that is grounded in both Buddhist Emptiness and the risen Christ. By these means, the habit of accusation that so easily dominates self and society can give way to humour and mutual wonder.Trade ReviewWounded Wisdom is both an accessible text and a significant contribution to the dialogue between theology and psychology. The academic discussion is clear and wide-ranging , while the author's own poetry, together with the stories he has uncovered, are unafraid to tap into violent emotion. Readers will be intrigued by his synthesis of Buddhism ('a wave-like approach') and Christianity ('a more focused, particle-like' description). This is a fine exemplar of the burgeoning genre of practical theology - well-informed, personally engaged and committed to Love's lessons, wherever they are found. (Charles Hampton - pastoral psychologist)

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Book SynopsisHoping to rediscover his deeper purpose, Rijumati, an English Buddhist teacher and businessman, embarked on a journey into the unknown: a round-the-world trip by land and sea that became a kind of pilgrimage. Months - and many crises - later he returned with new reverence for ordinary people and places, a sense of veneration for nature's wonders and a profound gratitude for being human. Part travel diary and part record of a spiritual journey, these pages evoke the sacred, remote places encountered in the outer world alongside the 'inner terrain' that unfolded along the way. If you have ever felt the call of the open road, longed to travel as a form of self-discovery, or just wanted to know how to stay sane whilst getting a visa stamp in Kazakhstan, then Pilgrimage to Anywhere is for you.Trade ReviewRijumati's long journey took him through many countries, cultures, and climates, and he writes with veracity and verve about the places he passed through and the diverse people he met. Once you have started on this book you will find it difficult to put it down. (Sangharakshita, author of The Rainbow Road and Facing Mount Kanchenjunga)

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Book SynopsisThe Yugyō-ha achieved success by basing its religious authority on a combination of Pure Land mysticism and the practices of fundraising hijiri. Between 1300 and 1700, the Pure Land Buddhist religious order known as the Ippen school Yugyō-ha (later the Jishu) established itself as the leading representative of nembutsu propagation in Japan. The theme of the order's history is the development of religious authority as a result of the struggle to normalize relations among the official head, sometimes obstreperous religious, and often interfering (usually warrior) lay patrons. This study demonstrates the value of the articulation in organizational studies of Weber's concept of charisma as a successful social relationship as well as that of a chosen career determined by culture and tradition. Indeed, the success of the Yugyō-ha was due to its ability to seize on the advantages of combining the principles and practices of two existing traditions, Pure Land mysticism and the fundraising hijiri movement.Trade ReviewBy identifying key events and turning points in the development of the Yugyō-ha, Thornton describes a historical process. Rich in detail, nuanced in argument, and original in its approach... a welcome addition to the study of premodern Japanese Buddhism. * History of Religions *

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Book SynopsisTranslated by Francis H. Cook, this volume comprises three important texts of the Yogacara school. ""Demonstration of Consciousness Only"" is an in-depth commentary on Vasubandhu's ""Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only"" by Hsuan-tsang. It also includes the text of Vasubandhu's ""Thirty Verses"" and ""The Treatise in Twenty Verses on Consciousness Only"", which presents a logical defense of Yogacara doctrine.

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Book SynopsisContains biographies of three great Mahayana masters, sixty-five Chinese nuns from the fourth to sixth centuries, and an account of the life and travels in South Asia of the fifth-century Chinese monk, Faxian.

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Book SynopsisThe Sutra of Queen Srimala is an important early Mahayana text. The ""Vimalakirti Sutra"" is a well-known sutra that deals extensively with the doctrines of nonduality and emptiness. This work presents two titles in one volume.

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Book SynopsisLewis Rosser Lancaster’s vision led to the establishment of the Group in Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972. The Group continues today as one of the most important programs for the academic study of Buddhism. Lancaster’s dissertation on the Chinese translations of the 8,000 Line Perfection of Wisdom sutra informed the program with a strong philological emphasis, and a focus on the detailed understanding the historical development of a text and the comparative study of different versions. His scholarly projects have included the creation of The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, which continues to serve as an important tool for research into the Buddhist canon. This work also relates to the contributions he made to Buddhist studies by bringing greater scholarly attention to Korean Buddhism. Much of his recent efforts have been devoted to integrating the power of data search procedures into the study of the history of the canon. These efforts include a challenge to traditional views of texts as self-contained autonomous entities with a clear and identifiable history. Instead texts emerge as events, that is, as nodes in networks, ones that have complex interconnections with one another.

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Book SynopsisCompiled by Vinaya Master Shi Sengyou, these writings (by laypeople as well as scholar-monastics) were intended to protect the Buddha Dharma from criticisms by Confucians and Daoists and the political powers of the time. As noted in the Translator's Introduction, Sengyou believed that ""The Way is propagated by people, and the teaching is clarified by literature.”The work is widely known as an invaluable source to examine the early development of Chinese Buddhism and how this foreign religion was accepted and adopted in Chinese society. A notable aspect of this work is that Buddhist tenets are explained using Confucian and Daoist terminology. While the Collection is a Buddhist work from chiefly the fourth and fifth centuries, it also serves well as a primary source for studies of contemporary Daoism.Volume 2 completes the translation with fascicles 8-14 of the source text; Volume I (available separately) comprises fascicles 1-7.

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Book Synopsis

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