The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature

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Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 1438426593
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

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Book Synopsis The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature by : John Whalen-Bridge

Download or read book The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature written by John Whalen-Bridge and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2009-06-11 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The encounter between Buddhism and American literature has been a powerful one for both parties. While Buddhism fueled the Beat movement's resounding critique of the United States as a spiritually dead society, Beat writers and others have shaped how Buddhism has been presented to and perceived by a North American audience. Contributors to this volume explore how Asian influences have been adapted to American desires in literary works and Buddhist poetics, or how Buddhist practices emerge in literary works. Starting with early aesthetic theories of Ernest Fenollosa, made famous but also distorted by Ezra Pound, the book moves on to the countercultural voices associated with the Beat movement and its friends and heirs such as Ginsberg, Kerouac, Snyder, Giorno, Waldman, and Whalen. The volume also considers the work of contemporary American writers of color influenced by Buddhism, such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Charles Johnson, and Lan Cao. An interview with Kingston is included.

Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhara

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1614291853
Total Pages : 479 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (142 download)

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Book Synopsis Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhara by : Salomon Richard

Download or read book Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhara written by Salomon Richard and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the fascinating history of a long-hidden Buddhist culture at a historic crossroads. In the years following Alexander the Great’s conquest of the East, a series of empires rose up along the Silk Road. In what is now northern Pakistan, the civilizations in the region called Gandhara became increasingly important centers for the development of Buddhism, reaching their apex under King Kaniska of the Kusanas in the second century CE. Gandhara has long been known for its Greek-Indian synthesis in architecture and statuary, but until about twenty years ago, almost nothing was known about its literature. The insights provided by manuscripts unearthed over the last few decades show that Gandhara was indeed a vital link in the early development of Buddhism, instrumental in both the transmission of Buddhism to China and the rise of the Mahayana tradition. The Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhara surveys what we know about Gandhara and its Buddhism, and it also provides translations of a dozen different short texts, from similes and stories to treatises on time and reality.

Readings of the Platform Sutra

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Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231500556
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Readings of the Platform Sutra by : Morten Schlütter

Download or read book Readings of the Platform Sutra written by Morten Schlütter and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2012-02-07 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Platform Sutra comprises a wide range of important Chan/Zen Buddhist teachings. Purported to contain the autobiography and sermons of Huineng (638–713), the legendary Sixth Patriarch of Chan, the sutra has been popular among monastics and the educated elite for centuries. The first study of its kind in English, this volume offers essays that introduce the history and ideas of the sutra to a general audience and interpret its practices. Leading specialists on Buddhism discuss the text's historical background and its vaunted legacy in Chinese culture. Incorporating recent scholarship and theory, chapters include an overview of Chinese Buddhism, the crucial role of the Platform Sutra in the Chan tradition, and the dynamics of Huineng's biography. They probe the sutra's key philosophical arguments, its paradoxical teachings about transmission, and its position on ordination and other institutions. The book includes a character glossary and extensive bibliography, with helpful references for students, general readers, and specialists throughout. The editors and contributors are among the most respected scholars in the study of Buddhism, and they assess the place of the Platform Sutra in the broader context of Chinese thought, opening the text to all readers interested in Asian culture, literature, spirituality, and religion.

Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature

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Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 1438480725
Total Pages : 455 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

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Book Synopsis Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature by : Rafal K. Stepien

Download or read book Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature written by Rafal K. Stepien and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2020-11-01 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can literature reveal reality? Is philosophical truth a literary artifice? How does the way we think affect what we can know? Buddhism has been grappling with these questions for centuries, and this book attempts to answer them by exploring the relationship between literature and philosophy across the classical and contemporary Buddhist worlds of India, Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, and North America. Written by leading scholars, the book examines literary texts composed over two millennia, ranging in form from lyric verse, narrative poetry, panegyric, hymn, and koan, to novel, hagiography, (secret) autobiography, autofiction, treatise, and sutra, all in sustained conversation with topics in metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophies of mind, language, literature, and religion. Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural, this book deliberately works across and against the boundaries separating three mainstays of humanistic pursuit—literature, philosophy, and religion—by focusing on the multiple relationships at play between content and form in works drawn from a truly diverse range of philosophical schools, literary genres, religious cultures, and historical eras. Overall, the book calls into question the very ways in which we do philosophy, study literature, and think about religious texts. It shows that Buddhist thought provides sophisticated responses to some of the perennial problems regarding how we find, create, and apply meaning—on the page, in the mind, and throughout our lives.

