Buddhism And The Body
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Author | : Paul Copp |
Publisher | : Columbia University Press |
Total Pages | : 397 |
Release | : 2014-09-09 |
Genre | : Religion |
ISBN | : 0231537786 |
Whether chanted as devotional prayers, intoned against the dangers of the wilds, or invoked to heal the sick and bring ease to the dead, incantations were pervasive features of Buddhist practice in late medieval China (600–1000 C.E.). Material incantations, in forms such as spell-inscribed amulets and stone pillars, were also central to the spiritual lives of both monks and laypeople. In centering its analysis on the Chinese material culture of these deeply embodied forms of Buddhist ritual, The Body Incantatory reveals histories of practice—and logics of practice—that have until now remained hidden. Paul Copp examines inscribed stones, urns, and other objects unearthed from anonymous tombs; spells carved into pillars near mountain temples; and manuscripts and prints from both tombs and the Dunhuang cache. Focusing on two major Buddhist spells, or dhāraṇī, and their embodiment of the incantatory logics of adornment and unction, he makes breakthrough claims about the significance of Buddhist incantation practice not only in medieval China but also in Central Asia and India. Copp's work vividly captures the diversity of Buddhist practice among medieval monks, ritual healers, and other individuals lost to history, offering a corrective to accounts that have overemphasized elite, canonical materials.
Author | : Norman Fischer |
Publisher | : Shambhala Publications |
Total Pages | : 225 |
Release | : 2019-04-30 |
Genre | : Religion |
ISBN | : 0834842149 |
An imaginative approach to spiritual practice in difficult times, through the Buddhist teaching of the six paramitas or "perfections"—qualities that lead to kindness, wisdom, and an awakened life. In frightening times, we wish the world could be otherwise. With a touch of imagination, it can be. Imagination helps us see what’s hidden, and it shape-shifts reality’s roiling twisting waves. In this inspiring reframe of a classic Buddhist teaching, Zen teacher Norman Fischer writes that the paramitas, or “six perfections”—generosity, ethical conduct, patience, joyful effort, meditation, and understanding—can help us reconfigure the world we live in. Ranging from our everyday concerns about relationships, ethics, and consumption to our artistic inspirations and broadest human yearnings, Fischer depicts imaginative spiritual practice as a necessary resource for our troubled times.
Author | : Charlotte Eubanks |
Publisher | : Univ of California Press |
Total Pages | : 288 |
Release | : 2011 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : 0520265610 |
"This is an exciting exploration of the world of Buddhist attitudes towards religious texts, from Indian scriptures to Japanese medieval tales. Its emphasis on discursive strategies—how Buddhist texts function and what they expect of their readers/users (especially, the connection between books, their content, and their readers' bodies)—is a welcome new perspective."—Fabio Rambelli, author of Buddhist Materiality "Miracles of Book and Body is fluidly written and engaging. This book brings the reader to an awareness of the range and foci of medieval 'popular' readings of sutra literature, and Eubanks provides an important perspective to interpreting these narratives that is original and stimulating."—Thomas W. Hare, author of Zeami: Performance Notes "Charlotte Eubanks' sophisticated, insightful and readable study of the physicalities of sutra texts and sutra recitation makes sense of some of the strangest phenomena in medieval Japan. By disentangling the literal and metaphorical meanings in Buddhist setsuwa, Eubanks explains such things as how memorizing a text is an embodiment thereof, how texts can become sentient beings, and why the scroll is an appropriate format for recording dharma. Her work is both important and engaging."—Margaret H. Childs, University of Kansas "Drawing on an impressive range of Mahayana scriptures and medieval Japanese didactic tales, Eubanks unpacks recurrent tropes correlating text and flesh to reveal surprising connections among the literary, material, and ritual dimensions of Buddhist textual culture. Elegantly written and theoretically astute, this volume will be welcomed not only by specialists in Buddhist literature but also by readers interested in broader issues of text-based religious practice."—Jacqueline Stone, author of Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism
Author | : Anya Bernstein |
Publisher | : University of Chicago Press |
Total Pages | : 277 |
Release | : 2013-11-27 |
Genre | : Social Science |
ISBN | : 022607269X |
Religious Bodies Politic examines the complex relationship between transnational religion and politics through the lens of one cosmopolitan community in Siberia: Buryats, who live in a semiautonomous republic within Russia with a large Buddhist population. Looking at religious transformation among Buryats across changing political economies, Anya Bernstein argues that under conditions of rapid social change—such as those that accompanied the Russian Revolution, the Cold War, and the fall of the Soviet Union—Buryats have used Buddhist “body politics” to articulate their relationship not only with the Russian state, but also with the larger Buddhist world. During these periods, Bernstein shows, certain people and their bodies became key sites through which Buryats conformed to and challenged Russian political rule. She presents particular cases of these emblematic bodies—dead bodies of famous monks, temporary bodies of reincarnated lamas, ascetic and celibate bodies of Buddhist monastics, and dismembered bodies of lay disciples given as imaginary gifts to spirits—to investigate the specific ways in which religion and politics have intersected. Contributing to the growing literature on postsocialism and studies of sovereignty that focus on the body, Religious Bodies Politic is a fascinating illustration of how this community employed Buddhism to adapt to key moments of political change.
