The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism E-Book
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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Serie: Blackwell Companions to Religion
- Sprache: Englisch
The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism combines outstanding contributions covering Buddhism as it developed and is practiced in this region. These newly-commissioned essays provide fresh scholarly perspectives on a wide range of concepts, texts, and practices. * Offers a comprehensive and balanced survey of Buddhism within East and Central Asia, from the time of the Buddha through to the present day * Provides fresh perspectives on a wide range of concepts, texts, traditions, doctrines, practices, and institutions - on topics spanning gender roles, tantric rituals, and the spread of Zen into Europe * Brings together cutting-edge research by an interdisciplinary and international contributor team, including historians, literature scholars, and historians, as well as those from religious studies * Presents a panoramic view of the extraordinary richness and variety of local Buddhist expressions and practices within Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Tibetan, cultures
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014
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Table of Contents
The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion
Title page
Copyright page
Notes on Contributors
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Past and Present Intersections
Past and Present
A Living Tradition
The Ancient Sage and his Disciples
Fluid Boundaries and Expansive Frameworks
Plethora of Traditions
Diversity of Approaches and Perspectives
Institutional Moorings and Delimiting Outlooks
About this Volume
Overview of Contents
PART I: Patterns of Historical Growth
CHAPTER 1: Buddhism in Central Asian History
Buddhism in the Kuṣān Empire
Ancient Buddhist Manuscripts from the Greater Gandhāra Area
Kingdom of Kroraina and Buddhism around the Third Century
Sogdians and Buddhism
Khotan and Buddhism
Buddhism in Kucha
Turkic Buddhism
Decline of Buddhism in Central Asia
CHAPTER 2: Buddhism in Chinese History
Initial Introduction of Buddhism into China
Growth during the Period of Division
Canon Formation and Doctrinal Classification
Flourishing during the Sui-Tang Era
Schools of Chinese Buddhism
Popular Pieties
Decline and Revivals of the Late Imperial Era
Buddhism in Modern China
CHAPTER 3: Buddhism in Korean History
The Study of Korean Buddhism
Early History: The Three Kingdoms Period
Development of Doctrinal Schools in Unified Silla
Buddhist Practice in Unified Silla
Introduction of Sŏn Buddhism
Buddhism in Koryŏ
Buddhism in Chosŏn
Buddhism in the Modern Period
CHAPTER 4: Buddhism in Japanese History
Buddhist Beginnings (c. 550–700)
Nara (710–784) and Heian (794–1185) Periods
The Problem of the “Middle Ages”
The Kamakura (1185–1333) and Muromachi (1333–1493) Periods
The Edo Period (1603–1868)
Modern (1868–1945) and Postwar (1945–) Developments
CHAPTER 5: Buddhism in Tibetan History
The Beginnings of Buddhism in Tibet during the Imperial Age (c. 610–910)
The Resurgence of Buddhism after the Tibetan Empire
An Age of Translation and Assimilation
Sa-skya-pa Dominance under Mongol Influence
Tibetan Buddhist Scholasticism during Shifting Hegemonies
The Rise of the Dge-lugs-pa and the Age of Dalai Lamas
Traditional Tibet comes to an End
PART II: Traditions and Doctrines
CHAPTER 6: Tiantai Integrations of Doctrine and Practice
Zhiyi's Conception of Threefold Truth
Ultimate Truth and the Nature of Reality
Doctrinal Classification: The Five Periods
The Four Methods of Instruction
The Four Teachings
Tiantai Practice: Concentration and Contemplation
Threefold Contemplation
Realization of Reality
Conclusions
CHAPTER 7: Huayan Explorations of the Realm of Reality
The Huayan School and its Place in East Asian Buddhism
The Central Concept: Dependent Arising of the Dharma-dhātu
Scriptural Basis
Pure and Impure Dependent Arising of the Dharma-dhātu
Phenomena and Principle
Six Aspects and Ten Mysteries
Nature Origination
The Four Dharma-dhātus
Impact of Indigenous Chinese Thought
Cosmogonic Map for Buddhist Practice
CHAPTER 8: Chan/Zen Conceptions of Orthodoxy
Introduction: On the Use of the Term Orthodoxy
D.T. Suzuki: Zen Orthodoxy as Nihonjinron (Japanism)
The First Public Crisis in Chan Orthodoxy: Shenxiu and Shenhui
The Heze and Hongzhou Factions: The Political Implications of Chan Success
The Importance of the Study of Early Song Chan
The Crises over Chan Orthodoxy in the Early Song
Chan Orthodoxy at the Song Court
Concluding Remarks
CHAPTER 9: Tibetan Formulations of the Tantric Path
The Indian Background
Formation of the Tibetan Traditions
The Mahāyāna Path
The Path of Tantric Practice
Concluding Remarks
PART III: Popular Practices
CHAPTER 10: Pure Land Devotion in East Asia
Historiography on the Pure Land “School”
Focus on Genealogy
Focus on the Doctrine of Rebirth
New Directions in Pure Land Studies
Local Variants and Artistic Motifs
Literary Deviants
Performativity of Texts
Ritualizations
Pure Land Out of Bounds
Deathbed Rituals
CHAPTER 11: Bodhisattva Cults in Chinese Buddhism
Wenshu
Puxian
Dizang
Guanyin
Bodhisattvas in Combination
CHAPTER 12: Funerary Rituals in Japanese Buddhism
The Origin of Funerary Buddhism
Anti-Christianity and the Danka System
The Danka System and Funerary Buddhism
Funerary Rituals and Japanese Buddhism
Mortuary Rituals and Buddhism
Post-funereal Memorial Services
Annual Veneration of Ancestral Deities
Funerary Buddhism and Japanese Society
Epilogue
CHAPTER 13: Pilgrimage in Japanese Buddhism
The Concept of Pilgrimage
Space and Projection
Reijō: Paradise in the Backyard
Worldview and Merit (kudoku)
Famous Pilgrimage Courses
Conclusions
CHAPTER 14: Healing in Tibetan Buddhism
gSobarigpa (“Traditional Tibetan medicine”)
Medical Training and the Development of Medical Colleges in Tibet
gSobarigpa Medicine in South Asia
The Global Presence of gSobarigpa
Wider Contexts of gSobarigpa: Folk Medicine and Village Healing
Lamas and Healing
Divination and Diagnosis
PART IV: Institutions and Interactions
CHAPTER 15: East Asian Transformations of Monasticism
Sources and Studies of Buddhist Monasticism
Periodization of Chinese Buddhist Monasticism
Textual Foundation of Buddhist Monasticism
Rise of the Ordination Platform
Textual Practices in Buddhist Monasticism
From Cult of Relics to Cult of the Flesh-Body
Concluding Remarks
CHAPTER 16: Nuns and Laywomen in East Asian Buddhism
