Jōkei And Buddhist Devotion In Early Medieval Japan

Author : James L. Ford
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2006-08-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0199720045

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Jōkei and Buddhist Devotion in Early Medieval Japan by James L. Ford Pdf

This is the first book-length study in any language of Jō kei (1155-1213), a prominent Buddhist cleric of the Hossō (Yog=ac=ara) school, whose life bridged the momentous transition from Heian (794-1185) to Kamakura (1185-1333) Japan. "Kamakura Buddhism" has drawn notable scholarly attention, largely because it marks the emergence of new schools-Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen-that came to dominate the Buddhist landscape of Japan. Although Jōkei is invariably cited as one of the leading representatives of established Buddhism during the Kamakura period, he has been seriously neglected by Western scholars. In this book, James L. Ford aims to shed light on this pivotal and long-overlooked figure. Ford argues convincingly that Jōkei is an ideal personage through which to peer anew into the socio-religious dynamics of early medieval Japan. Indeed, Jōkei is uniquely linked to a number of decisive trends and issues of dispute including: the conflict between the established schools and Hōnen's exclusive nenbutsu movement; the precept-revival movement; doctrinal reform efforts; the proliferation of prominent "reclusive monks" (tonseisō); the escalation of fundraising (kanjin) campaigns and popular propagation; and the conspicuous revival of devotion toward 'Sákyamuni and Maitreya. Jōkei represents a paradigm within established Buddhism that recognized the necessity of accessing other powers through esoteric practices, ritual performances, and objects of devotion. While Jōkei is best known as a leading critic of Hōnen's exclusive nenbutsu movement and a conservative defender of normative Buddhist principles, he was also a progressive reformer in his own right. Far from defending the status quo, Jōkei envisioned a more accessible, harmonious, and monastically upright form of Buddhism. Through a detailed examination of Jōkei's extensive writings and activities, Ford challenges many received interpretations of Jōkei's legacy and the transformation of Buddhism in early medieval Japan. This book fills a significant lacuna in Buddhist scholarship

Author : James L. Ford
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2006-08-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780190293277

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Jōkei and Buddhist Devotion in Early Medieval Japan by James L. Ford Pdf

This is the first book-length study in any language of Jō kei (1155-1213), a prominent Buddhist cleric of the Hossō (Yog=ac=ara) school, whose life bridged the momentous transition from Heian (794-1185) to Kamakura (1185-1333) Japan. "Kamakura Buddhism" has drawn notable scholarly attention, largely because it marks the emergence of new schools-Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen-that came to dominate the Buddhist landscape of Japan. Although Jōkei is invariably cited as one of the leading representatives of established Buddhism during the Kamakura period, he has been seriously neglected by Western scholars. In this book, James L. Ford aims to shed light on this pivotal and long-overlooked figure. Ford argues convincingly that Jōkei is an ideal personage through which to peer anew into the socio-religious dynamics of early medieval Japan. Indeed, Jōkei is uniquely linked to a number of decisive trends and issues of dispute including: the conflict between the established schools and Hōnen's exclusive nenbutsu movement; the precept-revival movement; doctrinal reform efforts; the proliferation of prominent "reclusive monks" (tonseisō); the escalation of fundraising (kanjin) campaigns and popular propagation; and the conspicuous revival of devotion toward 'Sákyamuni and Maitreya. Jōkei represents a paradigm within established Buddhism that recognized the necessity of accessing other powers through esoteric practices, ritual performances, and objects of devotion. While Jōkei is best known as a leading critic of Hōnen's exclusive nenbutsu movement and a conservative defender of normative Buddhist principles, he was also a progressive reformer in his own right. Far from defending the status quo, Jōkei envisioned a more accessible, harmonious, and monastically upright form of Buddhism. Through a detailed examination of Jōkei's extensive writings and activities, Ford challenges many received interpretations of Jōkei's legacy and the transformation of Buddhism in early medieval Japan. This book fills a significant lacuna in Buddhist scholarship

Author : Brian D. Ruppert
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 535 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2020-03-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9781684173389

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Jewel in the Ashes by Brian D. Ruppert Pdf

Focusing on the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, this study analyzes the ways in which relics functioned as material media for the interactions of Buddhist clerics, the imperial family, lay aristocrats, and warrior society and explores the multivocality of relics by dealing with specific historical examples. Brian Ruppert argues that relics offered means for reinforcing or subverting hierarchical relations. The author's critical literary and anthropological analyses attest to the prominence of relic veneration in government, in lay practice associated with the maintenance of the imperial line and warrior houses, and in the promotion of specific Buddhist sects in Japan.

