Domesticating the Dharma

Domesticating the Dharma PDF Author: Richard D. McBride II
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824862244
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Western scholarship has hitherto described the assimilation of Buddhism in Korea in terms of the importation of Sino-Indian and Chinese intellectual schools. This has led to an overemphasis on the scholastic understanding of Buddhism and overlooked evidence of the way Buddhism was practiced "on the ground." Domesticating the Dharma provides a much-needed corrective to this view by presenting for the first time a descriptive analysis of the cultic practices that defined and shaped the way Buddhists in Silla Korea understood their religion from the sixth to tenth centuries. Critiquing the conventional two-tiered model of "elite" versus "popular" religion, Richard McBride demonstrates how the eminent monks, royalty, and hereditary aristocrats of Silla were the primary proponents of Buddhist cults and that rich and diverse practices spread to the common people because of their influence. Drawing on Buddhist hagiography, traditional narratives, historical anecdotes, and epigraphy, McBride describes the seminal role of the worship of Buddhist deities—in particular the Buddha Úâkyamuni, the future buddha Maitreya, and the bodhisattva Avalokiteúvara—in the domestication of the religion on the Korean peninsula and the use of imagery from the Maitreya cult to create a symbiosis between the native religious observances of Silla and those being imported from the Chinese cultural sphere. He shows how in turn Buddhist imagery transformed Silla intellectually, geographically, and spatially to represent a Buddha land and sacred locations detailed in the Avataṃsaka Sûtra (Huayan jing/Hwaŏm kyŏng). Emphasizing the importance of the interconnected vision of the universe described in the Avataṃsaka Sûtra, McBride depicts the synthesis of Buddhist cults and cultic practices that flourished in Silla Korea with the practice-oriented Hwaŏm tradition from the eight to tenth centuries and its subsequent rise to a uniquely Korean cult of the Divine Assembly described in scripture.

Domesticating the Dharma

Domesticating the Dharma PDF Author: Richard D. McBride II
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824862244
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book

Book Description
Western scholarship has hitherto described the assimilation of Buddhism in Korea in terms of the importation of Sino-Indian and Chinese intellectual schools. This has led to an overemphasis on the scholastic understanding of Buddhism and overlooked evidence of the way Buddhism was practiced "on the ground." Domesticating the Dharma provides a much-needed corrective to this view by presenting for the first time a descriptive analysis of the cultic practices that defined and shaped the way Buddhists in Silla Korea understood their religion from the sixth to tenth centuries. Critiquing the conventional two-tiered model of "elite" versus "popular" religion, Richard McBride demonstrates how the eminent monks, royalty, and hereditary aristocrats of Silla were the primary proponents of Buddhist cults and that rich and diverse practices spread to the common people because of their influence. Drawing on Buddhist hagiography, traditional narratives, historical anecdotes, and epigraphy, McBride describes the seminal role of the worship of Buddhist deities—in particular the Buddha Úâkyamuni, the future buddha Maitreya, and the bodhisattva Avalokiteúvara—in the domestication of the religion on the Korean peninsula and the use of imagery from the Maitreya cult to create a symbiosis between the native religious observances of Silla and those being imported from the Chinese cultural sphere. He shows how in turn Buddhist imagery transformed Silla intellectually, geographically, and spatially to represent a Buddha land and sacred locations detailed in the Avataṃsaka Sûtra (Huayan jing/Hwaŏm kyŏng). Emphasizing the importance of the interconnected vision of the universe described in the Avataṃsaka Sûtra, McBride depicts the synthesis of Buddhist cults and cultic practices that flourished in Silla Korea with the practice-oriented Hwaŏm tradition from the eight to tenth centuries and its subsequent rise to a uniquely Korean cult of the Divine Assembly described in scripture.