Author | : Will Johnson |
Publisher | : Green Dragon Books |
Total Pages | : 268 |
Release | : 1993-11-01 |
Genre | : Religion |
ISBN | : 0893341630 |
Ancient Buddhist meditations and modern Western somatic therapy are united in this fascinating book. Both philosophies — and their healing capabilities — recognize that a structurally balanced human body is the key to a mentally and emotionally balanced human mind. This book explains the beautiful simplicity of these healing techniques and how to make them part of your life. Following its path, you’ll learn how to attain the spiritual and physical balance needed to create your own optimum environment through: -Understanding the experience of balance -Balancing time, present time and change -Balancing sound, vision and the components of reality -Balancing your heart and breath -Balancing “luminous vision” and the “luminous world” -Understanding suffering and its causes -Understanding your heart and breath and how they work together to help create balance What readers are saying about this book: “This book signals a new and sorely needed vitality in a field which, even though it is about life, so often seems to bring out the gray and pedantic in its champions.” — Peter Melchior, senior faculty member, the Guild for Structural Integration
Author | : Cyndi Lee |
Publisher | : Penguin |
Total Pages | : 288 |
Release | : 2004-08-03 |
Genre | : Health & Fitness |
ISBN | : 1101007419 |
A complete manual for physical and spiritual well-being from the founder of the OM yoga center. In Yoga Body, Buddha Mind, the first book to give readers the best of both inextricably linked practices, Cyndi Lee -- author of the bestselling series OM Yoga in a Box -- shares her twenty years of experience as a practicing Tibetan Buddhist and one of the country's most famous yoga instructors. This easy-to-use guide shows readers of all yoga levels how to combine the basic tenets of Buddhism and meditation with yoga practice. Her book offers simple meditation programs and exercise sequences that can be done just about anywhere, in addition to more advanced and rigorous regimens. Written in the same personal, comfortable, and charismatic style that Cyndi Lee has brought to her classes, Yoga Body, Buddha Mind is a comprehensive how-to guide for spiritual well-being and the ultimate enlightening experience.
Author | : Kevin Manders |
Publisher | : North Atlantic Books |
Total Pages | : 297 |
Release | : 2019-10-22 |
Genre | : Religion |
ISBN | : 1623174163 |
A compelling collection of the many voices and experiences of trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary Buddhists Transcending brings together more than thirty contributors from both the Mahayana and Theravada traditions to present a vision for a truly inclusive trans Buddhist sangha in the twenty-first century. Shining a light on a new generation of Buddhist role models, this book gives voice to those who have long been marginalized within the Buddhist world and society at large. While trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary practitioners have experienced empowerment and healing through their commitment to the Buddha, dharma, and sangha, they also share their experiences of isolation, transphobia, and aggression. In this diverse collection we hear the firsthand accounts, thoughts, and reflections of trans Buddhists from a variety of different lineages in an open invitation for all Buddhists to bring the issue of gender identity into the sangha, into the discourse, and onto the cushion. Only by doing so can we develop insight into our circumstances and grasp our true, essential nature.
