Buddhisms : an introduction / John S. Strong.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Strong, John, 1948- author.

Contributor:

Harry E. Humphreys Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhism.

Physical Description:

xxv, 450 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Oneworld Publications, 2015.

Summary:

"Buddhism or Buddhisms? By the time they move on to Buddhism in Japan, many students who have studied its origins in India ask whether this is in fact the same religion, so different can they appear. In Buddhisms: An Introduction, Professor John S. Strong provides an overview of the Buddhist tradition in all its different forms around the world. Beginning at the modern day temples of Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, Strong takes us through the life of the Buddha and a study of Buddhist Doctrine, revealing how Buddhism has changed just as it has stayed the same. Finally, Strong examines the nature of Buddhist community life and its development today in the very different environments of Thailand, Japan, and Tibet. Enriched by the author's own insights gathered over forty years, Buddhisms never loses sight of the personal experience amidst the wide-scope of its subject. Clear in its explanations, replete with tables and suggestions for further reading, this is an essential new work that makes original contributions to the study of this 2,500 year-old religion." from back cover

Contents:

Introduction: Lumbini, a Buddhist World Exposition

Theravada and Mahayana

Lumbini's Eastern Monastic Zone: South and Southeast Asian Traditions

The Maha Bodhi Society

The Sri Lanka Monastery

The Gautami Center For Nuns

Myanmar (Burma)

Meditation Centers

Lumbini's Western Monastic Zone: East Asian Traditions

China

Korea

Japan

Vietnam

Lumbini's Western Monastic Zone: Tibetan Vajrayana Traditions

The Great Lotus Stupa

The Lumbini Udyana Mahachaitya

Foundations of the Triple Gem: Buddha/s, Dharma/s, and Samgha/s

Sakyamuni, Lives and Legends

The Historical Buddha

The Buddha's World

The Buddha Story

Past Buddhas and the Biographical Blueprint

The Start of Sakyamuni's Career

Previous Lives (Jatakas)

The Donkey in the Lion's Skin

Vessantara Jataka

The Tigress Jataka

A Lifestory of Sakyamuni

Birth and Childhood

Life in the Palace

The Beginnings of Discontent

The Great Departure

Paths Not Taken

Awakening

After Enlightenment

The First Sermon

Various Conversions and Miracles

Death and Parinirvana

Overcoming the Buddha's Absence

Seeing the Buddha in the Dharma

Excursus on the Buddhist Canon/s

Places of Pilgrimage

Relics

Buddha Images

The Masters of the Dharma

The Arhat Dharma-Protectors

Meeting Maitreya

Some Permutation of the Middle Way

The Middle Way

Karma and Samsara

Why do Good Deeds?

Contexts of Karma I: Neither Free Will nor Determinism

Contexts of Karma II: Both Jain and Upanisadic Views

The Doctrine of Non-Self (Anatman)

Breaking Down the False Sense of Self: the Five Aggregates and Impermanence

The Elements (Dharmas)