Miracles of Book and Body

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Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520265610
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis Miracles of Book and Body by : Charlotte Eubanks

Download or read book Miracles of Book and Body written by Charlotte Eubanks and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is an exciting exploration of the world of Buddhist attitudes towards religious texts, from Indian scriptures to Japanese medieval tales. Its emphasis on discursive strategies—how Buddhist texts function and what they expect of their readers/users (especially, the connection between books, their content, and their readers' bodies)—is a welcome new perspective."—Fabio Rambelli, author of Buddhist Materiality "Miracles of Book and Body is fluidly written and engaging. This book brings the reader to an awareness of the range and foci of medieval 'popular' readings of sutra literature, and Eubanks provides an important perspective to interpreting these narratives that is original and stimulating."—Thomas W. Hare, author of Zeami: Performance Notes "Charlotte Eubanks' sophisticated, insightful and readable study of the physicalities of sutra texts and sutra recitation makes sense of some of the strangest phenomena in medieval Japan. By disentangling the literal and metaphorical meanings in Buddhist setsuwa, Eubanks explains such things as how memorizing a text is an embodiment thereof, how texts can become sentient beings, and why the scroll is an appropriate format for recording dharma. Her work is both important and engaging."—Margaret H. Childs, University of Kansas "Drawing on an impressive range of Mahayana scriptures and medieval Japanese didactic tales, Eubanks unpacks recurrent tropes correlating text and flesh to reveal surprising connections among the literary, material, and ritual dimensions of Buddhist textual culture. Elegantly written and theoretically astute, this volume will be welcomed not only by specialists in Buddhist literature but also by readers interested in broader issues of text-based religious practice."—Jacqueline Stone, author of Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism

Buddha in Sri Lanka

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Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 079148114X
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (914 download)

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Book Synopsis Buddha in Sri Lanka by : Swarna Wickremeratne

Download or read book Buddha in Sri Lanka written by Swarna Wickremeratne and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides both an erudite and intimate look at how Buddhism is lived in Sri Lanka. While India is known as the birthplace of Buddhism, Sri Lanka is its other home; Buddhism extends back over twenty-five hundred years on the island and remains at the center of its spiritual traditions and culture. Throughout the book, author Swarna Wickremeratne incorporates a personal view, sharing stories of herself, her family, friends, and acquaintances as they "lived Buddhism" both during her Sri Lankan girlhood and during more recent times. This personal view makes the traditions come alive as Wickremeratne details Buddhist beliefs, customs, rituals and ceremonies, and folklore. She also provides a fascinating discussion of the Sangha, the institutional monkhood in Sri Lanka, including its history, codes of conduct, and evolution and resilience over time. Wickremeratne explores the recent attempts by many monks to reinvent themselves in a society characterized by secularization, globalization, and a tide of aggressive Christian evangelization.

Head, Eyes, Flesh, and Blood

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Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231137087
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (311 download)

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Book Synopsis Head, Eyes, Flesh, and Blood by : Reiko Ohnuma

Download or read book Head, Eyes, Flesh, and Blood written by Reiko Ohnuma and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Head, Eyes, Flesh, and Blood is the first comprehensive study of a central narrative theme in premodern South Asian Buddhist literature: the Buddha's bodily self-sacrifice during his previous lives as a bodhisattva. Conducting close readings of stories from Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, and Tibetan literature written between the third century BCE and the late medieval period, Reiko Ohnuma argues that this theme has had a major impact on the development of Buddhist philosophy and culture. Whether he takes the form of king, prince, ascetic, elephant, hare, serpent, or god, the bodhisattva repeatedly gives his body or parts of his flesh to others. He leaps into fires, drowns himself in the ocean, rips out his tusks, gouges out his eyes, and lets mosquitoes drink from his blood, always out of selflessness and compassion and to achieve the highest state of Buddhahood. Ohnuma places these stories into a discrete subgenre of South Asian Buddhist literature and approaches them like case studies, analyzing their plots, characterizations, and rhetoric. She then relates the theme of the Buddha's bodily self-sacrifice to major conceptual discourses in the history of Buddhism and South Asian religions, such as the categories of the gift, the body (both ordinary and extraordinary), kingship, sacrifice, ritual offering, and death. Head, Eyes, Flesh, and Blood reveals a very sophisticated and influential perception of the body in South Asian Buddhist literature and highlights the way in which these stories have provided an important cultural resource for Buddhists. Combined with her rich and careful translations of classic texts, Ohnuma introduces a whole new understanding of a vital concept in Buddhists studies.

