Customer Reviews

Saicho : The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Berkeley Buddhist series volume is the definitive work of the founder of Tendai Buddhism in Japan. This volume of the series steps you through the beginning of Saicho's life into his later years fighting for an ordination platform on Mount Hiei. Included are details concerning the rise of Tendai Buddhism away from the influential Buddhism of Nara. Saicho's views of the bodhisattva precepts and his wish to move away from the Hinayana goals of the Ssu fen lu precepts. This is a treasure of Buddhist history in the Heian period.

This work is a must for any serious Buddhist researcher. Critical for any Tendai researcher to read.

It is hard to find any information on Tendai in English, this is a good book as a reference and a valuable tool. It helps define the difference between Saicho and Kukai,Tendai and the other sects, and is a detailed history of Saicho's life and work. I would like to see a second book with the tendai teachings and practices more detailed. Still well worth the money, but without a frame of reference you may find it a difficult read.

Knowledgeable and lots of detail. I would prefer Japanese sutra names to sandscrit names, my only quarrell.