The Establishment of Women's Monastic Communities in East Asia
Larger Trends in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods
Nuns and Laywomen in Modern East Asia
CHAPTER 17: Buddhist–Daoist Interactions in Medieval China
Politics
Philosophy and Cosmology
Religious Practice
Conclusion
PART V: Writings and Arts
CHAPTER 18: The Chinese Buddhist Canon
Origin of the Chinese Buddhist Canon
Historical Development of the Chinese Buddhist Canon
Structure of the Canon as Seen from the Catalogues ( jinglu)
Material Aspects and Physical Layout
Canon and Community
Place of the Canon in the History of Chinese Buddhism
CHAPTER 19: The Tibetan Buddhist Canon
The Formal Buddhist Canonical Collections of Tibet
Overview of the Translation of the Kangyur and Tengyur Texts
Structure of the Canonical Collections of the Early Period: The Royal Catalogues
Canonical Collections of the Later Period, Part I: The Kangyurs and Tengyurs
Structure of the Kangyurs and Tengyurs Compared with the Chinese and Pāli Canons
Canonical Collections of the Later Period, Part II: The Rnying mas and Bon
Role of Canonical Texts and Collections in Tibetan Society
Content of the Kangyurs and Tengyurs Compared with the Chinese and Pāli Canons
Reflections on Canonicity, Scriptures, and Treatises in Buddhism
Modern Developments: Exposure to Other Traditions and to Electronic Resources
CHAPTER 20: Buddhism and Poetry in East Asia
Buddhism and Poetry: Beginnings in China
Buddhist Poetry of the Tang (618–907) and Five Dynasties (907–960)
Buddhism and Poetry: The Song (960–1279) and Later Dynasties
Buddhist Poetry in Japan
Buddhism and Poetry in Heian and Nara Japan (710–1192): Tendai and Shingon
Zen Buddhism and Poetry during the Kamakura and Muromachi Periods (1192–1573)
Buddhist Poetry after the Muromachi Period (1573 onward)
CHAPTER 21: Buddhist Art and Architecture in East Asia
The Earliest Buddha Images in China
Rock-cut Architecture in China and Korea
Monastic Architecture and its Development across East Asia
Buddhist Sculpture and Paintings
PART VI: Buddhism in the Modern World
CHAPTER 22: Buddhism in Modern Japan
The Early Modern Period
Separating Shinto and Buddhism
Separating Church and State
Buddhism for the State
Buddhism Over and Against the State
The Inward Turn
Shin Bukkyō versus Shin Shūkyō
Conclusion
CHAPTER 23: Buddhism in Modern Korea
The Colonial Background
Purification Movement and Purging of the Colonial Past
Establishment of the Chogye Order and Reinstitution of Monasticism
Cycle of Violence and Hegemonic Strife in the Post-Purification Era
Multifaceted Buddhist Responses after the Democracy Movement
Concluding Remarks
CHAPTER 24: Buddhism in Contemporary Europe
Who or what is “Buddhist?”
Transcultural Flows between Europe and “Buddhism”
From Reading to Practice
Growth of Tibetan Buddhism in Europe
Some Important Buddhist Groups and the Contemporary Situation in Europe
Buddhist Practice and New Thematic Perspectives
Concluding Remarks
CHAPTER 25: Buddhism in the Digital World
Religion, Authority, and the Internet
Digital Informational Resources on Buddhism
English Translations of Buddhist Texts
Being a Digital Buddhist
Digital Resources for the Academic Study of Buddhism
Concluding Reflections on Buddhism in the Digital World
Index
The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion
The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion series presents a collection of the most recent scholarship and knowledge about world religions. Each volume draws together newly commissioned essays by distinguished authors in the field, and is presented in a style which is accessible to undergraduate students, as well as scholars and the interested general reader. These volumes approach the subject in a creative and forward-thinking style, providing a forum in which leading scholars in the field can make their views and research available to a wider audience.
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Notes on Contributors
James B. Apple is associate professor of Buddhist studies at the University of Calgary. He is the author of Stairway to Nirvāṇa (State University of New York Press, 2008) and A Stairway taken by the Lucid (Aditya Prakashan, forthcoming).
Heather Blair is assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University. Her publications include “Zaō Gongen,” Monumenta Nipponica 66/1 (2011) and “Rites and Rule,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies (forthcoming).
Huaiyu Chen is assistant professor of Chinese religions at Arizona State University. He has published numerous articles on Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity in China and Central Asia.
Melissa Anne-Marie Curley is assistant professor of Japanese religions at the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on modern Pure Land, with her most recent work appearing in Ugo Dessì's Social Dimension of Shin Buddhism.
Beata Grant is professor of Chinese and religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the author of several books and articles on Buddhism and literature, including Mount Lu Revisited: Buddhism in the Life and Writing of Su Shi (Hawai‘i University Press, 1994) and Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns (Wisdom, 2003).
David B. Gray is associate professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University, in Santa Clara, California. His research explores the development of tantric Buddhist traditions in South Asia, and their dissemination in Tibet and East Asia, with a focus on the Yoginītantras. His publications include The Cakrasamvara Tantra: A Study and Annotated Translation (American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2007) and the forthcoming two books, The Cakrasamvara Tantra: Editions of the Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts and Tsong Khapa's Illumination of the Hidden Meaning: Maṇḍala, Mantra, and the Cult of the Yoginīs.
Imre Hamar is professor of Chinese studies at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest). His main research area is the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism. He is the author of A Religious Leader in the Tang: Chengguan's Biography (The International College for Advanced Buddhist Studies, 2002) and the editor of Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism (Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007).
Natasha Heller is assistant professor of Chinese religions and cultural history at UCLA, with a research focus on Buddhism of middle-period China.