Author : Caitilin J. Griffiths
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2016-10-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824859398

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Tracing the Itinerant Path by Caitilin J. Griffiths Pdf

Women have long been active supporters and promoters of Buddhist rituals and functions, but their importance in the operations of Buddhist schools has often been minimized. Chin’ichibō (?–1344), a nun who taught male and female disciples and lived in her own temple, is therefore considered an anomaly. In Tracing the Itinerant Path, Caitilin Griffiths’ meticulous research and translations of primary sources indicate that Chin’ichibō is in fact an example of her time—a learned female who was active in the teaching and spread of Buddhism—and not an exception. Chin’ichibō and her disciples were jishū, members of a Pure Land Buddhist movement of which the famous charismatic holy man Ippen (1239–1289) was a founder. Jishū, distinguished by their practice of continuous nembutsu chanting, gained the support of a wide and diverse populace throughout Japan from the late thirteenth century. Male and female disciples rarely cloistered themselves behind monastic walls, preferring to conduct ceremonies and religious duties among the members of their communities. They offered memorial and other services to local lay believers and joined itinerant missions, traveling across provinces to reach as many people as possible. Female members were entrusted to run local practice halls that included male participants. Griffiths’ study introduces female jishū who were keenly involved—not as wives, daughters, or mothers, but as partners and leaders in the movement. Filling the lacunae that exists in our understanding of women’s participation in Japanese religious history, Griffiths highlights the significant roles female jishū held and offers a more nuanced understanding of Japanese Buddhist history. Students of Buddhism, scholars of Japanese history, and those interested in women’s studies will find this volume a significant and compelling contribution.

Author : S. Horton
Publisher : Springer
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2007-10-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780230607149

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Living Buddhist Statues in Early Medieval and Modern Japan by S. Horton Pdf

A study of the surprising functions of Buddhist statues, which helped disseminate Buddhist beliefs among the populace in Tenth- and Eleventh-century Japan. Using ethnographic data drawn from present-day fieldwork and marshalling ancient textual evidence, Horton reveals the historical origins and development of modern Japanese beliefs and practices.

Author : Aaron P. Proffitt
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 468 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2023-04-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824893804

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Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism by Aaron P. Proffitt Pdf

What, if anything, is Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism? In 1224, the medieval Japanese scholar-monk Dōhan (1179–1252) composed The Compendium on Esoteric Mindfulness of Buddha (Himitsu nenbutsu shō), which begins with another seemingly simple question: Why is it that practitioners of mantra and meditation rely on the recitation of the name of the Buddha Amitābha? To answer this question, Dōhan explored diverse areas of study spanning the whole of the East Asian Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Although contemporary scholars often study Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism as if they were mutually exclusive and diametrically opposed schools of Buddhism, in the present volume Aaron Proffitt examines Dōhan’s Compendium in the context of the eastward flow of Mahayana Buddhism from India to Japan and uncovers Mahayana Buddhists employing multiple, overlapping, so-called “esoteric” approaches along the path to awakening. Proffitt divides his study into two parts. In Part I he considers how early Buddhologists, working under colonialism, first constructed Mahayana Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism as discrete fields of inquiry. He then surveys the flow of Indian Buddhist spells, dhāraṇī, and mantra texts into China and Japan and the diverse range of Buddhist masters who employed these esoteric techniques to achieve rebirth in Sukhāvatī, the Pure Land of Bliss. In Part II, he considers the life of Dōhan and analyzes the monk’s comprehensive view of buddhānusmṛti as a form of ritual technology that unified body and mind, Sukhāvatī as a this-worldly or other-worldly soteriological goal synonymous with nirvana itself, and the Buddha Amitābha as an object of devotion beyond this world of suffering. The work concludes with the first full translation of Dōhan’s Himitsu nenbutsu shō into a modern language.

Author : Kevin Gray Carr
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2012-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780824865726

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Plotting the Prince by Kevin Gray Carr Pdf

Plotting the Prince traces the development of conceptual maps of the world created through the telling of stories about Prince Shōtoku (573?–622?), an eminent statesman who is credited with founding Buddhism in Japan. It analyzes his place in the sacred landscape and the material relics of the cult of personality dedicated to him, focusing on the art created from the tenth to fourteenth centuries. The book asks not only who Shōtoku was, but also how images of his life served the needs of devotees in early medieval Japan. Even today Shōtoku evokes images of a half-real, half-mythical figure who embodied the highest political, social, and religious ideals. Taking up his story about four centuries after his death, this study traces the genesis and progression of Shōtoku’s sacred personas in art to illustrate their connection to major religious centers such as Shitenno-ji and Hōryū-ji. It argues that mapping and storytelling are sister acts—both structuring the world in subtle but compelling ways—that combined in visual narratives of Shōtoku’s life to shape conceptions of religious legitimacy, communal history, and sacred geography. Plotting the Prince introduces much new material and presents provocative interpretations that call upon art historians to rethink fundamental conceptions of narrative and cultic imagery. It offers social and political historians a textured look at the creation of communal identities on both local and state levels, scholars of religion a substantially new way of understanding key developments in doctrine and practice, and those studying the past in general a clear instance of visual hagiography taking precedence over the textual tradition.