Author | : Will Johnson |
Publisher | : Simon and Schuster |
Total Pages | : 74 |
Release | : 2012-01-25 |
Genre | : Body, Mind & Spirit |
ISBN | : 1594777101 |
Explores the Buddha’s own words on breathing meditation for healing, wholeness, and a deeper understanding of his teachings • Explains the complete series of steps in the Buddha’s Satipatthana Sutta for refining awareness of the breath, from posture and center of gravity to extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body • Shows that stillness in meditation refers only to the mind, not to the body • Reveals breath to be a direct agent of healing for chronic tensions and an agitated mind Explaining how stillness in meditation refers not to a rigid and frozen body but to a quality of mind, Will Johnson examines the Buddha’s own words at the core of the Satipatthana Sutta: “As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body; as you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body”--an instruction often overlooked in the majority of Buddhist schools. Exploring the Buddha’s complete series of steps for deepening awareness of the breath, he shows how to invite natural, responsive movement back into the posture of meditation by extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body--a practice that unifies the breath, body, and mind into a single shared phenomenon. Showing how the flow of breath is directly affected by chronic tensions in the body and in the mind, Johnson explains that when breath starts flowing through more and more of the body, it becomes a direct agent of healing, massaging and melting any areas of tension it touches and moves through, whether physical or emotional. By breathing through the whole body in accordance with the Buddha’s instructions on breath, the body becomes much more comfortable, the mind starts resolving its addiction to thinking, and meditative practice deepens much more rapidly, allowing the teachings of the Buddha to be directly glimpsed and revealed.
Author | : Wes Nisker |
Publisher | : Bantam |
Total Pages | : 257 |
Release | : 2000 |
Genre | : Body, Mind & Spirit |
ISBN | : 0553379992 |
The Buddha said that "everything we need to know about life can be found inside this fathom-long body." Then why is most people's spirituality--whether Buddhist, Christian, or Jewish--completely cut off from their body? In this provocative and groundbreaking book, you'll discover that enlightenment comes not from "out there," but from a deep understanding of our own personal biology. Using the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, a traditional Buddhist meditation, Nisker shows how cutting-edge science is proving the tenets first offered by the Buddha. And he provides a practical program, complete with meditations and exercises, that enables readers to become mindful of the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. One of the great synthesizers of East and West, Nisker shows how to incorporate the traditional understanding of the Buddha with the latest scientific discoveries while on our spiritual journey. He shows that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. The way to enlightenment lies within our very biology. Most important, Nisker offers a practical program--complete with meditations and exercises--so readers can take their own evolutionary journey into their bodies to find the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. Nisker provides a liberating way for each of us to incorporate into our lives the understanding, proven by the latest scientific evidence and foretold in the great traditional teachings of the Buddha, that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. Our biology is not our destiny, but our way to enlightenment. -->
Author | : Tanya Zivkovic |
Publisher | : Routledge |
Total Pages | : 168 |
Release | : 2013-10-08 |
Genre | : Religion |
ISBN | : 1134593694 |
Contextualising the seemingly esoteric and exotic aspects of Tibetan Buddhist culture within the everyday, embodied and sensual sphere of religious praxis, this book centres on the social and religious lives of deceased Tibetan Buddhist lamas. It explores how posterior forms – corpses, relics, reincarnations and hagiographical representations – extend a lama’s trajectory of lives and manipulate biological imperatives of birth and death. The book looks closely at previously unexamined figures whose history is relevant to a better understanding of how Tibetan culture navigates its own understanding of reincarnation, the veneration of relics and different social roles of different types of practitioners. It analyses both the minutiae of everyday interrelations between lamas and their devotees, specifically noted in ritual performances and the enactment of lived tradition, and the sacred hagiographical conventions that underpin local knowledge. A phenomenology of Tibetan Buddhist life, the book provides an ethnography of the everyday embodiment of Tibetan Buddhism. This unusual approach offers a valuable and a genuine new perspective on Tibetan Buddhist culture and is of interest to researchers in the fields of social/cultural anthropology and religious, Buddhist and Tibetan studies.