Download or read book Establishing a Pure Land on Earth written by Stuart Chandler and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Based on direct observations, private interviews, and careful textual and historical analysis, Stuart Chandler looks at the challenges faced by Master Xingyun and his followers as they try to adhere to traditional practices and values while tapping into the advantages afforded by modern, global society." "Anyone with an interest in modern Buddhism or Chinese religion and culture will find Establishing a Pure Land on Earth an accessible, in-depth study of one of the most important Buddhist movements of the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book Pure Land Real World written by Melissa Anne-Marie Curley and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2017-02-28 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For close to a thousand years Amida’s Pure Land, a paradise of perfect ease and equality, was the most powerful image of shared happiness circulating in the Japanese imagination. In the late nineteenth century, some Buddhist thinkers sought to reinterpret the Pure Land in ways that would allow it speak to modern Japan. Their efforts succeeded in ways they could not have predicted. During the war years, economist Kawakami Hajime, philosopher Miki Kiyoshi, and historian Ienaga Saburō—left-leaning thinkers with no special training in doctrinal studies and no strong connection to any Buddhist institution—seized upon modernized images of Shinran in exile and a transcendent Western Paradise to resist the demands of a state that was bearing down on its citizens with increasing force. Pure Land, Real World treats the religious thought of these three major figures in English for the first time. Kawakami turned to religion after being imprisoned for his involvement with the Japanese Communist Party, borrowing the Shinshū image of the two truths to assert that Buddhist law and Marxist social science should reinforce each other, like the two wings of a bird. Miki, a member of the Kyoto School who went from prison to the crown prince’s think tank and back again, identified Shinran’s religion as belonging to the proletariat: For him, following Shinran and working toward building a buddha land on earth were akin to realizing social revolution. And Ienaga’s understanding of the Pure Land—as the crystallization of a logic of negation that undermined every real power structure—fueled his battle against the state censorship system, just as he believed it had enabled Shinran to confront the world’s suffering head on. Such readings of the Pure Land tradition are idiosyncratic—perhaps even heretical—but they hum with the same vibrancy that characterized medieval Pure Land belief. Innovative and refreshingly accessible, Pure Land, Real World shows that the Pure Land tradition informed twentieth-century Japanese thought in profound and surprising ways and suggests that it might do the same for twenty-first-century thinkers. The critical power of Pure Land utopianism has yet to be exhausted.

Download or read book Pure Land written by Annette McGivney and published by Aux Media. This book was released on 2017-10-02 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Tomomi Hanamure, a Japanese citizen who loved exploring the rugged wilderness of the American West, was killed on her birthday May 8, 2006. She was stabbed 29 times as she hiked to Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of Grand Canyon. Her killer was an 18-year old Havasupai youth named Randy Redtail Wescogame who had a history of robbing tourists and was addicted to meth. It was the most brutal murder ever recorded in Grand Canyon's history."--Amazon.com.

Download or read book Finding Our True Home written by Thich Nhat Hanh and published by Parallax Press. This book was released on 2001-08-09 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finding Our True Home presents a new definitive translation of the Amitabha Sutra along with Thich Nhat Hanh’s first commentary on one of the most practiced forms of Buddhism in the world, the Pure Land school. Introduced in the Buddha’s own lifetime, Pure Land practice puts us in touch with the beauty in our own world and brings us the security, solidity, and freedom we need in order to truly enjoy it. Realizing that Buddha is within us, we see that the Pure Land (paradise) is here and now, rather than in the future. Finding Our True Home will open a new Dharma door to many students of meditation.

Download or read book The Three Pure Land Sutras written by and published by BDK America. This book was released on 2003 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The larger sutra on Amitāyus (Taishō volume 12, number 360) -- The sutra on contemplation of Amitāyus (Taishō volume 12, number 365) -- The smaller sutra on Amitāyus (Taishō volume 12, number 366).