Domesticating the Dharma

Domesticating the Dharma PDF Author: Richard D. McBride II
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824830873
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Western scholarship has hitherto described the assimilation of Buddhism in Korea in terms of the importation of Sino-Indian and Chinese intellectual schools. This has led to an overemphasis on the scholastic understanding of Buddhism and overlooked evidence of the way Buddhism was practiced "on the ground." Domesticating the Dharma provides a much-needed corrective to this view by presenting for the first time a descriptive analysis of the cultic practices that defined and shaped the way Buddhists in Silla Korea understood their religion from the sixth to tenth centuries. Critiquing the conventional two-tiered model of "elite" versus "popular" religion, Richard McBride demonstrates how the eminent monks, royalty, and hereditary aristocrats of Silla were the primary proponents of Buddhist cults and that rich and diverse practices spread to the common people because of their influence. Drawing on Buddhist hagiography, traditional narratives, historical anecdotes, and epigraphy, McBride describes the seminal role of the worship of Buddhist deities—in particular the Buddha Úâkyamuni, the future buddha Maitreya, and the bodhisattva Avalokiteúvara—in the domestication of the religion on the Korean peninsula and the use of imagery from the Maitreya cult to create a symbiosis between the native religious observances of Silla and those being imported from the Chinese cultural sphere. He shows how in turn Buddhist imagery transformed Silla intellectually, geographically, and spatially to represent a Buddha land and sacred locations detailed in the Avataṃsaka Sûtra (Huayan jing/Hwaŏm kyŏng). Emphasizing the importance of the interconnected vision of the universe described in the Avataṃsaka Sûtra, McBride depicts the synthesis of Buddhist cults and cultic practices that flourished in Silla Korea with the practice-oriented Hwaŏm tradition from the eight to tenth centuries and its subsequent rise to a uniquely Korean cult of the Divine Assembly described in scripture.

American Dharma

American Dharma PDF Author: Ann Gleig
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300245041
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
The past couple of decades have witnessed Buddhist communities both continuing the modernization of Buddhism and questioning some of its limitations. In this fascinating portrait of a rapidly changing religious landscape, Ann Gleig illuminates the aspirations and struggles of younger North American Buddhists during a period she identifies as a distinct stage in the assimilation of Buddhism to the West. She observes both the emergence of new innovative forms of deinstitutionalized Buddhism that blur the boundaries between the religious and secular, and a revalorization of traditional elements of Buddhism such as ethics and community that were discarded in the modernization process. Based on extensive ethnographic and textual research, the book ranges from mindfulness debates in the Vipassana network to the sex scandals in American Zen, while exploring issues around racial diversity and social justice, the impact of new technologies, and generational differences between baby boomer, Gen X, and millennial teachers.

What is the Dharma?

What is the Dharma? PDF Author: Sangharakshita (Bhikshu)
Publisher: Windhorse Publications
ISBN: 9781899579013
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
What is the meaning of life? How can we be truly happy? Buddhism answers these questions through the Dharma, which is a traditional term meaning both "the truth" and "the path", and is the subject of this book, which offers a starter-kit of Buddhist teachings and practices.

Aspiring to Enlightenment

Aspiring to Enlightenment PDF Author: Richard D. McBride II
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824882601
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Centered on the practice of seeking rebirth in the Pure Land paradise Sukhāvatī, the Amitābha cult has been the dominant form of Buddhism in Korea since the middle of the Silla period (ca. 300–935). In Aspiring to Enlightenment, Richard McBride combines analyses of scriptural, exegetical, hagiographical, epigraphical, art historical, and literary materials to provide an episodic account of the cult in Silla times and its rise in an East Asian context through the mutually interconnected perspectives of doctrine and practice. McBride demonstrates that the Pure Land tradition emerging in Korea in the seventh and eighth centuries was vibrant and collaborative and that Silla monk-scholars actively participated in a shared, international Buddhist discourse. Monks such as the exegete par excellence Wŏnhyo and the Yogācāra proponent Kyŏnghŭng did not belong to a specific sect or school, but like their colleagues in China, they participated in a broadly inclusive doctrinal tradition. He examines scholarly debates surrounding the cults of Maitreya and Amitābha, the practice of buddhānusmṛti, the recollection of Amitābha, the “ten recollections” within the larger Mahāyāna context of the bodhisattva’s path of practice, the emerging Huayan intellectual tradition, and the influential interpretations of medieval Chinese Pure Land proponents Tanluan and Shandao. Finally, his work illuminates the legacy of the Silla Pure Land tradition, revealing how the writings of Silla monks continued to be of great value to Japanese monks for several centuries. With its fresh and comprehensive approach to the study of Pure Land Buddhism, Aspiring to Enlightenment is important for not only students and scholars of Korean history and religion and East Asian Buddhism, but also those interested in the complex relationship between doctrinal writings and devotional practice “on the ground.”

Visions of Mahayana Buddhism

Visions of Mahayana Buddhism PDF Author: Nagapriya
Publisher: Windhorse Publications
ISBN: 1909314390
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
In a unique overview of this inspiring tradition, Nagapriya introduces its themes and spectrum of practices, literature and movements. Charting the evolution and expression of the Mahayana as a whole, he tracks its movement across South and East Asia, uncovering its history, culture and doctrines and blending this extensive knowledge with a strong element of lived practice. Ideal for both teaching and personal use, this far-reaching guide provides a solid foundation for any study in Buddhism and a valuable voice on Asian history.

Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism

Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism PDF Author: Aaron P. Proffitt
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824893808
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
What, if anything, is Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism? In 1224, the medieval Japanese scholar-monk Dōhan (1179–1252) composed The Compendium on Esoteric Mindfulness of Buddha (Himitsu nenbutsu shō), which begins with another seemingly simple question: Why is it that practitioners of mantra and meditation rely on the recitation of the name of the Buddha Amitābha? To answer this question, Dōhan explored diverse areas of study spanning the whole of the East Asian Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Although contemporary scholars often study Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism as if they were mutually exclusive and diametrically opposed schools of Buddhism, in the present volume Aaron Proffitt examines Dōhan’s Compendium in the context of the eastward flow of Mahayana Buddhism from India to Japan and uncovers Mahayana Buddhists employing multiple, overlapping, so-called “esoteric” approaches along the path to awakening. Proffitt divides his study into two parts. In Part I he considers how early Buddhologists, working under colonialism, first constructed Mahayana Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism as discrete fields of inquiry. He then surveys the flow of Indian Buddhist spells, dhāraṇī, and mantra texts into China and Japan and the diverse range of Buddhist masters who employed these esoteric techniques to achieve rebirth in Sukhāvatī, the Pure Land of Bliss. In Part II, he considers the life of Dōhan and analyzes the monk’s comprehensive view of buddhānusmṛti as a form of ritual technology that unified body and mind, Sukhāvatī as a this-worldly or other-worldly soteriological goal synonymous with nirvana itself, and the Buddha Amitābha as an object of devotion beyond this world of suffering. The work concludes with the first full translation of Dōhan’s Himitsu nenbutsu shō into a modern language.

Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism

Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism PDF Author:
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824867459
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Ŭich’ŏn (1055-1101) is recognized as a Buddhist master of great stature in the East Asian tradition. Born a prince in the medieval Korean state of Koryŏ (960-1279), he traveled to Song China (960-1279) to study Buddhism and later compiled and published the first collection of East Asian exegetical texts. According to the received scholarly tradition, after returning to Korea, Ŭich’ŏn left the Hwaŏm (Huayan) school to found a new Ch’ŏnt’ae (Tiantai) school when he realized that the synthesis between doctrinal learning and meditative practice in the latter would help bring together the discordant sects of Koryŏ Buddhism. In the late twentieth century, however, scholars began to question the assertion that Ŭich’ŏn forsook one school for another, arguing that his writings assembled in The Collected Works of State Preceptor Taegak (Taegak kuksa munjip) do not portray a committed sectarian but a monk dedicated to developing a sophisticated and rigorous system of monastic education that encompassed all Buddhist intellectual traditions. In this first comprehensive study of Ŭich’ŏn’s life and work in English, Richard McBride presents translations of select lectures, letters, essays, and poetry from The Collected Works to provide a more balanced view of Ŭich’ŏn’s philosophy of life and understanding of key Buddhist teachings. The translations center on the monk’s activities in the pan-East Asian Buddhist world and his compilation of scholarly texts, writings related to his interactions with royalty, and correspondence with his Chinese mentor, Jinshui Jingyuan (1011-1088). By incorporating Ŭich’ŏn’s work associated with doctrinal Buddhism and his poetry, McBride clearly shows that even in his most personal work Ŭich’ŏn did not abandon Hwaŏm teachings for those of the Ch’ŏnt’ae but rather he encouraged monks to blend the best learning from all doctrinal traditions with meditative practice.

Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia PDF Author: Charles Orzech
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004184910
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1223

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Book Description
This volume, the result of an international collaboration of forty scholars, provides a comprehensive resource on Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in their Chinese, Korean, and Japanese contexts from the first few centuries of the common era to the present.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism PDF Author: Mario Poceski
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118610350
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Book Description
The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner AsianBuddhism combines outstanding contributions covering Buddhismas it developed and is practiced in this region. Thesenewly-commissioned essays provide fresh scholarly perspectives on awide range of concepts, texts, and practices. Offers a comprehensive and balanced survey of Buddhism withinEast and Central Asia, from the time of the Buddha through to thepresent day Provides fresh perspectives on a wide range of concepts, texts,traditions, doctrines, practices, and institutions – ontopics spanning gender roles, tantric rituals, and the spread ofZen into Europe Brings together cutting-edge research by an interdisciplinaryand international contributor team, including historians,literature scholars, and historians, as well as those fromreligious studies Presents a panoramic view of the extraordinary richness andvariety of local Buddhist expressions and practices within Chinese,Korean, Japanese, and Tibetan, cultures