Approaching the Land of Bliss : Religious Praxis in the Cult of Amitabha

by Payne, Richard K.; Tanaka, Kenneth Kenichi

• ISBN13: 9780824825782
• ISBN10: 0824825780
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr

Summary

The discourse of Buddhist studies has traditionally been structured around texts and nations (the transmission of Buddhism from India to China to Japan). And yet, it is doubtful that these categories reflect in any significant way the organizing themes familiar to most Buddhists. It could be argued that cultic practices associated with particular buddhas and bodhisattvas are more representative of the way Buddhists conceive of their relation to tradition. This volume aims to explore this aspect of Buddhism by focusing on one of its most important cults, that of the Buddha Amitabha. Approaching the Land of Bliss is a rich collection of studies of texts and ritual practices devoted to Amitabha, ranging from Tibet to Japan and from early medieval times to the present.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction
Richard K. Payne	1	(15)
1 Pure Land Buddhism in Tibet? From Sukhãvati to the Field of Great Bliss
Matthew T. Kapstein	16	(36)
2 Shengchang's Pure Conduct Society and the Chinese Pure Land Patriarchate
Daniel Getz	52	(25)
3 By the Power of One s Last Nenbutsu: Deathbed Practices in Early Medieval Japan
Jacqueline I. Stone	77	(43)
4 Amida's Secret Life: Kakuban's Amida hishaku
James H. Sanford	120	(19)
5 "Show Me the Place Where My Mother Is!": Chújõhime, Preaching, and Relics in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan
Hank Glassman	139	(30)
6 "Just Behave as You Like; Prohibitions and Impurities Are Not a Problem": Radical Amida Cults and Popular Religiosity in Premodern Japan
Fabio Rambelli	169	(33)
7 Ungo Kiyõ's Ojõyõka and Rinzai Zen Orthodoxy
Richard M. Jaffe	202	(34)
8 From Generalized Goal to Tantric Subordination: Sukhãvati in the Indic Buddhist Traditions of Nepal
Todd T. Lewis	236	(28)
9 Buddha One: A One-Day Buddha-Recitation Retreat in Contemporary Taiwan
Charles B. Jones	264	(17)
Character Glossary	281	(8)
Contributors	289	(2)
Index	291