Download or read book Establishing a Pureland on Earth written by Christopher Stuart Chandler and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Love Letter to the Earth written by Thich Nhat Hanh and published by Parallax Press. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World-renowned Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh champions a more mindful, spiritual approach to protecting nature and limiting climate change—one that recognizes people and planet as one and the same. While many experts point to the enormous complexity in addressing issues ranging from the destruction of ecosystems to the loss of millions of species, Thich Nhat Hanh identifies one key issue as having the potential to create a tipping point. He believes that we need to move beyond the concept of the “environment,” as it leads people to experience themselves and Earth as two separate entities and to see the planet only in terms of what it can do for them. Here, Thich Nhat Hanh points to the lack of meaning and connection in peoples’ lives as being the cause of our addiction to consumerism. He deems it vital that we recognize and respond to the stress we are putting on the Earth if civilization is to survive. Rejecting the conventional economic approach, Thich Nhat Hanh shows that mindfulness and a spiritual revolution are needed to protect nature and limit climate change. Love Letter to the Earth is a hopeful book that gives us a path to follow by showing that change is possible only with the recognition that people and the planet are ultimately one and the same.

Download or read book Chinese Pure Land Buddhism written by Charles B. Jones and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2019-09-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: Understanding a Tradition of Practice is the first book in any western language to provide a comprehensive overview of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism. Even though Pure Land Buddhism was born in China and currently constitutes the dominant form of Buddhist practice there, it has previously received very little attention from western scholars. In this book, Charles B. Jones examines the reasons for the lack of scholarly attention and why the few past treatments of the topic missed many of its distinctive features. He argues that the Chinese Pure Land tradition, with its characteristic promise of rebirth in the Pure Land to even non-elite or undeserving practitioners, should not be viewed from the perspective of the Japanese Pure Land tradition, which differs greatly. More accurately contextualizing Chinese Pure Land Buddhism within the landscape of Chinese Buddhism and the broader global Buddhist tradition, this work celebrates Chinese Pure Land, not as a school or sect, but as a unique and inherently valuable “tradition of practice.” This volume is organized thematically, clearly presenting topics such as the nature of the Pure Land, the relationship between “self-power” and “other-power,” the practice of nianfo (buddha-recollection), and the formation of the line of “patriarchs” that keep the tradition grounded. It guides us in understanding the vigorous debates that Chinese Pure Land Buddhism evoked and delves into the rich apologetic literature that it produced in its own defense. Drawing upon a wealth of previously unexamined primary source materials, as well as modern texts by contemporary Chinese Pure Land masters, the author provides lucid translations of resources previously unavailable in English. He also shares his lifetime of experience in this field, enlivening the narrative with personal anecdotes of his visits to sites of Pure Land practice in China and Taiwan. The straightforward and nontechnical prose makes this book a standby resource for anyone interested in pursuing research in this lively, sophisticated, and still-evolving religious tradition. Scholars—including undergraduates—specializing in East Asian Buddhism, as well as those interested in Buddhism or Chinese religion and history in general, will find this book invaluable.

Download or read book Just as You Are written by Kaspalita Thompson and published by . This book was released on 2015-11-18 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is for anyone who wants to live a good life but is frustrated or tired of trying to perfect themselves. Pureland Buddhism takes a realistic view of our foolish natures as human beings, and offers us an alternative to the 'do it yourself' self-help movement. With anecdotes of temple life and instructions for simple Pureland practices, the authors introduce us to this ancient and unique tradition of Buddhism and show us how it can make a powerful difference to our everyday lives. Covering topics such as trust, overcoming suffering, grace, being kind and self-care, the book also contains the voices of different Pureland Buddhists speaking of their own diverse experiences. This book shows us how we are all loveable just as we are, and that understanding this is the key to deep and lasting change. Reverend Kaspalita and Reverend Satyavani are ordained Priests with the Amida-Shu and they run a small Pureland temple in Malvern in the UK. They both work as psychotherapists and are interested in building local community and in teaching Buddhism that improves the lives of ordinary people like you and me.