Nam-lin Hur is professor of Japanese history and religious culture at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Prayer and Play in Late Tokugawa Japan: Asakusa Sensōji and Edo Society (Harvard University Asia Center, 2000) and Death and Social Order in Tokugawa Japan: Buddhism, Anti-Christianity, and the Danka System (Harvard University Asia Center, 2007).
Livia Kohn is professor emerita of religion and East Asian studies at Boston University. The author or editor of over thirty books, she now lives in Florida, serves as the executive editor of the Journal of Daoist Studies, and runs various workshops and conferences.
Lori Meeks is associate professor of religion and East Asian languages and cultures at the University of Southern California. She is the author of Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan (Hawai‘i University Press, 2010) and the Co-Director of USC's Center for Japanese Religions and Culture.
Pori Park is assistant professor of religious studies at Arizona State University. Her recent publications include “New Visions for Engaged Buddhism: The JungTo Society and the Indra's Net Community Movement in Contemporary Korea” (Contemporary Buddhism, 2010) and “The Establishment of Buddhist Nunneries in Contemporary Korea” (in More Than Women: Korean Nuns within the Context of East Asian Buddhist Traditions—SUNY Press, 2011). Her book, Trial and Error in Modernist Reforms: Korean Buddhism under Colonial Rule, was published in 2009 (Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley).
Mario Poceski is associate professor of Buddhist studies and Chinese religions at the University of Florida. His numerous publications include Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism (Oxford, 2007) and Introducing Chinese Religions (Routledge, 2009).
Inken Prohl is professor of religious studies at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and a member of the “Cluster of Excellence Asia and Europe in a Global Context, Heidelberg.” Her research interests have focused on the recent history of religions in Germany, Japan and the USA, the transformations of Buddhist thoughts and practices in modernity, and new approaches of religious esthetics. Her publications include Religiöse Innovationen: Die Shintō-Organisation World Mate in Japan (Reimer, 2005) and Zen für Dummies (Wiley, 2010).
Geoffrey Samuel teaches at Cardiff University (UK), and has an academic background in physics and social anthropology. His writings include Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies (Smithsonian Institution Press,1993); Tantric Revisionings: New Understandings of Tibetan Buddhism and Indian Religion (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass; London: Ashgate, 2005); The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2008); and Introducing Tibetan Buddhism (Routledge, 2012).
Morten Schlütter is associate professor at the University of Iowa. He is the author of How Zen Became Zen: The Dispute over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-dynasty China (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008) and, with Stephen Teiser, is the co-editor of Readings of the Platform Sutra (Columbia University Press, 2012).
Haiyan Shen is professor in the Philosophy Department, Shanghai University, China. Her main publication is The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tiantai Philosophy of Buddhism (Originals, 2005).
D. Phillip Stanley is associate professor of religious studies at Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado. He is Co-Convener of the Union Catalog of Buddhist Texts and Co-Director of the Kangyur and Tengyur Catalogs of the Tibetan and Himalayan Library.
Hendrik (Henny) van der Veere is a researcher of Japanese religions and Buddhism at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He has published on Japanese esoteric Buddhism, Ryōbu Shintō, and pilgrimage in Japan. His publications include A Study into the Thought of Kōgyō Daishi Kakuban (Hotei Leiden, 2000) and “Pre-Modern Maps of the Shikoku Pilgrimage” (The Netherlands-Japan Review, 2010).
Sem Vermeersch is associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies, Seoul National University. His main research interest is the history of Korean Buddhism, and his representative work in this field is The Power of the Buddhas: The Politics of Buddhism During the Koryǒ Period (Harvard University Press, 2008).
Mariko Namba Walter is research associate of Reischauer Institute and Fairbank Center at Harvard. Her publications include Sogdians and Buddhism (Sino-Platonic Papers 174, 2006), and Tokharian Buddhism in Kucha (Sino-Platonic Papers 85, 1998). She is also the co-editor (with Jacqueline Stone) of Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008).
Michelle C. Wang is assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History at Georgetown University, with a current research focus on 9th–10th century Huayan and esoteric Buddhist art at Dunhuang.
Albert Welter is professor and head of the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona, specializing in Chinese and East Asian Buddhism. He is the author of Yongming Yanshou's Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu: A Special Transmission within the Scriptures (Oxford, 2011), The Linji lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy: The Development of Chan's Records of Sayings Literature (Oxford, 2008), and Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism (Oxford, 2006).
Jiang Wu is associate professor in the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Arizona. His recent book is Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-century China (Oxford, 2008). He is doing research on the Chinese Buddhist canon.
Jimmy Yu is assistant professor of Buddhism and Chinese religions. His latest book, Sanctity and Self-Inflicted Violence in Chinese Religions, 1500–1700 (Oxford University Press, 2012), explores the self-inflicted violence as an essential and sanctioned part of pre-modern Chinese culture.
Preface and Acknowledgments
Together with its companion volume, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to South and Southeast Asian Buddhism, this book is meant to serve as a comprehensive survey of Buddhism that incorporates the most recent results of academic research in the field of Buddhist studies. Taken together, the two books cover the whole sweep of Buddhist history, from the time of the Buddha until the present, and offer a variety of scholarly perspectives on a wide range of texts, traditions, doctrines, practices, and institutions. By tracing key historical trajectories, examining the growth of diverse traditions, and surveying the profusion of philosophical systems and soteriological paradigms subsumed under the broad category of Buddhism, the two volumes highlight the extraordinary richness and variety of localized expressions of Buddhist religiosity. Moreover, as the various chapters examine the evolution of assorted theoretical elaborations and applied modalities of the Buddhist dharma, in relation to constantly changing social milieus and cultural predicaments, the books also contribute to the general study of religion, in part by problematizing some of the prevalent theoretical templates, distinctions, and assumptions that influence academic research.
When the publisher first approached me with the idea of contributing a volume to the Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion series, the initial idea was to do a single volume on Buddhism. However, it soon became clear that, even with the hefty size of the volumes included in the series, there is simply too much ground to cover for a single volume. Because of the diverse historical, textual, and cultural heritages of Buddhism, and the broadness of the field of Buddhist studies, there is a profusion of material that needs to be included in order to provide a reasonably adequate coverage. Consequently, I suggested to divide the whole project into two separate but related volumes, which the publisher accepted enthusiastically. We decided to have one volume focusing on Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia, and another one on Buddhism in East and Inner (or Central) Asia.
