Relics of the Buddha

Relics of the Buddha

Author: John S. Strong

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-06-05

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0691188114

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Buddhism is popularly seen as a religion stressing the truth of impermanence. How, then, to account for the long-standing veneration, in Asian Buddhist communities, of bone fragments, hair, teeth, and other bodily bits said to come from the historic Buddha? Early European and American scholars of religion, influenced by a characteristic Protestant bias against relic worship, declared such practices to be superstitious and fraudulent, and far from the true essence of Buddhism. John Strong's book, by contrast, argues that relic veneration has played a serious and integral role in Buddhist traditions in South and Southeast Asia-and that it is in no way foreign to Buddhism. The book is structured around the life story of the Buddha, starting with traditions about relics of previous buddhas and relics from the past lives of the Buddha Sakyamuni. It then considers the death of the Buddha, the collection of his bodily relics after his cremation, and stories of their spread to different parts of Asia. The book ends with a consideration of the legend of the future parinirvana (extinction) of the relics prior to the advent of the next Buddha, Maitreya. Throughout, the author does not hesitate to explore the many versions of these legends and to relate them to their ritual, doctrinal, artistic, and social contexts.


Book Synopsis Relics of the Buddha by : John S. Strong

Download or read book Relics of the Buddha written by John S. Strong and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism is popularly seen as a religion stressing the truth of impermanence. How, then, to account for the long-standing veneration, in Asian Buddhist communities, of bone fragments, hair, teeth, and other bodily bits said to come from the historic Buddha? Early European and American scholars of religion, influenced by a characteristic Protestant bias against relic worship, declared such practices to be superstitious and fraudulent, and far from the true essence of Buddhism. John Strong's book, by contrast, argues that relic veneration has played a serious and integral role in Buddhist traditions in South and Southeast Asia-and that it is in no way foreign to Buddhism. The book is structured around the life story of the Buddha, starting with traditions about relics of previous buddhas and relics from the past lives of the Buddha Sakyamuni. It then considers the death of the Buddha, the collection of his bodily relics after his cremation, and stories of their spread to different parts of Asia. The book ends with a consideration of the legend of the future parinirvana (extinction) of the relics prior to the advent of the next Buddha, Maitreya. Throughout, the author does not hesitate to explore the many versions of these legends and to relate them to their ritual, doctrinal, artistic, and social contexts.

Buddha's Bones

Buddha's Bones

Author: Frederick Thomas

Publisher: Buddha's Bones

Published: 2008-04

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0981455417

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Osiris Lee has found himself once again up to his eyeballs in danger. And this time he might not make it out alive. His problem? What are Buddha's Bones and why is everyone after them. With the help of a few friends as he travels Africa, Asia and China, Osiris uses every ounce of his courage to find out. And once he does, he'll never be the same again.


Book Synopsis Buddha's Bones by : Frederick Thomas

Download or read book Buddha's Bones written by Frederick Thomas and published by Buddha's Bones. This book was released on 2008-04 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Osiris Lee has found himself once again up to his eyeballs in danger. And this time he might not make it out alive. His problem? What are Buddha's Bones and why is everyone after them. With the help of a few friends as he travels Africa, Asia and China, Osiris uses every ounce of his courage to find out. And once he does, he'll never be the same again.

Bones of the Buddha

Bones of the Buddha

Author:

Publisher: Icon Films

Published: 2013-01-01

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781608839469

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Investigates claims that, in 1898, a colonial landowner in Northern India uncovered the tomb of Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha.


Book Synopsis Bones of the Buddha by :

Download or read book Bones of the Buddha written by and published by Icon Films. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigates claims that, in 1898, a colonial landowner in Northern India uncovered the tomb of Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha.

Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks

Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks

Author: Gregory Schopen

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 0824851226

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The present volume provides an essential foundation for a social history of Indian Buddhist monasticism. Challenging the popular stereotype that represented the accumulation of merit as the domain of the layperson while monks concerned themselves with more sophisticated realms of doctrine and meditation, Professor Schopen problematizes many assumptions about the lay-monastic distinction by demonstrating that monks and nuns, both the scholastic elites and the less learned, participated actively in a wide range of ritual practices and institutions that have heretofore been judged 'popular,' from the accumulation and transfer of merit; to the care of deceased relatives; to serving as sponsors and donors, rather than always the recipients, of gifts; to (possibly) the coining of counterfeit currency. Taken together, the studies contained in this volume represent the basis for a new historiography of Buddhism, not only for their critique of many the idées reçues of Buddhist Studies but for the compelling connections they draw between apparently disparate details.