Author : William E. Deal,Brian Ruppert
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2015-03-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781118608333

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A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism by William E. Deal,Brian Ruppert Pdf

A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism offers a comprehensive, nuanced, and chronological account of the evolution of Buddhist religion in Japan from the sixth century to the present day. Traces each period of Japanese history to reveal the complex and often controversial histories of Japanese Buddhists and their unfolding narratives Examines relevant social, political, and transcultural contexts, and places an emphasis on Japanese Buddhist discourses and material culture Addresses the increasing competition between Buddhist, Shinto, and Neo-Confucian world-views through to the mid-nineteenth century Informed by the most recent research, including the latest Japanese and Western scholarship Illustrates the richness and complexity of Japanese Buddhism as a lived religion, offering readers a glimpse into the development of this complex and often misunderstood tradition

Author : Janet R. Goodwin
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 202 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 1994-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0824815475

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Alms and Vagabonds by Janet R. Goodwin Pdf

Author : Galen Amstutz
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 466 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2020-06-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789004401518

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Critical Readings on Pure Land Buddhism in Japan by Galen Amstutz Pdf

Pure Land was one of the main fields of mythopoesis and discourse among the Asian Buddhist traditions, and in Japan of central cultural importance from the Heian period right up to the present. The pieces reproduced in this set have been chosen as linchpin works accentuating the diversity and evolution of Pure Land Buddhism. These selections of previously published articles will serve as an essential starting-point for anyone interested in this perhaps underestimated area of Buddhist studies.

Author : Jacqueline I. Stone,Mariko Namba Walter
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2008-08-20
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824862152

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Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism by Jacqueline I. Stone,Mariko Namba Walter Pdf

For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. The nine essays in this volume, ranging chronologically from the tenth century to the present, bring to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. They also explore the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice. The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two essays. Sarah Horton traces the development in Heian Japan (794–1185) of images depicting the Buddha Amida descending to welcome devotees at the moment of death, while Jacqueline Stone analyzes the crucial role of monks who attended the dying as religious guides. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four essays. Brian Ruppert examines the roles of relic worship in strengthening family lineage and political power; Mark Blum investigates the controversial issue of religious suicide to rejoin one’s teacher in the Pure Land; and Hank Glassman analyzes how late medieval rites for women who died in pregnancy and childbirth both reflected and helped shape changing gender norms. The rise of standardized funerals in Japan’s early modern period forms the subject of the chapter by Duncan Williams, who shows how the Soto Zen sect took the lead in establishing itself in rural communities by incorporating local religious culture into its death rites. The final three chapters deal with contemporary funerary and mortuary practices and the controversies surrounding them. Mariko Walter uncovers a "deep structure" informing Japanese Buddhist funerals across sectarian lines—a structure whose meaning, she argues, persists despite competition from a thriving secular funeral industry. Stephen Covell examines debates over the practice of conferring posthumous Buddhist names on the deceased and the threat posed to traditional Buddhist temples by changing ideas about funerals and the afterlife. Finally, George Tanabe shows how contemporary Buddhist sectarian intellectuals attempt to resolve conflicts between normative doctrine and on-the-ground funerary practice, and concludes that human affection for the deceased will always win out over the demands of orthodoxy. Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism constitutes a major step toward understanding how Buddhism in Japan has forged and retained its hold on death-related thought and practice, providing one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the topic to date. Contributors: Mark L. Blum, Stephen G. Covell, Hank Glassman, Sarah Johanna Horton, Brian O. Ruppert, Jacqueline I. Stone, George J. Tanabe, Jr., Mariko Namba Walter, Duncan Ryuken Williams.

Author : David Quinter
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2015-07-14
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789004294592

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From Outcasts to Emperors: Shingon Ritsu and the Mañjuśrī Cult in Medieval Japan by David Quinter Pdf

In From Outcasts to Emperors, David Quinter illuminates the Shingon Ritsu movement founded by the charismatic Buddhist monk Eison (1201–90) at Saidaiji in Nara, Japan, with a focus on Eison and his disciples’ involvement in the cult of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī.