Given the scope of the project and my other professional commitments, I also proposed to bring aboard a second editor, whose area(s) of expertise will complement mine (Chinese Buddhism being my primary area of research). We were fortunate that Michael Zimmerman, a specialist in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, accepted the invitation to edit the volume on Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia. The two editors have worked together to make sure that the two volumes are carefully structured and integrated, so that they can effectively function as a set. That kind of arrangement was meant to facilitate cross-referencing and help avoid repetitious coverage of common topics. Nevertheless, each volume is intended to be self-contained and able to stand on its own.
The various chapters included in this volume represent a variety of approaches and viewpoints deployed in the field of Buddhist studies. There are also contributions by scholars whose main areas of expertise are in other academic fields, such as art history, literature, and history. Great efforts were expended on ensuring that the book provides a fairly comprehensive and balanced treatment of Buddhism as it developed historically—as well as the ways it presently exists—in various parts of East and Inner Asia. On the whole, the introduction and the twenty-five chapters provide an informative, well-organized, and wide-ranging coverage of the histories, texts, traditions, practices, and other relevant areas of Inner and East Asian Buddhism. They also exemplify the present state of the field in the academic study of Buddhism, albeit with a bit more focus on the way it is constituted in North America (in contrast to the companion volume, which has more contributions by European scholars). However, given the vastness of the subject matter and the specific format of the series, the book does not aim at encyclopedic or all-inclusive coverage of Buddhism.
Effective mapping of broad field(s) such as Inner and East Asian Buddhism—especially within the restrictive scope of dividing the whole area into a fixed number of sections (or chapters) of roughly equal size—involves extensive analysis, some fine-tuned balancing acts, and attention to all sorts of details. Given the scope and complexity of the project, as well as a host of practical matters that accompany the production of this kind of volume, there are inevitably certain gaps, and it is not difficult to come up with additional topics that could have been included. Some of these omissions are for reasons of space and related practical considerations, as well as other contingencies that the editor had no control over.
Some seeming absences also have to do with the coordinated coverage of the two companions to Buddhism. For instance, in this volume there is no dedicated chapter on theory and method in Buddhist studies because we decided to include that chapter in the companion volume on South and Southeast Asian Buddhism. Similarly, there is a chapter on Buddhism in Europe but none on Buddhism in America because the second topic is covered in the other volume.
The book uses standard transliteration systems for Tibetan and various East Asian languages, reflecting common scholarly customs in the USA and other English-speaking countries. Notwithstanding the editor's efforts to standardize style and usage, given the scope of the volume and the vastness of its subject matter, as well as the notable variations in scholarly practice, there are occasional inconsistencies, for instance in the renderings of names and titles of classical texts.
I would like to thank all scholars who contributed to this volume, along with Michael Zimmerman who kindly agreed to undertake the editing of the companion volume and provided feedback on the Introduction. I also received valuable suggestions regarding the Introduction from Beata Grant, and on the initial book prospectus from Jason Neelis. In addition, I would like to thank the editorial team at Blackwell for their excellent work and high level of professionalism, especially Rebecca Harkin, Georgina Coleby, Bridget Jennings, and Karen Raith, as well as Fiona Screen for her excellent copy editing. Special thanks to Andrew Humphries, who in his role as a commissioning editor for religion initially approached me with the idea of producing a volume on Buddhism, prior to his departure from Blackwell Publishing.
Furthermore, I appreciate the responses I received from my graduate students at the University of Florida, who read and discussed several draft chapters from the book as part of my graduate seminar on Buddhist traditions. To a large extent, it was the lack of suitable text(s) for seminars of that kind that prompted me to accept the task of editing this volume, which I hope others will find useful in the context of graduate education. I would also like to acknowledge the positive feedback I received from the six anonymous scholars who served as external evaluators (five of them commented on the original prospectus for the two volumes, which I wrote, and one reviewed the final manuscript for this volume). Finally, I would like to thank my wife Hiroko Poceski for her love, patience, and support.
Mario Poceski
Hamburg, August 2013
Introduction
Past and Present Intersections
Mario Poceski
Buddhism has a long, rich, and multifaceted history. Over the millennia Buddhist beliefs, doctrines, practices, and institutions have influenced or interacted with other facets of social and cultural life in many areas of Asia. Accordingly, they are very much integral parts of the broader history of Asia. Buddhism is also one of the major religions of the modern world, not only with traditional strongholds in various parts of South, Southeast, and East Asia, but also with a global presence and a growing influence in many other areas of the world. This volume covers both the past and the present, and tries to convey the profuse diversity of Buddhist life and thought as they have manifested at various times and places, with a focus on East and Inner (or Central) Asian forms of Buddhism. Given that we are dealing with a religious tradition with a very long and complex history—in which communal remembrances or creative reinventions of the past are of utmost importance—naturally the past occupies more pages than the present. We have, however, made every effort to ensure that modern developments are afforded adequate coverage.
The Buddhist past is expressed or observed in a number of different ways, including the lives and teachings of ancient sages (or villains), the mores and ideals of religious communities, the contents and transmissions of canonical texts (and other relevant sources), and the assorted forms of political or economic activity that have influenced the religion at different epochs and locations. There are also the colorful rituals and related cultic practices that often echo transcendental principles as well as prosaic concerns, the rules for monastic congregations and other aspects of institutional religion, the visuals representations of hosts of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other deities, and much more. Much the same can also be said of the present, although its study allows us to make use of additional sources of data and different methodological approaches, such as ethnographic research.
This volume covers Buddhism in a broad sense as it developed and is practiced in Inner and East Asia, and looks at many of its constitutive elements from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Its combination of general surveys and somewhat more detailed analyses of specific topics will hopefully make it useful to a broad range of readers, from students and general readers wishing to learn about various aspects of Buddhism—its history, traditions, doctrines, practices, texts, institutions, artistic representations, and present-day actualities—to specialists in Buddhism, religious studies, and other academic fields. The chapters included in this book present a variety of scholarly views and approaches, covering major historical trajectories as well as exploring contemporary realities. While an attempt has been made to integrate all of the chapters into a wide-ranging but coherent whole, each chapter can also stand on its own. Consequently, readers have the option of reading the entire volume or going directly to specific chapters.