Book Synopsis Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks by : Gregory Schopen

Download or read book Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks written by Gregory Schopen and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume provides an essential foundation for a social history of Indian Buddhist monasticism. Challenging the popular stereotype that represented the accumulation of merit as the domain of the layperson while monks concerned themselves with more sophisticated realms of doctrine and meditation, Professor Schopen problematizes many assumptions about the lay-monastic distinction by demonstrating that monks and nuns, both the scholastic elites and the less learned, participated actively in a wide range of ritual practices and institutions that have heretofore been judged 'popular,' from the accumulation and transfer of merit; to the care of deceased relatives; to serving as sponsors and donors, rather than always the recipients, of gifts; to (possibly) the coining of counterfeit currency. Taken together, the studies contained in this volume represent the basis for a new historiography of Buddhism, not only for their critique of many the idées reçues of Buddhist Studies but for the compelling connections they draw between apparently disparate details.

White Bones Red Rot Black Snakes

White Bones Red Rot Black Snakes

Author: Bhikkhu Sujato

Publisher: Bhikkhu Sujato

Published: 2011-01-05

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 1921842032

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Enchanting, powerful, horrific, beautiful, wise, deadly, compassionate, seductive. Women in Buddhist story and image are all these things and more. She takes the signs of the ancient goddess - the lotus, the sacred grove, the serpent, the sacrifice - and uses them in astonishing new ways. Her story is one of suffering and great trials, and through it all an unquenchable longing to be free. This beautifully illustrated work is as layered and subversive as mythology itself. Based directly on authentic Buddhist texts, and informed with insights from psychology and comparative mythology, it takes a fresh look at how Buddhist women have been depicted by men and how they have depicted themselves.


Book Synopsis White Bones Red Rot Black Snakes by : Bhikkhu Sujato

Download or read book White Bones Red Rot Black Snakes written by Bhikkhu Sujato and published by Bhikkhu Sujato. This book was released on 2011-01-05 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enchanting, powerful, horrific, beautiful, wise, deadly, compassionate, seductive. Women in Buddhist story and image are all these things and more. She takes the signs of the ancient goddess - the lotus, the sacred grove, the serpent, the sacrifice - and uses them in astonishing new ways. Her story is one of suffering and great trials, and through it all an unquenchable longing to be free. This beautifully illustrated work is as layered and subversive as mythology itself. Based directly on authentic Buddhist texts, and informed with insights from psychology and comparative mythology, it takes a fresh look at how Buddhist women have been depicted by men and how they have depicted themselves.

Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks

Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks

Author: Gregory Schopen

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks by : Gregory Schopen

Download or read book Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks written by Gregory Schopen and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Zen Manifesto: Freedom From Oneself

The Zen Manifesto: Freedom From Oneself

Author: Osho

Publisher: Fivestar

Published: 2023-03-17

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13:

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It is time, ripe time for a Zen manifesto. The Western intelligentsia have become acquainted with Zen, have also fallen in love with Zen, but they are still trying to approach Zen from the mind. They have not yet come to the understanding that Zen has nothing to do with mind. Its tremendous job is to get you out of the prison of mind. It is not an intellectual philosophy; it is not a philosophy at all. Nor is it a religion, because it has no fictions and no lies, no consolations. It is a lion’s roar. And the greatest thing that Zen has brought into the world is freedom from oneself. All the religions have been talking about dropping your ego – but it is a very weird phenomenon: they want you to drop your ego, and the ego is just a shadow of God. God is the ego of the universe, and the ego is your personality. Just as God is the very center of existence according to religions, your ego is the center of your mind, of your personality. They have all been talking about dropping the ego, but it cannot be dropped unless God is dropped. You cannot drop a shadow or a reflection unless the source of its manifestation is destroyed.


Book Synopsis The Zen Manifesto: Freedom From Oneself by : Osho

Download or read book The Zen Manifesto: Freedom From Oneself written by Osho and published by Fivestar. This book was released on 2023-03-17 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is time, ripe time for a Zen manifesto. The Western intelligentsia have become acquainted with Zen, have also fallen in love with Zen, but they are still trying to approach Zen from the mind. They have not yet come to the understanding that Zen has nothing to do with mind. Its tremendous job is to get you out of the prison of mind. It is not an intellectual philosophy; it is not a philosophy at all. Nor is it a religion, because it has no fictions and no lies, no consolations. It is a lion’s roar. And the greatest thing that Zen has brought into the world is freedom from oneself. All the religions have been talking about dropping your ego – but it is a very weird phenomenon: they want you to drop your ego, and the ego is just a shadow of God. God is the ego of the universe, and the ego is your personality. Just as God is the very center of existence according to religions, your ego is the center of your mind, of your personality. They have all been talking about dropping the ego, but it cannot be dropped unless God is dropped. You cannot drop a shadow or a reflection unless the source of its manifestation is destroyed.

