The culture of secrecy in Japanese religion / edited by Bernhard Scheid and Mark Teeuwen.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Scheid, Bernhard, 1960-

Teeuwen, Mark.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secrecy--Religious aspects.

Secrecy.

Secrecy--Japan.

Secrecy--Religious aspects--Tantric Buddhism.

Tantric Buddhism--Japan--History.

Tantric Buddhism.

Japan--Civilization--Buddhist influences.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (412 p.)

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

<P>The Japanese Middle Ages were a period when forms of secrecy dominated religious practice. This fascinating collection traces out the secret characteristics and practices in Japanese religion, as well as analyzing the decline of religious esotericism in Japan. </P><P>The essays in this impressive work refer to Esoteric Buddhism as the core of Japan's ""culture of secrecy"". Esoteric Buddhism developed in almost all Buddhist countries of Asia, but it was of particular importance in Japan where its impact went far beyond the borders of Buddhism, also affecting Shinto as well as non-religious

Contents:

Japan's medieval culture of secrecy

Secrets, secrecy, and the study of religions

The Problem of secrecy in Indian Tantric Buddhism

Myth and secrecy in Tang-period Tantric Buddhism

Japan's medieval culture of secrecy

Secrecy in Japanese esoteric Buddhism

Reconsidering the taxonomy of the "esoteric"

Knowing vs. owning a secret

Secrecy, sex and apocrypha

Esotericism in noh commentaries and plays

The elephant in the room

Myths, rites, and Icons

Two modes of secrecy

The demise of secrecy

When secrecy ends

Hiding the shoguns

"Esoteric" and "public".

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-134-16873-X

0-203-96699-6

1-134-16874-8

9780203966990

OCLC:

852758700