Countering the Breakdown of Self: Personal Continuity

Explications of Continuity: Pseudo-Selves and Ersatz Atmans

The Four Truths

The First Truth: Stress

The Second Truth: the Continual Arising of Stress and Interdependent Origination

The Double Bind of Samsara

The Third Truth: the Cessation of Stress - Nirvana

The Fourth Truth: the Path to the Cessation of Stress

Moral Discipline

Meditation

Wisdom

Other Systematizations of the Path

The Seven Factors Conducive to Enlightenment

The Graduated Training

The Four Divine Abidings

The Four Fruits of the Path

The Establishment and Character of the Early Buddhist Community

Monastic-Lay Interactions

Dana (Giving) and Other Forms of Making Merit

Lay Ethics

Magical Protection

Laypersons and the Monastic Rules

Royal Supporters

King Asoka

The Monastics: Wandering and Settling

Monastic Lifestyles

Monasteries

Mahaprajapati and the Establishment of the Order of Nuns

Common Moral Commitments

Initiation Rituals: Wandering Forth and Ordination

Monastic Rules

The Elaboration of the Rules: Pratimoksa Recitation and Pravarana

Some Exemplary Disciples of the Buddha

Sariputra and Maudgalyayana

Patacara

The Laypersons Nakulapitr and Nakulamatr

Visakha, Preeminent Laywoman

Visions and Divisions of the Samgha

Council Stories

The Council at Rajagrha

Vinaya Disputes: the Council of Vaisali

The Councils of Paraliputra

Other Council Traditions

The Flowering of Mainstream Factionalism

Other Divisional Issues

Practice vs. Study

Meditators and Merit Makers

Forest Monks and Town Monks

The Question of Asceticism

The Question of Bon-Vivant Monks

Sect vs. Sect

The Origins of the Mahayana

Proliferation of Mahayana Schools

Mahayana Schools in India

Mahayana Schools in China

Mahayana Schools in Japan

Mahayana Schools in Tibet

Further Elaborations of the Triple Gem

Mahayana and Vajrayana Ways of Meeting the Buddha/s

Changes in the View of the Buddha: The Lotus Sutra and Sakyamuni's Lifespan

Three Bodies of the Buddha/s

Meeting the Buddha's in their Pure Lands

Aksobhya

Bhaisajyaguru

Amitabha

Meeting the Amitabha through Visualization

Rebirth in the Pure Land

Meeting the Buddha in the Great Bodhisattvas

Avalokitesvara

Other Great Bodhisattvas

Meeting the Buddha/s in the Vajrayana

Manndalas and the Five Tathagatas

Ritual Consecration (Abhiseka)

Merging with the Buddha

Visions: Meeting the Buddha/s in Bardo

Buddha Embodiments in this World: Gurus and Tulkus

Mahayana Doctrinal Developments

Emptiness: the Selflessness of Dharmas

Nagarjuna and the Madhyamaka

The Expansion of Provisional Truth: Expedient Means (Upaya)

Tiantai Doctrines

The Ongoing Dialectic: the Yogacara School

Asanga and Vasubandhu and the Development of the School

Yogacara Doctrines

Avatamsaka Doctrines

Applications of the Interpenetration

The Buddha Womb/Embryo (Tathagatagarbha) Teachings

Resurgence of the True Self

Buddha-Nature Controversies

Limitations to the Buddha-Nature: the Icchantika Debate

The End of the Dharma

Expansions of the Buddha-Nature Doctrine

The Bodhisattva Path

Sudden and Gradual

Disagreements over the Nature of the Path: the Debate at Samye

Disagreements over the Nature of Enlightenment

Graduated Paths

Compassion and Bodhicitta

The Stages of the Path, the Perfections, the Five Paths

Routinization and Ritualization

Path Shortcuts

Tantra

Uniting the Poles

Tantric Physiology

Mahamudra and Dzokchen (Rdzogs chen)

Direct Experiences: Chan/Zen

Koans

Critical Phrases (Huatou)

Samgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Thai Buddhism/s

Buddhism in Thailand

Thai Monastic Life: Temporary Ordination

Life as a Novice

Experiences as a Monk

The Lives of Two Charismatic Thai Monks

Acharn Mun

Khruba Siwichai

The End of the Rains-Retreat in a Northern Thai Village

A Thai Temple in Wimbledon, England

Samgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practives in Japanese Buddhism/s

The Hexagonal Hall (Rokkakudo)

Prince Shotoku

Shinran

Kannon, Jizo, and Fudo

The Ritual Year at Shinnyodo

New Year's

Dakini and the Recitation of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra

Main Hall Rituals

Goma

The Killing Stone

The Ryoanji Rock Garden

The Buddh's Birthday at the Morgan Bay Zendo

The Japan Temple in Lumbini

Samgha Situations: Places, Persons, and Practices in Tibetan Buddhism/s

Lhasa Jokhang

Pinning Down the Demoness

Flood Control

Grand Prostrations

The Great Prayer Festical

The Potala and the Dalai Lamas

Finding a New Dalai Lama

Scholars and Mad Saints

Drepung Monastery and Monastic Studies

Mad Monks: the Case of Tangtong Gyalpo

Samding: Femaile Incarnations and a Contemporary Buddhist

A Tibetan Dharma Center in Vermont, U.S.A.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 403-442) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Harry E. Humphreys Book Fund.

ISBN:

1780745052

9781780745053

OCLC:

898424477

Publisher Number:

99963559090