ENGLISH

Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations

By Reginald A. Ray

Book information

Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Year
1994
ISBN
0195072022, 9780195072020
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
24 MB (25432814 bytes)
Pages
528\528
Time added
2013-12-25 12:17:25

Description

The issue of saints is a difficult and complicated problem in Buddhology. In this magisterial work, Ray offers the first comprehensive examination of the figure of the Buddhist saint in a wide range of Indian Buddhist evidence. Drawing on an extensive variety of sources, Ray seeks to identify the "classical type" of the Buddhist saint, as it provides the presupposition for, and informs, the different major Buddhist saintly types and subtypes. Discussing the nature, dynamics, and history of Buddhist hagiography, he surveys the ascetic codes, conventions and traditions of Buddhist saints, and the cults both of living saints and of those who have "passed beyond." Ray traces the role of the saints in Indian Buddhist history, examining the beginnings of Buddhism and the origin of Mahayana Buddhism.

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