1st Edition
Discourse and Ideology in Medieval Japanese Buddhism
The medieval period of Japanese religious history is commonly known as one in which there was a radical transformation of the religious culture. This book suggests an alternate approach to understanding the dynamics of that transformation. One main topic of analysis focuses on what Buddhism - its practices and doctrines, its traditions and institutions - meant for medieval Japanese peoples themselves. This is achieved by using the notions of discourse and ideology and juxtaposing various topics on shared linguistic practices and discursive worlds of medieval Japanese Buddhism.
Collating contributions from outstanding scholars in the field of Buddhist Studies, the editors have created an important work that builds on preliminary work on rethinking the importance and meaning of Kamakura Buddhism published recently in English, and adds greatly to the debate.
Richard K. Payne Preface
Richard K. Payne, with Taigen Dan Leighton Introduction
Dale Wright Metaphor and Theory of Cultural Change: In Search of Skillful Means for Understanding Kamakura Buddhism
Mark Blum The Sangoku-Mappø Construct: Buddhism, Nationalism, and History in Medieval Japan
Fabio Rambelli Materiality and Performativity of Sacred Texts in Medieval Japan
Richard K. Payne Awakening and Language: Indic Theories of Language in the Background of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism
James Ford Buddhist Ceremonials (Køshiki) and the Ideological Discourse of Established Buddhism in Early Medieval Japan
Mark Unno The Body of Time and the Discourse of Precepts
Ryuichi Abe Myøe’s Mount Laçkå: Mantra, Landscape, and Medieval Japanese Poetics
Jacqueline Stone ’Not Mere Words’: Perspectives on the Language of the Lotus S¥tra in Medieval Japan
Taigen Leighton The Lotus Sutra as a Source for Døgen’s Discourse Style
Steven Heine Empty-Handed, But Not Empty-Headed: Døgen’s Køan Strategies
Eisho Nasu "Rely on the Meaning, Not the Words": Shinran’s Methodology of Reading Scriptures and Strategy of Writing of the Kyøgyøshinshø
Biography
Richard K. Payne is Dean of the Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. He was convener of the doctoral program in the Cultural and Historical Studies of Religions from 1996 to 2002. His most recent publications include Approaching the Land of Bliss: Religious Praxis in the Cult of Amitabha, with Kenneth Tanaka, and Tantric Buddhism in East Asia.
Taigen Dan Leighton is currently Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley, California. He received his PhD from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California.