Synopses & Reviews
This anthology illustrates the vast scope of Buddhist practice in Asia, past and present, by presenting a selection of forty-eight translated texts including hagiographies, monastic rules, pilgrimage songs, apocryphal sutras, and didactic tales from India, China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. Most of these pieces have never before been translated into a Western language, and each is preceded by a substantial introduction by its translator. Together they are designed to do nothing less than reshape the way in which Buddhism is understood.
These unusual sources provide the reader with a sense of the remarkable diversity of the practices of persons who over the course of 2,500 years have been identified, by themselves or by others, as Buddhists. In this rich variety there are often contradictions, such that the practices of one Buddhist community might seem strange or unfamiliar to another. At the same time, however, there is evidence here of many continuities among the practices of Buddhist cultures widely separated by both history and topography. From "A Hymn of Praise to the Buddha's Good Qualities" through "On Becoming a Buddhist Wizard" to "Death-Bed Testimonials of the Pure Land Faithful," the selections here are an ideal introduction to Buddhism and a source of new insights for scholars.
Review
"
Buddhism in Practice . . . constitute[s] a benchmark of where Buddhist studies has been, and where it is going. By endeavoring to break the circularity of the knowledge process, by which we recognize as 'Buddhist' only what we already think of as Buddhist, Lopez has opened a new course for a self-reflexive Buddhology."
--The Journal of Asian Studies
Synopsis
"These selections consistently reveal new vistas on the Buddhist landscape or illuminate old views from new angles."--John S. Strong, Bates College
Table of Contents
| Princeton Readings in Religions | |
| Note on Transliteration | |
| Contents by Vehicle | |
| Contents by Country | |
| Contributors | |
| Introduction | 3 |
1 | A Hymn of Praise to the Buddha's Good Qualities | 39 |
2 | Consecrating the Buddha | 50 |
3 | Sutra on the Merit of Bathing the Buddha | 59 |
4 | Reading Others' Minds | 69 |
5 | The Prayer of the Original Buddha | 80 |
6 | Myoe's Letter to the Island | 88 |
7 | The Tathagatagarbha Sutra | 92 |
8 | The Whole Universe as a Sutra | 107 |
9 | Gotami's Story | 113 |
10 | The Great Bliss Queen | 139 |
11 | Story of Simhala, the Caravan Leader | 151 |
12 | A Prayer for the Long Life of the Dalai Lama | 170 |
13 | Chinese Women Pilgrims' Songs Glorifying Guanyin | 176 |
14 | A Mahayana Liturgy | 183 |
15 | A Discussion of Seated Zen | 197 |
16 | The Way to Meditation | 207 |
17 | Buddhism and the State in Early Japan | 216 |
18 | Original Enlightenment Thought in the Nichiren Tradition | 228 |
19 | The Matsumoto Debate | 241 |
20 | A Prophecy of the Death of the Dharma | 249 |
21 | The Book of Resolving Doubts Concerning the Semblance Dharma | 257 |
22 | A Heretical Chinese Buddhist Text | 272 |
23 | Eschatology in the Wheel of Time Tantra | 284 |
24 | Atisa's A Lamp for the Path to Awakening | 290 |
25 | The Advice to Layman Tundila | 302 |
26 | The Legend of the Iron Stupa | 314 |
27 | Two Tantric Meditations: Visualizing the Deity | 318 |
28 | The Story of the Horn Blowing | 328 |
29 | A Summary of the Seven Books of the Abhidhamma | 336 |
30 | On Becoming a Buddhist Wizard | 343 |
31 | Pure Land Buddhist Worship and Meditation in China | 359 |
32 | Aryadeva and Candrakirti on Self and Selfishness | 380 |
33 | A Modern Sermon on Merit Making | 399 |
34 | Saramati's Entering into the Great Vehicle | 402 |
35 | Auspicious Things | 412 |
36 | Tales of the Lotus Sutra | 427 |
37 | Daily Life in the Assembly | 455 |
38 | Deaths, Funerals, and the Division of Property in a Monastic Code | 473 |
39 | A Rite for Restoring the Bodhisattva and Tantric Vows | 503 |
40 | Awakening Stories of Zen Buddhist Women | 513 |
41 | The Chinese Life of Nagarjuna | 525 |
42 | Atisa's Journey to Sumatra | 532 |
43 | Bimba's Lament | 541 |
44 | Hagiographies of the Korean Monk Wonhyo | 553 |
45 | The Illustrated Biography of Ippen | 563 |
46 | Account of the Buddhist Thaumaturge Baozhi | 578 |
47 | Buddhist Chaplains in the Field of Battle | 586 |
48 | Death-Bed Testimonials of the Pure Land Faithful | 592 |
| Index | 603 |