In addition to providing a wealth of information about Buddhism, this volume is intended to facilitate fruitful reflection and discussion, expand intellectual horizons, stimulate interest in the study of Buddhism, and open up further areas of scholarly enquiry. Readers are invited to ponder the scholarly accounts or stories about Buddhism contained in its chapters, with a hope that its contents will also stimulate interest in exploring or learning about additional themes or narratives that, due to various constraints, have not been told or covered. In that sense, the volume is a reflection of the current state of Buddhist studies as an academic field or area of study, although it also provides glimpses into future areas of research or emerging theoretical paradigms.
Past and Present
Over the centuries Buddhism has exerted numerous and far-reaching influences on many of the great civilizations of Asia. Prominent vestiges of those influences can be seen in numerous examples of monumental architecture, timeless works of art, entrancing literary narratives, and other elements of cultural patrimony. Buddhist history, teachings, traditions, and artistic representations are, among other things, indispensable elements for understanding the complex and fascinating histories of important parts of the world, including the (re)emerging world powers of China and India. In a sense, they constitute key components or building blocks of larger civilizational patterns, which have shaped the general course of human history. In addition to being an important part of a common human heritage that provides significant links with the past, as described below, Buddhism remains an important presence in the contemporary world, a diverse tradition that is an integral part of the global religious landscape.
In the ongoing quest for arriving at a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of a multidimensional religious tradition such as Buddhism, we need to carefully study both the past and the present, in their totality and from a variety of angles or perspectives. It is sometimes fruitful to study the past and the present in relation to each other: the past inheres in the present, often in ways that might not be readily obvious. Therefore, the present cannot be understood without recourse to the past. At the same time, it is imprudent to approach or reconstitute the past primarily in terms of present-day values, suppositions, or realities.
The same can be said of the ingenious or utilitarian use of the past in order to justify or obfuscate certain elements of present-day reality, including peculiar mores, ideological suppositions, or religious institutions. In the religious sphere the past often remains a contested territory open to a variety of interpretations that to some extent reflect the distinct agendas of various parties, including scholars, members of religious groups, politicians, and others. (In a way, much of the same can also be said of the present predicament.) To a degree, the tensions that are refracted via such contestations point to overlapping issues of authority, power, and identity. When it comes to understanding and interpreting a religious tradition such as Buddhism, there is tangible potential for disputes over who has the proper authority and expertise to define or explain the religion, which at times might place scholars and practitioners on opposing sides.
While professional academics do not have a monopoly on these kinds of intellectual endeavors, the past also does not belong to present-day groups or communities, who often bring with them inherent biases, ideological assumptions, and self-serving agendas. Perhaps we all—inside and outside of the academia—need to keep in mind that, notwithstanding our efforts at scholarly objectivity or self-reflection, we are all, in a sense, prisoners of our time and culture, and we operate within frameworks that impose all sorts of limitations to our capacity for knowledge and understanding. We can never quite exhaust the depth or complexity of the topics we discuss, and even with all the benefits of hindsight, out vantage point is not a privileged one. Additionally, we might want to remind ourselves that we should appreciate and study the past for its own sake, and on its own terms, perhaps out of intellectual curiosity, but also with the aim of deepening and expanding our common human knowledge.
A Living Tradition
In addition to being the dominant religion in a number of Asian countries (such as Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Japan), or an influential one in others (China and Malaysia, for instance), with the ongoing growth of globalizing trends Buddhism is now a truly worldwide religion. In a globalized world that seems to be constantly shrinking, there are now notable Buddhist presences in many parts of the planet outside of Asia, including Europe and the Americas. For instance, if a person living or visiting Brazil was interested in Buddhist practice, she might consider participating in a meditation retreat (sesshin) at Mosteiro Zen Morro da Vargem (Zenkoji), a Sōtō Zen monastery located in Ibiraçu, in the state of Espírito Santo (for Zen in Brazil, see Rocha 2006). Before going there, she would be able to go online to find out about the monastery’s programs for children, the elderly, students, teachers, businessmen, ecologists, and artists. In a similar vein, it is possible for anyone to attend a repentance ceremony, or a number of other rituals organized by Foguang shan, a large Buddhist organization headquartered in Taiwan but with branches all over the world, including Nanhua temple in Bronkhorstpruit, South Africa, Chung Tian Temple in Queensland, Australia, and Guangming Temple in Orlando, Florida (for studies that deal with modern Buddhism, see Madsen 2007; Chandler 2004; and Learman 2005).
As they become integral parts of the local religious landscapes in places that are far removed from their original Asian homelands, these and other Buddhist traditions are adding unique elements and new textures to the cultural and social lives of their local communities. In the process of their growth, they are opening up fresh avenues of spiritual exploration, philosophical reflection, social engagement, identity formation, or esthetic sensibility. At the same time, as they negotiate the sometimes delicate relationship between the public sphere and the private realm, they also raise assorted financial, legal, and political issues, and elicit a variety of opinions and responses within their host societies.
When looking at the religious landscape of contemporary Asia, one can see that Buddhism is facing all kinds of problems or challenges, including governmental control or suppression (e.g. Vietnam, Malaysia, and China), as well as political or ethnic conflicts (e.g. Sri Lanka and Southern Thailand). Buddhism also continues to be an integral part of societies that are still experiencing serious economic troubles or political transitions (e.g. Burma and Cambodia). On the other hand, in Asian countries such as Japan, Buddhism is often perceived, especially in its traditional forms, as a sclerotic remnant of a bygone era, with limited relevance to modern life. There are also places where Buddhism is experiencing various degrees of resurgence or revival, albeit not without all sorts of complications, for instance in Taiwan, Singapore, and Korea (perhaps we can also add China, Vietnam, and Malaysia to this group, notwithstanding the aforementioned problems), or is deeply imbedded in the sociopolitical system as a national religion (e.g. Burma and Thailand).
As a living tradition characterized by an astounding diversity and a seemingly endless capacity for adaptation, Buddhism continues to evolve in the course of its encounters with a variety of cultural milieus and social conditions. As has been the case throughout most of its history, Buddhism continues to experience numerous vicissitudes and challenges brought about by diverse internal and external factors. That includes the aforementioned host of social, economic, political, and cultural issues, as well as the development of new technologies and shifts in demographic patterns. Presumably in the future Buddhist movements and traditions will continue to go through all sorts of vagaries and adjustments, including patterns of decline, revival, and stasis, as they have done over the last twenty-five centuries (or so), but it is fair to assume that Buddhism will be with us for the foreseeable future.
