Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism

Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism
Title Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism PDF eBook
Author Kevin Trainor
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 252
Release 1997-06-13
Genre Religion
ISBN 9780521582803

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This book is a serious study of relic veneration among South Asian Buddhists. Drawing on textual sources and archaeological evidence from India and Sri Lanka, including material rarely examined in the West, it looks specifically at the practice of relic veneration in the Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist tradition. The author portrays relic veneration as a technology of remembrance and representation which makes present the Buddha of the past for living Buddhists. By analysing the abstract ideas, emotional orientation and ritual behaviour centred on the Buddha's material remains, he contributes to the 'rematerializing' of Buddhism which is currently under way among Western scholars. This book is an excellent introduction to Buddhist relics. It is well written and accessible and will be read by scholars and serious students of Buddhism and religious studies for years to come.

Embodying the Dharma

Embodying the Dharma
Title Embodying the Dharma PDF eBook
Author David Germano
Publisher State University of New York Press
Pages 213
Release 2012-02-01
Genre Religion
ISBN 0791484408

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Embodying the Dharma explores the centrality of relic veneration in Asian Buddhist cultures. Long disregarded by Western scholars as a superstitious practice reflecting the popularization of "original" Buddhism, relic veneration has emerged as a topic of vital interest in the last two decades with the increased attention to Buddhist ritual practice and material culture. This volume includes studies of relic traditions in India, Japan, Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, as well as broader comparative analyses, including comparisons of Buddhist and Christian relic veneration.

Jewel in the Ashes

Jewel in the Ashes
Title Jewel in the Ashes PDF eBook
Author Brian D. Ruppert
Publisher BRILL
Pages 535
Release 2020-03-23
Genre History
ISBN 1684173388

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Focusing on the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, this study analyzes the ways in which relics functioned as material media for the interactions of Buddhist clerics, the imperial family, lay aristocrats, and warrior society and explores the multivocality of relics by dealing with specific historical examples. Brian Ruppert argues that relics offered means for reinforcing or subverting hierarchical relations. The author's critical literary and anthropological analyses attest to the prominence of relic veneration in government, in lay practice associated with the maintenance of the imperial line and warrior houses, and in the promotion of specific Buddhist sects in Japan.

Becoming the Buddha

Becoming the Buddha
Title Becoming the Buddha PDF eBook
Author Donald K. Swearer
Publisher Princeton University Press
Pages 351
Release 2020-07-21
Genre Religion
ISBN 0691216029

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Becoming the Buddha is the first book-length study of a key ritual of Buddhist practice in Asia: the consecration of a Buddha image or "new Buddha," a ceremony by which the Buddha becomes present or alive. Through a richly detailed, accessible exploration of this ritual in northern Thailand, an exploration that stands apart from standard text-based or anthropological approaches, Donald Swearer makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Buddha image, its role in Buddhist devotional life, and its relationship to the veneration of Buddha relics. Blending ethnography, analysis, and Buddhist texts related to this mimetic reenactment of the night of the Buddha's enlightenment, he demonstrates that the image becomes the Buddha's surrogate by being invested with the Buddha's story and charged with the extraordinary power of Buddhahood. The process by which this transformation occurs through chant, sermon, meditation, and the presence of charismatic monks is at the heart of this book. Known as "opening the eyes of the Buddha," image consecration traditions throughout Buddhist Asia share much in common. Within the cultural context of northern Thailand, Becoming the Buddha illuminates scriptural accounts of the making of the first Buddha image; looks at debates over the ritual's historical origin, at Buddhological insights achieved, and at the hermeneutics of absence and presence; and provides a thematic comparison of several Buddhist traditions.

Buddhism

Buddhism
Title Buddhism PDF eBook
Author Kevin Trainor
Publisher Oxford University Press, USA
Pages 262
Release 2004
Genre Religion
ISBN 9780195173987

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In this strikingly illustrated and authoritative volume, readers have an introduction to one of the world's greatest living faiths. 200 color photos, maps & drawings.

Secrets of the Sacred

Secrets of the Sacred
Title Secrets of the Sacred PDF eBook
Author Helmut Brinker
Publisher Franklin D. Murphey Lecture Series
Pages 0
Release 2011
Genre Buddhist art and symbolism
ISBN 9780295990897

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This book traces the original meaning, function, style, and history of icons and relics across various schools of Buddhism.

A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture

A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture
Title A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture PDF eBook
Author Rebecca M. Brown
Publisher John Wiley & Sons
Pages 691
Release 2015-06-22
Genre Art
ISBN 1119019532

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A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture presents a collection of 26 original essays from top scholars in the field that explore and critically examine various aspects of Asian art and architectural history. Brings together top international scholars of Asian art and architecture Represents the current state of the field while highlighting the wide range of scholarly approaches to Asian Art Features work on Korea and Southeast Asia, two regions often overlooked in a field that is often defined as India-China-Japan Explores the influences on Asian art of global and colonial interactions and of the diasporic communities in the US and UK Showcases a wide range of topics including imperial commissions, ancient tombs, gardens, monastic spaces, performances, and pilgrimages.