Aspiring to enlightenment : Pure Land Buddhism in Silla Korea / Richard D. McBride II.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McBride, Richard D., II, 1969- author.

Contributor:

Payne, Richard K., Editor.

Series:

Pure Land Buddhist studies.

Pure Land Buddhist studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pure Land Buddhism--Silla (Kingdom)--Doctrines.

Pure Land Buddhism.

Pure Land Buddhism--Silla (Kingdom)--Customs and practices.

Silla (Kingdom)--Religious life and customs.

Silla (Kingdom).

Wŏnhyo, 617-686.

Wŏnhyo.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, [2020]

Summary:

Centered on the practice of seeking rebirth in the Pure Land paradise Sukhāvatī, the Amitābha cult has been the dominant form of Buddhism in Korea since the middle of the Silla period (ca. 300–935). In Aspiring to Enlightenment, Richard McBride combines analyses of scriptural, exegetical, hagiographical, epigraphical, art historical, and literary materials to provide an episodic account of the cult in Silla times and its rise in an East Asian context through the mutually interconnected perspectives of doctrine and practice.McBride demonstrates that the Pure Land tradition emerging in Korea in the seventh and eighth centuries was vibrant and collaborative and that Silla monk-scholars actively participated in a shared, international Buddhist discourse. Monks such as the exegete par excellence Wŏnhyo and the Yogācāra proponent Kyŏnghŭng did not belong to a specific sect or school, but like their colleagues in China, they participated in a broadly inclusive doctrinal tradition. He examines scholarly debates surrounding the cults of Maitreya and Amitābha, the practice of buddhānusmṛti, the recollection of Amitābha, the “ten recollections” within the larger Mahāyāna context of the bodhisattva’s path of practice, the emerging Huayan intellectual tradition, and the influential interpretations of medieval Chinese Pure Land proponents Tanluan and Shandao. Finally, his work illuminates the legacy of the Silla Pure Land tradition, revealing how the writings of Silla monks continued to be of great value to Japanese monks for several centuries.With its fresh and comprehensive approach to the study of Pure Land Buddhism, Aspiring to Enlightenment is important for not only students and scholars of Korean history and religion and East Asian Buddhism, but also those interested in the complex relationship between doctrinal writings and devotional practice “on the ground.”

Contents:

The World of Buddhist Scholars in Silla Korea

Pure Land Thinkers in Medieval China: The Origins of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia

The Pure Land Practice of Silla's Buddhist Intellectuals: Arousing the Mind to Practice: Wŏnhyo's Approach to Pure Land Worship

Interaction and Reaction between the Amitābha and Maitreya Cults

The Amitābha Cult in Practice.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-183) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780824884130

0824884132

OCLC:

1198930706