Burning for the Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese BuddhismBurning for the Buddha is the first book-length study of the theory and practice of "abandoning the body"(self-immolation) in Chinese Buddhism. It examines the hagiographical accounts of all those who made offerings of their own bodies and places them in historical, social, cultural, and doctrinal context. Rather than privilege the doctrinal and exegetical interpretations of the tradition, which assume the central importance of the mind and its cultivation, James Benn focuses on the ways in which the heroic ideals of the bodhisattva present in scriptural materials such as the Lotus Sutra played out in the realm of religious practice on the ground. |
Contents
SelfImmolation in Early Medieval China | 19 |
of SelfImmolation | 78 |
CHAPTER 4 | 104 |
Copyright | |
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Account appears Appended attain auto-cremation Baochang biogra biography bodhisattva Buddha burn his body century Chan master Chang'an chanting Chapter Chen Jinhua Chinese Buddhists collection compiled cremation dāna Daodu Daoxuan Dazhi death dharma dhyāna disciples discussed donation dynasty Eminent Monks emperor example Fayuan zhulin fingers firewood gaoseng zhuan 40 Gernet Huayan jing Huijiao Huiyi immolation incense jātaka Jingde chuandeng lu Jinhua later Liang Liang Wudi Liuxue seng zhuan Lotus Sūtra Mahāyāna Medicine King medieval China Ming miracles monastery monastic monk mountain nianfo offering pagoda precepts present-day prince Pure Land recited relics religious samādhi samgha samsāra śarīra scripture secular self-immolation Sengyai SGSZ 23 shan Song gaoseng zhuan sources śramaņa Shi story stūpa Sutra Tang teachings Tiantai tion Tonggui ji translated Vinaya Wang Wang Shichong Wu-Yue Wutai shan XGSZ 27 Xin xu gaoseng xu gaoseng zhuan Yanshou Zanning Zanning's Zhongnan Zhou zhuan 9 Zhuangzi