A Selection of Book Reviews

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Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 1985

In this seminar we shall read and discuss a selection of recent important works on Buddhism (in English). Topics covered will include Buddhism and science, material culture, death, relics, art and architecture of Buddhist sites. In addition we shall survey trends in recent Buddhist Studies scholarship produced in other languages (Chinese, Japanese, French, German, etc.). Students will be required to write regular, short (1–2 page), critical responses to the readings in addition to a longer essay that reflects on the state of the field of Buddhist Studies.

The Buddhist Forum Volume VI. The Institute of Buddhist Studies. Tring UK, 2001

Contents List of Illustrations ............................................................. ix Preface ................................................................................ xi The Historical Spectrum of the Bodhisattva Ideal........... 1 Bodhisattva Vow by Bodhibhadra .................................... 15 Sevenfold Practice of the Dharma by Śākyaśrībhadra ... 23 Mental Attitude During Daily Activities ............................. 25 Eulogy of the Twelve Deeds of the Buddha ..................... 31 Two Eulogies of the Eight Great Caityas ........................... 37 Hymn to the Thirty-five Buddhas of Confession .............. 57 Presentation of Offerings to the Ḍākinīs ........................... 65 Offering Butter Lamps ......................................................... 81 Three Types of Evocation (sādhana) .................................. 83 Self-generation as a deity .................................................... 88 Visualisation of the victorious vase ................................... 109 Visualisation of the maṇḍala at the front ......................... 112 Funeral Rites for Rebirth in the Sukhāvatī Abode ............ 137 Transference of consciousness .......................................... 145 Liberation through hearing in the intermediate state ..... 154 The cremation ceremony ..................................................... 156 Ritual with an effigy-card (byang chog) ............................... 172 Jyotirmañjarī of Abhayākaragupta ....................................... 183 The Saṃpuṭa-tantra: Sanskrit and Tibetan Versions of Chapter Two ................. 223

CONTENTS The online pagination 2012 corresponds to the hard copy pagination 1992 Abbreviations............................................................................vii List of Illustrations.....................................................................ix Introduction...............................................................................xi T.H. Barrett Devil’s Valley to Omega Point: Reflections on the Emergence of a Theme from the Nō..............................1 T.H. Barrett Buddhism, Taoism and the Rise of the City Gods................13 L.S. Cousins The ‘Five Points’ and the Origins of the Buddhist Schools...27 P.T. Denwood Some Formative Inf1uences in Mahāyāna Buddhist Art…...61 G. Dorje The rNying-ma Interpretation of Commitment and Vow…..71 Ch.E. Freeman Saṃvṛti, Vyavahāra and Paramārtha inthe Akṣamatinirdeśa and its Commentary by Vasubandhu….................................97 D.N. Gellner Monk, Househo1der and Priest: What the Three Yānas Mean to Newar Buddhists...................................................115 C. Hallisey Councils as Ideas and Events in the Theravāda…………....133 S. Hookham The Practical Implications of the Doctrine of Buddha-nature……................................................................149 R. Mayer Observations on the Tibetan Phur-ba and the Indian Kīla ........................................................................163 K.R. Norman Theravāda Buddhism and Brahmanical Hinduism: Brahmanical Terms in a Buddhist Guise……………..............193 References...............................................................................201

Journal of Buddhist Philosophy, 2022

The Heythrop Journal, 2019

Authors generally take one of two approaches to surveying Buddhist philosophy. There is the historically oriented introduction, which charts the development from early Abhidharma to later Madhyamaka and Yogācāra. Examples of this style include David Kalupahana's A History of Buddhist Philosophy: Continuities and Discontinuities (1992) and Paul Williams and Anthony Tribe's Buddhist Thought (2000). Then there is the topic-oriented introduction, which focuses on major questions under discussion (What is suffering and how do we end it? What is the theory of no-self? How does the concept of emptiness square with the doctrine of rebirth?). Mark Gowan's Philosophy of the Buddha: An Introduction (2003) and Mark Siderits' Buddhism as Philosophy (2007) and are two instances of this approach. The risk in focusing on historical development is losing the philosophical thread in a morass of texts and commentaries, schools and sub-schools. On the other hand, isolating topics from their historical context runs the risk of misrepresentation and oversimplification. An excellent survey, using either method, will be attentive to the situatedness of philosophical claims without losing sight of the overarching conversation. This enables a reader to engage in the conversation from within her own philosophical tradition, equipped with an awareness of how it relates to Indian Buddhism, so that she might, in Gadamerian terms, aim toward a fusion of horizons. In her recent book, Indian Buddhist Philosophy, Amber D. Carpenter marries both historical and topical approaches in an excellent introduction to the themes and texts of Indian Buddhist philosophy. If the book leans toward one of the two styles, it is toward the topical (despite the book copy advertising it as "roughly chronological"). However, she doesn't fall into historical oversimplification for the sake of philosophical dialectic. Carpenter's aim is to unfold the development of Indian Buddhist thought with a particular focus on ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. Since her goal is to orient the reader only to Indian Buddhist philosophy, she does not emphasize non-Buddhist interlocutors. Nor, since she focuses on Indian philosophy, does she continue much beyond the seventh century, since, by this point in history, Buddhism was making inroads into Tibet through Śāntarakṣita and others. Carpenter organizes Indian Buddhist Philosophy into eight chapters, which take the reader from the auspicious birth of Siddhartha Gautama in the fifth century b.c.e. up to the Mādhyamika Śāntideva's miraculously levitating recitation of the Bodhicāryāvatāra in the eighth century c.e. Chapter 1 introduces the history and legends of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path. In this chapter, Carpenter explores different ways to frame suffering, concluding that it is best under-

Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, Vol. 6, May 2014, 175-178., 2014

Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy, 2022

The Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy is the first scholarly reference volume to highlight the diversity and individuality of a large number of the most influential philosophers to have contributed to the evolution of Buddhist thought in India. By placing the author at the center of inquiry, the volume highlights the often unrecognized innovation and multiplicity of India’s Buddhist thinkers, whose unique contributions are commonly subsumed in more general doctrinal presentations of philosophical schools. Here, instead, the reader is invited to explore the works and ideas of India’s most important Buddhist philosophers in a manner that takes seriously the weight of their philosophical thought. The forty chapters by an international and interdisciplinary team of renowned contributors each seek to offer both a wide-ranging overview and a philosophically astute reading of the works of the most seminal Indian Buddhist authors from the earliest writings to the twentieth century. The volume thus also provides thorough coverage of all the main figures, texts, traditions, and debates animating Indian Buddhist thought, and as such can serve as an in-depth introduction to Buddhist philosophy in India for those new to the field. Essential reading for students and researchers in Asian and comparative philosophy, The Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy is also an excellent resource for specialists in Buddhist philosophy, as well as for contemporary philosophers interested in learning about the rigorous and rich traditions of Buddhist philosophy in India.

Buddhist-Christian Studies, 2010