Buddha's Nature

Buddha's Nature

Author: Wes Nisker

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 2011-04-27

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0307788725

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The Buddha said that "everything we need to know about life can be found inside this fathom-long body." Then why is most people's spirituality--whether Buddhist, Christian, or Jewish--completely cut off from their body? In this provocative and groundbreaking book, you'll discover that enlightenment comes not from "out there," but from a deep understanding of our own personal biology. Using the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, a traditional Buddhist meditation, Nisker shows how cutting-edge science is proving the tenets first offered by the Buddha. And he provides a practical program, complete with meditations and exercises, that enables readers to become mindful of the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. One of the great synthesizers of East and West, Nisker shows how to incorporate the traditional understanding of the Buddha with the latest scientific discoveries while on our spiritual journey. He shows that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. The way to enlightenment lies within our very biology. Most important, Nisker offers a practical program--complete with meditations and exercises--so readers can take their own evolutionary journey into their bodies to find the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. Nisker provides a liberating way for each of us to incorporate into our lives the understanding, proven by the latest scientific evidence and foretold in the great traditional teachings of the Buddha, that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. Our biology is not our destiny, but our way to enlightenment.


Book Synopsis Buddha's Nature by : Wes Nisker

Download or read book Buddha's Nature written by Wes Nisker and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2011-04-27 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Buddha said that "everything we need to know about life can be found inside this fathom-long body." Then why is most people's spirituality--whether Buddhist, Christian, or Jewish--completely cut off from their body? In this provocative and groundbreaking book, you'll discover that enlightenment comes not from "out there," but from a deep understanding of our own personal biology. Using the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, a traditional Buddhist meditation, Nisker shows how cutting-edge science is proving the tenets first offered by the Buddha. And he provides a practical program, complete with meditations and exercises, that enables readers to become mindful of the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. One of the great synthesizers of East and West, Nisker shows how to incorporate the traditional understanding of the Buddha with the latest scientific discoveries while on our spiritual journey. He shows that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. The way to enlightenment lies within our very biology. Most important, Nisker offers a practical program--complete with meditations and exercises--so readers can take their own evolutionary journey into their bodies to find the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. Nisker provides a liberating way for each of us to incorporate into our lives the understanding, proven by the latest scientific evidence and foretold in the great traditional teachings of the Buddha, that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. Our biology is not our destiny, but our way to enlightenment.

Of Bones and Buddhas

Of Bones and Buddhas

Author: Eric Matthew Greene

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Of Bones and Buddhas by : Eric Matthew Greene

Download or read book Of Bones and Buddhas written by Eric Matthew Greene and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture

The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture

Author: John Kieschnick

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-06-16

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 0691214042

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From the first century, when Buddhism entered China, the foreign religion shaped Chinese philosophy, beliefs, and ritual. At the same time, Buddhism had a profound effect on the material world of the Chinese. This wide-ranging study shows that Buddhism brought with it a vast array of objects big and small--relics treasured as parts of the body of the Buddha, prayer beads, and monastic clothing--as well as new ideas about what objects could do and how they should be treated. Kieschnick argues that even some everyday objects not ordinarily associated with Buddhism--bridges, tea, and the chair--on closer inspection turn out to have been intimately tied to Buddhist ideas and practices. Long after Buddhism ceased to be a major force in India, it continued to influence the development of material culture in China, as it does to the present day. At first glance, this seems surprising. Many Buddhist scriptures and thinkers rejected the material world or even denied its existence with great enthusiasm and sophistication. Others, however, from Buddhist philosophers to ordinary devotees, embraced objects as a means of expressing religious sentiments and doctrines. What was a sad sign of compromise and decline for some was seen as strength and versatility by others. Yielding rich insights through its innovative analysis of particular types of objects, this briskly written book is the first to systematically examine the ambivalent relationship, in the Chinese context, between Buddhism and material culture.


Book Synopsis The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture by : John Kieschnick

Download or read book The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture written by John Kieschnick and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the first century, when Buddhism entered China, the foreign religion shaped Chinese philosophy, beliefs, and ritual. At the same time, Buddhism had a profound effect on the material world of the Chinese. This wide-ranging study shows that Buddhism brought with it a vast array of objects big and small--relics treasured as parts of the body of the Buddha, prayer beads, and monastic clothing--as well as new ideas about what objects could do and how they should be treated. Kieschnick argues that even some everyday objects not ordinarily associated with Buddhism--bridges, tea, and the chair--on closer inspection turn out to have been intimately tied to Buddhist ideas and practices. Long after Buddhism ceased to be a major force in India, it continued to influence the development of material culture in China, as it does to the present day. At first glance, this seems surprising. Many Buddhist scriptures and thinkers rejected the material world or even denied its existence with great enthusiasm and sophistication. Others, however, from Buddhist philosophers to ordinary devotees, embraced objects as a means of expressing religious sentiments and doctrines. What was a sad sign of compromise and decline for some was seen as strength and versatility by others. Yielding rich insights through its innovative analysis of particular types of objects, this briskly written book is the first to systematically examine the ambivalent relationship, in the Chinese context, between Buddhism and material culture.