Esoteric Buddhism and Texts

This book explores trans-cultural and cross-border transformation of Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia, focusing on the significance of Esoteric Buddhism in relation to some forms of material culture, including rituals, arts, and the construction of sacred space and narratives.

Autorentext

Jinhua Chen, Fellow of Royal Society of Canada, is Professor of East Asian Religions at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and a Visiting Professor at several major universities, including TokyoU (2003-04) and Stanford (2012). He has published extensively on state-church relationships, monastic biographical literature, sacred sites, relic veneration, Buddhism and technology.

Inhalt

Part 1: Mantra/Dh rä and Esoteric Rituals 1. Image, ritual and mantra: a study on Esoteric rituals of Dipper Mother M r c 2. Chinese and Tibetan Sources on the Dh rä in Roll Seven of the rägama-s tra* 3. Interpretation of the Unique Dh rä s: focusing on the Shi Moheyan lun Part 2: Esoteric Arts 4. Chinese visual texts, Japanese spatial contexts: Mandala installation and the reading of empowered space in Japan 5. Dome of Heaven: the role of esoteric Buddhism in the Hall of Heavenly Kings at Mogao 6. Images of thousand-armed and Ttousand-eyed Avalokite vara with Cint mäicakra and Amoghap a as attendants: references to the chanting of the 'Dabeixin Dh rä ' Part 3: Sacred Space and Narratives 7. Examining Amoghavajra's flat-earth cosmology: religious vs. scientific worldviews in Buddhist astrology 8. Ximing monastery's esoteric Buddhist traditions 9. Eison, Monkan, and the cult of founders in medieval Japan: on the construction of narrative and material selves in East Asian Buddhism