River of Fire, River of Water

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Author :
Publisher : Image
ISBN 13 : 0307575462
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (75 download)

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Book Synopsis River of Fire, River of Water by : Taitetsu Unno

Download or read book River of Fire, River of Water written by Taitetsu Unno and published by Image. This book was released on 2010-01-13 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With great spiritual insight and unparalleled scholarship, Dr. Taitetsu Unno—the foremost authority in the United States on Shin or Pure Land Buddhism—introduces us to the most popular form of Buddhism in Japan. Unique among the various practices of Buddhism, this "new" form of spiritual practice is certain to enrich the growing practice of Buddhism in the United States, which is already quite familiar with Zen and Tibetan traditions. River of Fire, River of Water is an introduction to the practice of Pure Land Buddhism for readers with or without prior experience with it. The Pure Land tradition dates back to the sixth century c.e., when Buddhism was first introduced in Japan. Unlike Zen, its counterpart which flourished in remote monasteries, the Pure Land tradition was the form of Buddhism practiced by common people. Consequently, its practice is harmonious with the workings of daily life, making it easily adaptable for seekers today. Despite the difference in method, though, the goal of Pure Land is the same as other schools—the awakening of the true self. Certain to take its place alongside great works such as Three Pillars of Zen, The Miracle of Mindfulness, and Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind—River of Fire, River of Water is an important step forward for American Buddhism.

The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1614290407
Total Pages : 1936 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (142 download)

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Book Synopsis The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha by :

Download or read book The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha written by and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-10-16 with total page 1936 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present work offers a complete translation of the Aguttara Nikya, the fourth major collection in the Sutta Piṭaka, or Basket of Discourses, belonging to the Pali Canon

The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 086171072X
Total Pages : 1423 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (617 download)

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Book Synopsis The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha by : Bodhi

Download or read book The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha written by Bodhi and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1995-11-09 with total page 1423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 152 discourses that form this major collection combine a rich variety of contextual settings with a deep & comprehensive assortment of teachings. A companion volume to The Long Discourses of the Buddha. 1995 winner of Choice Magazine's "Outstanding Academic Book" Award.

Buddhist Animal Wisdom Stories

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Publisher : Shambhala Publications
ISBN 13 : 0834826011
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (348 download)

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Book Synopsis Buddhist Animal Wisdom Stories by : Mark W. McGinnis

Download or read book Buddhist Animal Wisdom Stories written by Mark W. McGinnis and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2004-11-09 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the beginning of the common era, Indian Buddhists began to collect fables, or jataka tales, illuminating various human virtues and foibles—from kindness, cooperation, loyalty and self-discipline on the one hand to greed, pride, foolishness, and treachery on the other. Instead of populating these stories with people, they cast the animals of their immediate environment in the leading roles—which may have given the tales a universal appeal that helped them travel around the world, surfacing in the Middle East as Aesop's fables and in various other guises throughout East and Southeast Asia, Africa, Russia, and Europe. Author and painter Mark McGinnis has collected over forty of these hallowed popular tales and retold them in vividly poetic yet accessible language, their original Buddhist messages firmly intact. Each story is accompanied with a beautifully rendered full-color painting, making this an equally attractive book for children and adults, whether Buddhist or not, who love fine stories about their fellow wise (and foolish) creatures.

Buddhist Scriptures as Literature

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Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791473405
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (734 download)

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Book Synopsis Buddhist Scriptures as Literature by : Ralph Flores

Download or read book Buddhist Scriptures as Literature written by Ralph Flores and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2009-01-08 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looks at a variety of Buddhist sacred writings as literature and includes insights from literary theory.

