ENGLISH

Mediating the Power of Buddhas: Ritual in the Manjusrimulakalpa

By Glenn Wallis

Book information

Publisher
State University of New York Press
Year
2002
ISBN
0791454118, 9780791454114, 9780585476155
LCC
BQ2180 .M347 2002
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
796 kB (814783 bytes)
Series
SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies
Pages
280\280
Topic
Religion Buddhism
Scanned
no
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

Mediating the Power of Buddhas offers a fascinating analysis of the seventh-century ritual manual, the Mañjusrimulakalpa. This medieval text is intended to reveal the path into a ritual universe where the power of a buddha abides. Author Glenn Wallis traces the strategies of the Mañjusrimulakalpa to enable its committed reader to perfect the promised ritual, uncovering what conditions must be met for ritual practice to succeed and what personal characteristics practitioners must possess in order to realize the ritual intentions of the Buddhist community. The manual itself was written at a key point in Buddhist history, one when Hindu forms of practice were still imitated and on the cusp of the shift from Mahayana to Vajrayana (or Tantric) Buddhism. In addition, the Mañjusrimulakalpa presents a rich compendium of Buddhist life in an earlier era, containing information on a variety of its readers’ concerns: astrology, astronomy, medicine and healing, ritual practice, iconography, devotion, and meditation.

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