Author : Jacqueline I. Stone
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 633 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2016-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780824867652

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Right Thoughts at the Last Moment by Jacqueline I. Stone Pdf

Buddhists across Asia have often aspired to die with a clear and focused mind, as the historical Buddha himself is said to have done. This book explores how the ideal of dying with right mindfulness was appropriated, disseminated, and transformed in premodern Japan, focusing on the late tenth through early fourteenth centuries. By concentrating one’s thoughts on the Buddha in one’s last moments, it was said even an ignorant and sinful person could escape the cycle of deluded rebirth and achieve birth in a buddha’s pure land, where liberation would be assured. Conversely, the slightest mental distraction at that final juncture could send even a devout practitioner tumbling down into the hells or other miserable rebirth realms. The ideal of mindful death thus generated both hope and anxiety and created a demand for ritual specialists who could act as religious guides at the deathbed. Buddhist death management in Japan has been studied chiefly from the standpoint of funerals and mortuary rites. Right Thoughts at the Last Moment investigates a largely untold side of that story: how early medieval Japanese prepared for death, and how desire for ritual assistance in one’s last hours contributed to Buddhist preeminence in death-related matters. It represents the first book-length study in a Western language to examine how the Buddhist ideal of mindful death was appropriated in a specific historical context. Practice for one’s last hours occupied the intersections of multiple, often disparate approaches that Buddhism offered for coping with death. Because they crossed sectarian lines and eventually permeated all social levels, deathbed practices afford insights into broader issues in medieval Japanese religion, including intellectual developments, devotional practices, pollution concerns, ritual performance, and divisions of labor among religious professionals. They also allow us to see beyond the categories of “old” versus “new” Buddhism, or establishment Buddhism versus marginal heterodoxies, which have characterized much scholarship to date. Enlivened by cogent examples, this study draws on a wealth of sources including ritual instructions, hagiographies, doctrinal writings, didactic tales, courtier diaries, historical records, letters, and relevant art historical material to explore the interplay of doctrinal ideals and on-the-ground practice.

Author : Karl F. Friday
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 433 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2017-07-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781351692021

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Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History by Karl F. Friday Pdf

Scholarship on premodern Japan has grown spectacularly over the past four decades, in terms of both sophistication and volume. A new approach has developed, marked by a higher reliance on primary documents, a shift away from the history of elites to broader explorations of social structures, and a re-examination of many key assumptions. As a result, the picture of the early Japanese past now taught by specialists differs radically from the one that was current in the mid-twentieth century. This handbook offers a comprehensive historiographical review of Japanese history up until the 1500s. Featuring chapters by leading historians and covering the early Jōmon, Yayoi, Kofun, Nara, and Heian eras, as well as the later medieval periods, each section provides a foundational grasp of the major themes in premodern Japan. The sections will include: Geography and the environment Political events and institutions Society and culture Economy and technology The Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History is an essential reference work for students and scholars of Japanese, Asian, and World History.

Author : Edward R. Drott
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 249 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2016-05-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9780824866860

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Buddhism and the Transformation of Old Age in Medieval Japan by Edward R. Drott Pdf

Scholars have long remarked on the frequency with which Japanese myths portrayed gods (kami) as old men or okina. Many of these “sacred elders” came to be featured in premodern theater, most prominently in Noh. In the closing decades of the twentieth-century, as the number of Japan’s senior citizens climbed steadily, the sacred elder of premodern myth became a subject of renewed interest and was seen by some as evidence that the elderly in Japan had once been accorded a level of respect unknown in recent times. In Buddhism and the Transformation of Old Age in Medieval Japan, Edward Drott charts the shifting sets of meanings ascribed to old age in medieval Japan, tracing the processes by which the aged body was transformed into a symbol of otherworldly power and the cultural, political, and religious circumstances that inspired its reimagination. Drott examines how the aged body was used to conceptualize forms of difference and to convey religious meanings in a variety of texts: official chronicles, literary works, Buddhist legends and didactic tales. In early Japan, old age was most commonly seen as a mark of negative distinction, one that represented the ugliness, barrenness, and pollution against which the imperial court sought to define itself. From the late-Heian period, however, certain Buddhist authors seized upon the aged body as a symbolic medium though which to challenge traditional dichotomies between center and margin, high and low, and purity and defilement, crafting narratives that associated aged saints and avatars with the cults, lineages, sacred sites, or religious practices these authors sought to promote. Contributing to a burgeoning literature on religion and the body, Buddhism and the Transformation of Old Age in Medieval Japan applies approaches developed in gender studies to “denaturalize” old age as a matter of representation, identity, and performance. By tracking the ideological uses of old age in premodern Japan, this work breaks new ground, revealing the role of religion in the construction of generational categories and the ways in which religious ideas and practices can serve not only to naturalize, but also challenge “common sense” about the body.