When we look at the contemporary religious situation in broader terms, we can assert with fair certainty that, for better or worse, the proponents of the secularization theory were mistaken when they predicted a modern world in which religion, with its supposedly dated values and superstitious beliefs, would disappear (or at least experience an irrevocable decline). According to this sort of one-sided narrative, which developed within a peculiar ideological milieu infused with Eurocentric attitudes and untenable assumptions, religion was supposed to be unable to resist the momentous impact of rationality and the march of human progress, fading away in a modern world dominated by scientific thinking and technological advancement. However, recent developments in most parts of the globe have come to highlight the continuing vitality and central importance of religion in human life. Consequently, making sense of Buddhism, as well as other religions, should be an essential part of our efforts at understanding the world we live in, with all of its confounding complexity, and its enduring capacity for beauty and ugliness, wisdom and stupidity, goodness and depravity.
The Ancient Sage and his Disciples
According to tradition, the story of Buddhism began in northern India some twenty-five centuries ago, with the life and teachings of the Buddha (ca. 480–400 bce?). The precise details about the Buddha’s historical existence and the formation of his early community are shrouded in mystery, as much of the information comes from later accounts that contain all kinds of literary embellishments, allegorical motifs, or mythopoeic tropes. In time, the scope of narratives centered on the Buddha was expanded to also include mythical stories about the Buddha's past lives, exemplified by the Jātakas that to this day remain a prominent part of popular Buddhist lore. Since the various teachings attributed to the Buddha, who in Buddhist literature is often referred to as Śākyamuni (“sage of the Śākya”), were not put into writing for several centuries after his passing away, at the earliest, we also have no way of knowing the actual contents and exact parameters of his teachings.
Now and again, Buddhist scholars and devotees have engaged in searches for the original Buddhism purportedly propounded by the historical Buddha. Some have even made dubious claims about being able to reconstitute “what the Buddha taught” (for instance, see Rahula 1974, a popular book which is still widely used as a classroom textbook). While research into the history of early Buddhism remains an important area of academic study, for the most part contemporary scholars acknowledge that the search for origins is an inherently problematic undertaking, often based on untenable suppositions and questionable uses of sources. It is especially unfortunate when this search for a “pure” or original Buddhism leads to a dismissal or neglect of later forms of Buddhism, including those surveyed in this volume, which developed beyond the religion’s homeland on the Indian subcontinent.
Within many communities the image of the historical Buddha has been, and still remains, a potent symbol of perfect spiritual awakening and unconstrained freedom, as well as a host of sublime qualities associated with the great sage, such as wisdom and compassion. That hallowed image also serves as a source of guidance and inspiration that, among other things, provides a template about how to lead a morally upright and spiritually fulfilling life. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that, for the most part, in its comprehensive version the story of Buddhism is about the arrays of beliefs, texts, doctrines, traditions, artistic representations, practices, and institutions created by generations of people with varied backgrounds, who considered themselves to be followers or disciples of the Buddha. In other words, as is the case with many of the world religions, Buddhism was mostly created and transmitted by the disciples, not the original master. In that sense, perhaps we can say that most of Buddhism is in various ways inspired rather than formulated by the Buddha, notwithstanding the significant foundations laid down by the ancient sage and his earliest followers.
Accordingly, the main builders of the grand edifice we call Buddhism were countless “Buddhists”—as well as many others to whom we might not necessarily attach that label—who lived at various times and places. As befitting a great religious tradition that influenced large parts of the world, these people came from all sorts of backgrounds: Mongolian or Japanese, monastic or lay, rich or poor, saintly or sinful, wise or foolish, famous or unknown. To tell the story of Buddhism in a manner that does justice to its historical richness and complexity requires that we find a way to take the beliefs and actions of all of them into account, with sensitivity to the variety of contexts within which they engaged with Buddhism. That might be a bit more challenging, perhaps, but also preferable to narrower approaches centered on the study of classical texts or abstruse philosophical discourses, which purportedly contain valuable pieces of information or convey the essence of Buddhism, as envisioned by some of the pioneering figures in the academic study of Buddhism (dated approaches that, alas, are still pursued in many places).
With the historical growth of Buddhism, and the continuing evolution of Buddhist creeds and ideals, the manner in which the Buddha was remembered or imagined underwent various changes. This was accompanied by an ongoing reconceptualization of the meaning and significance of Buddhahood, which is reflected in a number of Mahāyāna doctrines, including the doctrine of the three bodies of a Buddha (trikāya). There appeared also a proliferation of narrative depictions of celestial Buddhas such as Vairocana and Akṣobhya. Together with a host of celestial bodhisattvas and other deities, these Buddhas came to populate a rich pantheon that anchored profuse forms of cultic practices and other forms of popular piety, which addressed diverse salvific needs and utilitarian concerns.
Throughout the history of Buddhism we can trace notable shifts in devotional attitudes and practices. In a number of instances that involves a change of focus or attention away from the historical Buddha, and a redirection of religious faith and devotional adulation toward other religious figures. For instance, in the Pure Land tradition that during the late medieval period came to flourish throughout East Asia, the main object of worship and devotion is Amitābha, the celestial Buddha of infinite light associated with Sukhāvatī, a mythical pure land located in the western direction. This kind of idea also came to influence popular beliefs and attitudes about the afterlife, with rebirth in Amitābha’s pure land becoming the primary religious goal of many Buddhists. The move away from the historical Buddha and his teachings is also observable in the Nichiren tradition of Japanese Buddhism, whose founder, the controversial priest Nichiren (1222–1282)—who among other things promoted persecution of the various Buddhist sects that existed in thirteenth-century Japan—is widely worshiped as the real Buddha of the present age.
Fluid Boundaries and Expansive Frameworks
From a broader academic perspective, the study of Buddhism is not about a nebulous or enduring essence, nor is it about a narrowly demarcated tradition established on the basis of a particular canon, doctrine, or lineage. At some level, as Bodhidharma, the putative founder of the Chan tradition in China, supposedly said to Emperor Wu (r. 502–549) of the Liang Dynasty (according to a presumably apocryphal story), “it is only vast emptiness,” with nothing to grasp or hold on to. Fortunately, we are also told that emptiness gives rise to all sorts of forms and appearances, the traces of which, in the case of Buddhism, provide us with manifold avenues of ongoing intellectual enquiry.
