The Life of Buddhism / Edition 1

by Frank E. Reynolds, Jason A. Carbine

Overview

Bringing together fifteen essays by outstanding Buddhist scholars from Asia, Europe, and North America, this book offers a distinctive portrayal of the "life of Buddhism." The contributors focus on a number of religious practices across the Buddhist world, from Sri Lanka to New York, Japan to Tibet. The essays highlight not so much Buddhist doctrine or sacred texts, but rather the actual behavior and lived experience of Buddhist adherents.

A general introduction by Frank E. Reynolds and Jason A. Carbine provides a historical overview and briefly characterizes the three major variants of Buddhist tradition—the Hinayana/Theravada branch practiced in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia; the Mahayana branch located most notably in East Asia; and the Vajrayana/Esoteric branch established in Tibet and Japan. It also takes note of a distinctive form of Buddhism that is now emerging among non-Asian practitioners in the West. The editors introduce each essay with a brief commentary that situates its contents within the Buddhist tradition as a whole.

The pieces offer concise depictions and analyses of particular aspects of Buddhist life, including temple architecture and iconography, the consecration of sacred objects, meditative practices, devotional expressions, exorcisms, and pilgrimage journeys. Topics discussed also include the construction of religio-political and religio-social hierarchies, gender roles, the management of asocial behavior, and confrontations with dying and death.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520223370
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	12/02/2000
Series:	The Life of Religion , #1
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Frank E. Reynolds is Professor of Buddhist Studies and History of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His many edited books include Myth and Philosophy (1990) and Religion and Practical Reason (1994). Jason A. Carbine specializes in Buddhist Studies within the History of Religions Program at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Table of Contents

NOTE TO THE READER
GENERAL INTRODUCTION

PART 1: TEMPLES, SACRED OBJECTS, AND ASSOCIATED RITUALS

Chapter 1
Temples and Monastic Complexes (Japan)

“A View of Temple Life and Practice,”
James Bissett Pratt

Chapter 2
Image Consecrations (Thailand)

“Creating and Disseminating the Sacred,”
Donald K. Swearer

Chapter 3
State Rituals and Ceremonies (Myanma)

“A Tooth Relic and the Legitimation of Power,”
Juliane Schober

Chapter 4
Village Rituals and Ceremonies (Thailand)

“Bun Phraawes,” S. J. Tambiah

PART II: MONASTIC PRACTICES

Chapter 5
The Ordination of Monks and Novices (Korea)

“Ordination in the Chogye Order,”
Robert E. Buswell

Chapter 6
Female Renunciants (Myanma[r]/Burma)

“Theravadin Religious Women,” Hiroko Kawanami

Chapter 7
Meditation (Japan)

“A Morning Star Meditation,” Taiko Yamasaki

Chapter 8
The Monastic Quest: A Biographical
Example (Tibet)

“The Biography of a Nun,” Hanna Havnevik

Chapter 9
Monastic Funerals (Thailand)

“The Cremation of a Senior Monk,”
Charles F. Keyes

PART III: LAY PRACTICE

Chapter 10
Lay Identity and Participation (China)

“Lay Praxis in a Mahayana Context,”
Holmes Welch

Chapter 11
Cosmology and Law (Tibet)

“Buddhist Secular Law: Doctrines in Context,”
Rebecca Redwood French

Chapter 12
Cosmology and Healing (Sri Lanka)

“Yaktovil: The Role of the Buddha and
Dhamma,” Jason A. Carbine

Chapter 13
Devotional Rituals: Recent Innovations (Sri Lanka)

“A New Theravadin Liturgy,” Richard Gombrich

Chapter 14
Death and Beyond (Japan)

“Memorializing One’s Mizuko,”
William R. LaFleur

PART IV: BUDDHISM IN THE WEST

Chapter 15
An American Example

“Transmitting the Dharma,” Philip Kapleau

BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX