Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Eye-opening look at Kamakura Buddhism,
By Gerald Ford "pho_kin" (The Jack n' the Box at the corner) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Payne: Re-Vision Kamakura Budd Pap (Studies in East Asian Buddhism) (Paperback)
This book is actually not one, but severals essays regarding the emergence of Kamakura Period Buddhism (Zen, Jodo Shu, Nichiren, etc), and covers a wide array of topics. The general theme of the book is that researchers need to take a new look at the emergence of Kamakura-era Buddhist schools, and not apply Western notions of the Protestant Reformation to this era of Buddhist history. For example, some essays show how older schools like Shingon and Tendai continued to flourish during and after the Kamakura Period, while newer schools still maintained close ties with these older schools.In general, I liked many of the essays and saw this fascinating period of Buddhist history in a new light. It has made me rethink assumptions I have made with regard to my own Buddhist faith as well. I thought some essays were a little too narrow for my taste, or did not provide enough context into what they were talking about, so I had to give this book 4 stars. I think a researcher or grad student in East Asian studies will learn a great deal from this book though, so I highly recommend it to anyone studying Japanese Buddhist history.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Ending the Gloom of Confusion for Oneself and Others",
By Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Payne: Re-Vision Kamakura Budd Pap (Studies in East Asian Buddhism) (Paperback)
In standard narratives of Japanese Buddhism and its historical development, Tendai and Shingon supersede the six Nara schools in the Heian period only to be neatly replaced in turn by the supposedly reformist Kamakura schools: Pure Land, Zen, and Nichiren. All of which sounds suspiciously schematic, simplistic, and triumphalist (keeping in mind that this narrative can more or less be traced to representatives of the latter three schools). Recent research has come to gradually undermine this cut-and-dried caricature as well as questioning its assumptions, and this pithy collection of articles is a milestone in that ongoing process. Each essay, interesting in its own right, goes a long way towards demonstrating the ongoing vitality if not hegemony of Tendai, Shingon, and Nara Buddhism in the Kamakura period, while a few also go on to complicate our picture of the emerging but far from prominent new forms of Buddhism usually held to have eclipsed them.The editor's introduction and the very first article set the stage somewhat by examining the historical and sectarian factors underlying the formation of the good ol' standard narrative both in Japan and the U.S. in measured rather than harshly strident tones. The articles themselves then range far and wide within the limits of early medieval Japan according to each scholar's specialty. George Tanabe's article on the thriving nature of Mount Koya is perhaps an exemplar of how such studies should be undertaken, as the notion that Shingon was moribund is thoroughly given the lie by the barrage of detailed research he brings to bear on the issue. Equally enthralling are the complex esoteric hermeneutics undertaken by the chronicler monks of Mount Hiei as analyzed by Allan Grapard. Several of the articles also include lengthy translations: Robert Morrell's approach to the issue through the insights of literary history comes with wonderfully rendered passages from the "Kokon Chomonju" while Mark Unno's study of the important Kegon/Shingon monk Myoe and his role in the evolution of an influential esoteric ritual kindly provides a complete treatise by Myoe on the subject. And while doctrinal concepts are given their due and not ignored as is sometimes the fashion, the often underestimated importance of practice and ritual allows for a fresh perspective, as does the consideration of cultural, political, and socioeconomic aspects of Buddhist history. In short, each essay adds much to our knowledge of Japanese Buddhism in all of its fascinating variety. The collection would stand on that strength alone. But the essays taken together also signal a turning point in the field, one in which the unbelievably rich complexity of that variety came to be seen afresh--a visionary revision on several levels. Articles included in this book: 1. "Envisioning Kamakura Buddhism" by James C. Dobbins 2. "Koyasan in the Countryside: The Rise of Shingon in the Kamakura Period" by George J. Tanabe, Jr. 3. "Keiranshuyoshu: A Different Perspective on Mt. Hiei in the Medieval Period" by Allan G. Grapard 4. "Kamakura Buddhism in the Literary Tradition" by Robert E. Morrell 5. "What One Kamakura Story Does: Practice, Place, and Text in the Account of Ippen at Kumano" by James H. Foard 6. "Chanting the August Title of the Lotus Sutra: Daimoku Practices in Classical and Medieval Japan" by Jacqueline I. Stone 7. "Recommending Faith in the Sand of the Mantra of Light" by Mark T. Unno 8. "Ajikan: Ritual and Meditation in the Shingon Tradition" by Richard K. Payne
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