Download or read book Buddha of Infinite Light written by D. T. Suzuki and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2002-02-12 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shin is the uniquely Japanese flowering of the type of Buddhism known as "Pure Land." It originated in the thirteenth century with the charismatic and prophetic figure Shinran (1172–1263), whose interpretation of the traditional Pure Land teachings was extremely influential in his own lifetime and remain so today. In a period when Japanese Buddhism was dominated by an elitist monastic establishment, Shinran's Shin teaching became a way of liberation for all people, regardless of age, class, or gender. Although Shin is one of Japan's greatest religious contributions—and is still the most widely practiced form of Buddhism in Japan—it remains little known in the West. In this book, based on several lectures he gave in the 1950s, D. T. Suzuki illuminates the deep meaning of Shin and its rich archetypal imagery, providing a scholarly and affectionate introduction to this sometimes misunderstood tradition of Buddhist practice.

Download or read book Anarchy in the Pure Land written by Justin Ritzinger and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-31 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anarchy in the Pure Land investigates the twentieth-century reinvention of the cult of Maitreya, the future Buddha, conceived by the reformer Taixu and promoted by the Chinese Buddhist reform movement. The cult presents an apparent anomaly: It shows precisely the kind of concern for ritual, supernatural beings, and the afterlife that the reformers supposedly rejected in the name of "modernity." This book shows that, rather than a concession to tradition, the reimagining of ideas and practices associated with Maitreya was an important site for formulating a Buddhist vision of modernity. Justin Ritzinger argues that the cult of Maitreya represents an attempt to articulate a new constellation of values, integrating novel understandings of the good, clustered around modern visions of utopia, with the central Buddhist goal of Buddhahood. In Part One he traces the roots of this constellation to Taixu's youthful career as an anarchist. Part Two examines its articulation in the Maitreya School's theology and its social development from its inception to World War II. Part Three looks at its subsequent decline and contemporary legacy within and beyond orthodox Buddhism. Through these investigations, Anarchy in the Pure Land develops a new framework for alternative understandings of modernity in Buddhism.

Download or read book The Promise of Amida Buddha written by and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-05-01 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Promise of Amida Buddha is the first complete English translation of a seminal collection of writings by the Japanese Pure Land school's founder, Honen-shonin (1133-1212). The so-called Japanese Anthology (Wago Toroku) collects his surviving short writings composed in Japanese, including letters of exhortation and public pronouncements. The vital writings provide a window into Honen's life and the turbulent era in which he lived and taught. Honen-shonin, who lived in Japan in the twelfth century, saw that the complexity of traditional Buddhist practices made them inaccessible to people outside the monastic elite. Drawing on the Chinese Pure Land tradition, he re-imagined Pure Land practice for Japan and ushered in a new and dynamic practice that continues in the present day. In our degenerate age, says Honen, we cannot hope to reach enlightenment via the practices employed by the Buddhist masters of old. For us there is only one avenue to liberation--rebirth in the Pure Land of Amida, from whence our progress is irreversible and our ultimate release assured. The Pure Land is a heavenly destination made manifest through the pure vow of Amida to save all beings, and we secure passage to this land in our next life through pure faith in Amida at the very moment of death. The practice of faith in Amida is performed through nembutsu, the continual recitation of the mantra Namu Amida Butsu, which bonds us to Amida and brings us into his care.

Download or read book Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path written by Takamaro Shigaraki and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-02-18 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path, Takamaro Shigaraki examines Shin Buddhism anew as a practical path of spiritual growth and self-transformation, challenging assessments of the tradition as a passive religion of mere faith. Shigaraki presents the core themes of the Shin Buddhist path in fresh, engaging, down-to-earth language, considering each frankly from both secular and religious perspectives. Shigaraki discloses a nondual Pure Land that finds philosophical kinship with Zen but has been little discussed in the West. With its unassuming language and insights drawn from a life of practice, Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path dispels the fog of misconception that has shrouded Western appreciation of Shin traditions to reveal the limitless light of Amida Buddha that reaches all.

