Embodying the Dharma: Buddhist Relic Veneration in Asia

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David Germano, Kevin Trainor, Associate Professor of Religion Kevin Trainor
SUNY Press, Oct 27, 2004 - Religion - 201 pages
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.
 

Contents

THREE Living Relics of the Buddhas in Tibet
51
FOUR Buddhist Relics and Japanese Regalia
93
FIVE The Field of the Buddhas Presence
117
SIX Signs of the Buddha
145
SEVEN On the Allure of Buddhist Relics
163
Contributors
193
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About the author (2004)

David Germano is Associate Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Virginia. He is the coeditor (with Helmut Eimer) of The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder and director of the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library.

Kevin Trainor is Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Vermont and the author of Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism: Rematerializing the Sri Lankan Theravaμda Tradition.

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