World of the Buddha

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Publisher : Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN 13 : 0802198252
Total Pages : 541 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (21 download)

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Book Synopsis World of the Buddha by : Lucien Stryk

Download or read book World of the Buddha written by Lucien Stryk and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selections from the most significant texts in the body of Buddhist literature. For readers who want a deeper understanding of Buddhism, this is a rich, varied, and comprehensive collection in one volume. It includes the most significant texts from the vast body of Buddhist literature, and includes translations from Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Lao. For the benefit of the newcomer to Buddhism—or for those using it in an academic context—the pieces are arranged in chronological order, and each chapter is preceded by a separate commentary. In addition, there is a comprehensive description of life in India at the time of the Buddha and an outline of his life and mission. “The best available translations.” —Library Journal

Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal

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Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791446119
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (461 download)

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Book Synopsis Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal by : Todd T. Lewis

Download or read book Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal written by Todd T. Lewis and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2000-09-14 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on textual and anthropological research, this book demonstrates how popular ritual texts and stories have shaped the religion and culture of the only surviving Mahayana Buddhist society, the Newars of Kathmandu.

Illuminating the Life of the Buddha

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781851242832
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (428 download)

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Book Synopsis Illuminating the Life of the Buddha by : Naomi Appleton

Download or read book Illuminating the Life of the Buddha written by Naomi Appleton and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This lavishly illustrated book investigates an outstanding eighteenth-century example of a samut khoi, a type of beautiful folding book found in Southeast Asia, which became particularly popular as a repository for the Buddha's teachings. Written in Pali and produced in the Kingdom of Siam, its finely executed pictures, painted on khoi paper, show key incidents from stories of the past lives of the Buddha as he prepares for Buddhahood. These tales, historically one of the principal means whereby Buddhist teachings were communicated, known as Jatakas, are a favourite theme for manuscript art. Uniquely for such manuscripts, however, this samut khoi also offers an extensive series of scenes from the last life of the Buddha, including his final awakening and teaching, which is distinctive to the region. These related narratives all contribute to a superb example of eighteenth-century manuscript and calligraphic art. As well as affording great artistic opportunities for expressing the beauty of the Buddha's words and achievements, samut khois are repositories for popular chants and short distillations of doctrine. This book describes the context to this unusually rich expression of Thai Buddhist creativity and, in retelling the stories depicted, reveals the continued appeal of its closely related art and narrative traditions." -- Publisher's description.

Imagining a Place for Buddhism

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198032064
Total Pages : 270 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Imagining a Place for Buddhism by : Anne E. Monius

Download or read book Imagining a Place for Buddhism written by Anne E. Monius and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2001-12-06 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While Tamil-speaking South India is celebrated for its preservation of Hindu tradition, other religious communities have played a significant role in shaping the region's religious history. Among these non-Hindu communities is that of the Buddhists, who are little-understood because of the scarcity of remnants of Tamil-speaking Buddhist culture. Here, focusing on the two Buddhist texts in Tamil that are complete (a sixth-century poetic narrative and an eleventh-century treatise on grammar and poetics), Monius sheds light on the role of literature and literary culture in the formation, articulation, and evolution of religious identity and community.

The Everything Buddhism Book

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1440511632
Total Pages : 207 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (45 download)

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Book Synopsis The Everything Buddhism Book by : Arnie Kozak

Download or read book The Everything Buddhism Book written by Arnie Kozak and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-12-18 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." --Dalai Lama That's easy for the Dalai Lama to say--but for the rest of us, understanding this mysterious, multilayered faith can be very difficult. With this updated and revised edition of the classic Buddhist primer, you can delve into the profound principles of nonviolence, mindfulness, and self-awareness. From Tibetan Buddhism to Zen, you'll explore the traditions of all branches of Buddhism, including: The life of Buddha and his continuing influence throughout the world A revealing survey of the definitive Buddhist texts What the Sutras say about education, marriage, sex, and death Faith-fueled social protest movements in Tibet, Burma, and elsewhere Buddhist art, poetry, architecture, calligraphy, and landscaping The proven physiological effects of meditation and other Buddhist practices The growing impact of Buddhism on modern American culture In this guide, you'll discover the deceptively simple truths of this enigmatic religion. Most important, you learn how to apply the tenets of Buddhism to your daily life--and achieve clarity and inner peace in the process.