Description
Book SynopsisAlthough contemporary scholars often study Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism as if they were mutually exclusive and diametrically opposed schools of Buddhism, Aaron Proffitt examines Dohan’s Compendium in the context of the eastward flow of Mahayana Buddhism from India to Japan.
Trade ReviewAaron Proffitt combines two terms that are usually considered distinct—"Esoteric" and "Pure Land"—to show that both traditions as we know them today in Japan were incubated in the same historical and intellectual context. Their disambiguation did not happen until much later, and much of the reification happened in modernity. . . . With scholarly acumen, Proffitt shows that Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism were not mutually exclusive categories, but rather elements existing in the same cultural sphere, each influencing and shaping the other." - Joie Szu-Chiao Chen, Buddhadharma (Summer 2023)