Download or read book A Year of Buddha s Wisdom written by Bodhipaksa and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2022-01-04 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foster a greater sense of inner peace, one day at a time Discover how the wisdom of the Buddha can help you feel calmer, happier, and more satisfied. Featuring a thoughtful new prompt every day, A Year of Buddha's Wisdom helps you learn essential Buddhist principles and make them a part of your everyday life. What sets this Buddhism guide apart: 365 days of wisdom—Deepen your Buddhism practice every day with an array of meditations, mantras, reflections, and quotes. Short and simple entries—Whether it's taking a minute to be aware of your surroundings or 10 to meditate, these brief prompts encourage you to explore the Buddha's wisdom every day. A path to tranquility—Grow into your best self as you learn to be mindful, find joy in meditation, have compassion for others, and much more. Embody the Buddha's wisdom with this easy and accessible Buddhism book.

Download or read book Taixu s On the Establishment of the Pure Land in the Human Realm written by Charles B. Jones and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-01-14 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Charles B. Jones provides the first English language translation of one of the most important texts of modern Chinese Buddhism: monk-reformer Taixu's 'On the Establishment of the Pure Land in the Human Realm'. The essay, written in 1926 as part of Taixu's attempt to revive Chinese Buddhism with a Humanistic Buddhist approach, incorporates Western thought into a reconstruction of the idea of the 'Pure Land in the human realm'. In his commentary on the text, Jones argues that it has been widely misunderstood and mischaracterized. Jones demonstrates that, besides laying out the very modern idea of the Pure Land in the human realm as a slogan for Buddhist engagement with the problems of the modern world, the essay does not, as commonly assumed, discourage practices leading to rebirth in the Pure Land. He also shows that the 'human realm' can mean anywhere in Buddhist cosmology that humans reside, and that the essay's attempts to reconcile Buddhism with modern science is tentative and incomplete. Jones reveals that the essay promotes visions of both paradises and utopias, and that Taixu supports his ideas with many lengthy sutra quotations. The book concludes with an examination of how Taixu's followers developed the idea of the Pure Land in the human realm into a more coherent and modernized ideal.

Download or read book Who Loves Dies Well written by D. J. Brazier and published by Mantra Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first introduction to Pureland Buddhism, also called Amida Buddhism. Under-represented in literature, Pureland Buddhism is closely concerned with the relationship between life and death. It is both about going to heaven and about heaven on earth; a thoroughly spiritual form of Buddhism, but also a very practical one because it is a faith that recognizes people's limitations. It is not full of guilt, nor injunctions to be perfect. It is for ordinary people, the sort who make mistakes and weep when sad things happen.

Download or read book Heaven and Hell written by Emily J. Sano and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Heaven and Hell: Salvation and Retribution in Pure Land Buddhism, will bring together approximately seventy paintings, sculpture, and works of decorative arts to survey the artistic expressions of the Pure Land faith. Pure Land Buddhism is based on belief in Amitabha, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, who promises salvation in his heavenly paradise after death to all those who will simply call upon his name. The appeal of easy salvation made faith in Amitabha one of the most popular forms of Buddhism throughout Asia, where it inspired the development of beautiful and diverse works of art. To introduce the subject, the exhibition will include a selection of works from the continent of Asia, such as the Gandhara region of India, Southeast Asia, China, Tibet, and Korea, which show the endurance of Pure Land motifs across continents for a thousand years. The majority of the show will be focused on Japanese works of art that illustrate how Amitabha will descend to earth from his heaven to greet a dying soul, scenes of hell, the numerous divine beings that are put on earth to guide the faithful and assist those who have fallen into hell escape that terrible fate"--