Within the context of a volume such as this one, the study of Buddhism, with all of its historical frameworks and theoretical distinctions, involves critical enquiry into changing values, beliefs, aspirations, and actions, as manifested in the individual and communal lives of Inner and East Asian people, past and present, especially those who believed or claimed to follow the teachings and precepts of Buddhism. It is also about the texts they translated, wrote, or commented upon; the ritual observances they engaged in; the philosophical systems they formulated or ruminated about; the ethical codes they observed (or transgressed); the contemplative techniques they deployed or talked about; the deities they worshiped and beseeched; the art they sponsored or produced; the histories they created; the sectarian squabbles and power grabs they engaged in, and much more.
Given that Buddhism has never existed in isolation or had fixed boundaries, its study also involves critical analyses of the societies and cultures where Buddhist activities have taken place, or where Buddhism has established an institutional presence. That brings to the fore other factors as well, such as political power structures or systems of economic production. We also need to add to the mix other religious traditions that over the centuries, with changing patterns of geographic spread and diffusions, came to share common social and cultural spaces with Buddhism. That includes consideration of the modes of interaction between Buddhism and other religions such as Daoism, Confucianism, Shinto, and Christianity, which entailed creative crosspollinations as well as hostile competitions.
Plethora of Traditions
After establishing its initial presence in what is now northeastern India and southern Nepal, by the end of the reign of King Aśoka (r. ca. 269–232 bce), widely acclaimed as one of India's greatest emperors and the most prominent patron of Buddhism, the burgeoning religion spread to most of the Indian subcontinent. Aśoka’s Maurya dynasty ruled a vast area, from present-day Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east, and from what is now Central Asia in the north to the southern part of India. From that time onward, we can speak of Buddhism as a pan-Indian religion, as well as a missionary religion that over time spread to other parts of Asia. Much of the outward growth of Buddhism in various parts of Asia was linked with long-distance trade. Major trade networks became key conduits for the diffusion of Buddhism into Central Asia, from where it was transmitted to China, and then to the rest of East Asia.
By the end of the first millennium of its history, Buddhism had been introduced into a great variety of cultural and geographical regions, establishing its presence in much of Asia, from what is now Iran in the west all the way to Japan at the eastern edge of the vast continent. Before long, Buddhism also found its way to Tibet, where after initial tribulations it became firmly established as a central presence in Tibetan life and a key source of cultural identity. Accordingly, we can talk of Buddhism gradually becoming one of the world's great religions, with important ramifications for Asian history. As part of that process, most elements that constitute Buddhism underwent significant transformations, and the religion assumed a variety of localized forms or expressions.
Over the centuries, as it spread across much of the Asian continent, Buddhism gave rise to rich arrays of doctrines, practices, texts, and traditions. Most of them were ascribed to or linked with the historical Buddha, as evidenced in the numerous scriptures that claim to contain records of his teachings. These include the voluminous canonical sources produced by the various schools of early Buddhism, which in the scholarly literature are sometimes referred to as Mainstream schools, as well as the numerous scriptures produced by the Mahāyāna and the Tantric movements. Upon closer scrutiny, notwithstanding efforts to impute a sense of intrinsic unity or internal coherence to Buddhism, there are powerful centrifugal forces, and on the whole Buddhism is more characterized by diversity rather than unity. Given the variety of texts, approaches, and traditions that are subsumed under the general category of Buddhism, it might be more appropriate to think about the religion in plural terms. Namely, it is helpful to remember that we are dealing with a multiplicity of Buddhisms, each constituting a valid topic of study in its own right, as well as in relation to the rest.
Some of these traditions emerged and flourished in India, but many of them developed in other parts of Asia. In most instances, their initial formation and subsequent transformation were shaped by convoluted combinations of diverse factors and influences. Generally, that involved inner dialectical or developmental processes (doctrinal, institutional, etc.), as well as responses to external pressures or influences (political, economic, etc.). As Buddhism spread to various parts of Central and East Asia, it came in contact with various cultures and became integrated into different types of local societies. It also adapted to diverse kinds of political and economic systems.
The remarkable ability of Buddhism to adjust to a variety of social predicaments, and to engage or absorb assorted elements from diverse cultures, was to a substantial extent facilitated by its decentralized institutional structures. The monastic order, which at most times and places occupied a central position and played a key role in the spread of Buddhism, lacked unified ecclesiastical structures and a central source of authority. From early on, this helped unleash notable centrifugal forces, which are reflected in the proliferation of various schools, movements, or traditions.
Another factor that contributed to the profusion of Buddhist traditions was the lack of a rigid or narrow form of scriptural authority, along the lines of what we find in other religions, such as Christianity and Islam. This in part reflected a general rejection of dogmatism, and a disinclination to delineate orthodoxy in overly restrictive terms. Nonetheless, that does not mean that Buddhism was (or is) immune to the development of fundamentalist attitudes. Instead of affixing narrow parameters to their canon, as the Christians did by the fifth century—after the initial recognition of Christianity as official religion in the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Constantine (r. 306–337)—for a very long time various kinds of Buddhists engaged in prolific processes of scriptural production.
Over the centuries Buddhist scriptures and other types of canonical texts were produced not only in India, but also elsewhere, including China. Pertinent examples include the apocryphal texts composed in China that were presented as translations of Indian scriptures, purportedly containing teachings given by the Buddha himself. This sort of protracted and somewhat haphazard process of canon formation was facilitated by the widespread embrace of the notion of an open canon. Different Buddhist schools created their own canons, sometimes with substantial overlaps among them. Some canons, like the Pāli canon of the Theravāda school, eventually stabilized and after a lengthy process of canonization achieved a point of closure (see Collins 1990). Others, however, including the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist canons described in more detail later in this volume, remained open and came to circulate in a number of versions and editions.
Most of the regional flavors or peculiar forms of Buddhism reflect protracted processes of acculturation and indigenous development, which operate at a number of different levels. Often they echo ingenious responses or creative elaborations, grounded in native values, symbols, or systems of meaning. These involve reinterpretation or recasting of received Buddhist mores, texts, and teachings, as well as the production of new religious elements or traditions. Some of these later traditions, like Chan in China or Dge-lugs-pa in Tibet, produced voluminous new texts and novel teachings, and devised alternative sources of religious authority. They also brought about other notable transformations into the local religious landscapes, including changes in monastic life and practice. In so doing, they made their own imprints on the broader historical trajectories of Buddhism, as well as on the societies in which they flourished.
Parenthetically, the term Buddhism—used widely and featured prominently in the title of this volume—is a fairly late designation created by Europeans. It is without precise analogies in classical Buddhist literature, and in its original usage the term carried a host of parochial Western notions about the nature and meaning of “religion” (yet another Western term fraught with all sort of problems). Notwithstanding some of the baggage and the potential misconceptions that come with the term, given its common usage and heuristic value, using it need not be overly problematic, as long as we are aware of its limitations and avoid the temptation to reify what, at some level, is a somewhat vague abstraction or, as classical Buddhist texts would put it, a conventional designation devoid of any intrinsic reality. We might also want to be mindful of the problems associated with indiscriminate attempts to set inflexible parameters or define what is included in (or excluded from) the general category of Buddhism.
While there are interesting facets of the historical development and current usage of the conventional and somewhat nebulous construct we call “Buddhism,” in the present context they are not nearly as important, or problematic, as the analogous issues related to the hotly contested deployment of the term “Hinduism.” As pointed out in the volume on Hinduism in this same series, edited by Gavin Flood, there is no scholarly consensus as to what Hinduism is. Some scholars (as well as politically oriented proponents of distinct Hindu identity) assert that we are dealing with a single religion, with a discrete essence that manifests in a variety of forms, while others argue that we are dealing with a diversity of religious traditions that share some common features, but lack a fixed core. Still others, however, contend that what we are dealing with is a vast array of diverse beliefs and practices inappropriately subsumed under a single religious category, (mis)labeled Hinduism under the influence of Western colonial power (Flood 2003: 1–5; see also 21–63).
Diversity of Approaches and Perspectives
As noted earlier, from the perspective of humanistic scholarship Buddhism has no singular form or ascertainable essence, nor can we talk about it in terms of a distinct system with clearly defined boundaries. Buddhist beliefs, texts, traditions, and the like developed within the context of specific cultural backgrounds and were molded by particular social milieus. Their contours and the meanings ascribed to them also changed over time, often in the course of their involvements or interactions with other areas of human life. Accordingly, the study of Buddhism ideally implies awareness of a host of varied phenomena, including the centripetal and centrifugal forces that shaped the broad historical trajectories of Buddhism. It also involves study of a multitude of related things, including relevant aspects of politics, economy, law, literature, society, and art.
Given the complexity and excitingly broad scope of Buddhism, there is ample space for the utilization of a variety of approaches in the study of Buddhist-related phenomena. Within the context of Western—especially American—academy, this frequently involves the application of theoretical models and methodological approaches grounded in a variety of (more or less) established academic disciplines, such as religious studies, philology, philosophy, history, cultural studies, sociology, political science, anthropology, various forms of area studies (Chinese studies, Korean studies, Tibetan studies, etc.), archeology, art history, epigraphy, architecture, and literary studies. Specific methods and theories might have their peculiar strengths or inherent limitations, and their applicability varies in light of the issues or topics being studied, as well as the availability of relevant sources.
Over the centuries a number of Buddhist writers, intellectuals, and devotees have engaged in fairly sophisticated and wide-ranging reflections on various aspects of their religion, including its history, systems of doctrine, and soteriological paradigms. More often than not they have been monks, although there are also notable examples of contributions by laymen, and even a few by lay and monastic women. This sort of scholarly activity continues to this day. It would thus be remiss of us not to mention the significant contributions made by individuals that locate themselves within the tradition, notwithstanding some of the inherent limitations of the normative approaches they often espouse.
The roots of the academic study of Buddhism, in the modern sense, go back to the nineteenth century and are linked with the European origins of the comparative study of religion. In that context, one of the most prominent figures is Max Müller (1823–1900), a German-born philologist active in England, best known for his study of religion and mythology, with a special focus on Sanskrit texts and Indian religion. Müller is particularly recognized for his advocacy of a distinctive “scientific” approach to the study of religion, modeled on the natural sciences that at the time were establishing their dominance. Like many of his Victorian contemporaries, he was also interested in tracing the origin of religion, and subscribed to the view that it was possible to devise a general scholarly theory of the origin and function of religion.
A central part of Müller’s positivist approach was the close study and translation of classical texts such as the Rigveda. He and his followers believed that these ancient texts contained essential messages and preset meanings inextricably linked to the historical contexts that produced them. He was also convinced that the ageless mysteries encapsulated in the texts were directly accessible to the astute scholar with the necessary philological expertise. According to this paradigm, the study of a religion such as Hinduism, as well as of other aspects of Indian civilization, was primarily based on careful translation and scrutiny of classical texts and presupposed a firm grounding in Sanskrit (for Müller’s life, ideas, and writings, see Stone 2002; Bosch 2002; and Sharpe 1986: 35–46).
The nineteenth century saw a growth of European interest in Buddhism, facilitated in part by the colonial expansion of European powers into Asia. This found some resonance in elite intellectual circles, as evidenced by the presence of Buddhist themes or concepts in the writings of prominent philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) (for early European misconceptions about Buddhism, especially its characterization as a nihilistic religion, see Droit 2003). Dominant trends in the early study of Buddhism, which reflected the intellectual horizons, religious backgrounds, and cultural suppositions of the (mostly) European scholars, included an emphasis on philology and textual study, especially the study of scriptures; the privileging of doctrine (or philosophy) over actual everyday practice; and an overemphasis on Indian (or more broadly South Asian) forms of Buddhism. Some of these trends exemplify the impact of Christian, especially Protestant, assumptions about the nature and study of religion, such as the primacy of scripture (Schopen 1997: 1–22). Others are reflections of historical contingencies, including the legacy of colonialism and the availability of particular texts or canonical collections. For instance, scholarly interest in the study of the Pāli canon in England during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries can be linked to the British colonial rule in Sri Lanka and Burma.
