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Book Series

Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

Series Editor: Stephen C. Berkwitz

Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism is a comprehensive study of the Buddhist tradition. The series explores this complex and extensive tradition from a variety of perspectives, using a range of different methodologies. The series is diverse in its focus, including historical, philological, cultural, and sociological investigations into the manifold features and expressions of Buddhism worldwide. It also presents works of constructive and reflective analysis, including the role of Buddhist thought and scholarship in a contemporary, critical context and in the light of current social issues. The series is expansive and imaginative in scope, spanning more than two and a half millennia of Buddhist history. It is receptive to all research works that are of significance and interest to the broader field of Buddhist Studies.

Some of the titles in the series are published in association with the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, which conducts and promotes rigorous teaching and research into all forms of the Buddhist tradition.

Edited by Stephen C. Berkwitz, Missouri State University, USA

Founding Editors: Charles S. Prebish, Utah State University, USA and Damien Keown, Goldsmith's College, London University, UK.

New and Published Books

1-10 of 58 results in Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism
  1. Tibetan Rituals of Death

    Buddhist Funerary Practices

    By Margaret Gouin

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    This book describes and analyses the structure and performance of Tibetan Buddhist death rituals, and situates that performance within the wider context of Buddhist death practices generally. Drawing on a detailed and systematic comparative survey of existing records of Tibetan funerary practices,...

    Published March 28th 2012 by Routledge

  2. Environmental Ethics in Buddhism

    A Virtues Approach

    By Pragati Sahni

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    Environmental Ethics in Buddhism presents a logical and thorough examination of the metaphysical and ethical dimensions of early Buddhist literature. The author determines the meaning of nature in the early Buddhist context from general Buddhist teachings on dhamma, paticcasamuppada, samsara and...

    Published November 17th 2011 by Routledge

  3. The Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in China

    Charisma, Money, Enlightenment

    By Dan Smyer Yu

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    Focusing on contemporary Tibetan Buddhist revivals in the Tibetan regions of the Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces in China, this book explores the intricate entanglements of the Buddhist revivals with cultural identity, state ideology, and popular imagination of Tibetan Buddhist spirituality in...

    Published September 28th 2011 by Routledge

  4. Buddhist Monasticism in East Asia

    Places of Practice

    Edited by James A. Benn, Lori Meeks, James Robson

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    The area of Buddhist monasticism has long attracted the interest of Buddhist studies scholars and historians, but the interpretation of the nature and function of monasteries across diverse cultures and vast historical periods remains a focus for debate. This book provides a multifaceted discussion...

    Published September 15th 2011 by Routledge

  5. Mindfulness in Early Buddhism

    New Approaches through Psychology and Textual Analysis of Pali, Chinese and Sanskrit Sources

    By Tse-fu Kuan

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    This book identifies what is meant by sati (smrti), usually translated as ‘mindfulness’, in early Buddhism, and examines its soteriological functions and its central role in the early Buddhist practice and philosophy. Using textual analysis and criticism, it takes new approaches to the...

    Published September 15th 2011 by Routledge

  6. Power, Wealth and Women in Indian Mahayana Buddhism

    The Gandavyuha-sutra

    By Douglas Osto

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    This book examines the concepts of power, wealth and women in the important Mahayana Buddhist scripture known as the Gandavyuha-sutra, and relates these to the text’s social context in ancient Indian during the Buddhist Middle Period (0–500 CE). Employing contemporary textual theory, worldview...

    Published September 14th 2011 by Routledge

  7. Buddhist and Christian?

    An Exploration of Dual Belonging

    By Rose Drew

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    The last century witnessed a gradual but profound transformation of the West's religious landscape. In today's context of diversity, people are often influenced by, and sometimes even claim to belong to, more than one religious tradition. Buddhism and Christianity is a particularly prevalent and...

    Published July 10th 2011 by Routledge

  8. Buddhist Practice and Visual Culture

    The Visual Rhetoric of Borobudur

    By Julie Gifford

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    Providing an overall interpretation of the Buddhist monument Borobudur in Indonesia, this book looks at Mahayana Buddhist religious ideas and practices that could have informed Borobudur, including both the narrative reliefs and the Buddha images. The author explores a version of the classical...

    Published March 13th 2011 by Routledge

  9. The Cultural Practices of Modern Chinese Buddhism

    Attuning the Dharma

    By Francesca Tarocco

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    Buddhism in China during the late Qing and Republican period remained a powerful cultural and religious force. Francesca Tarocco is a rising star in this field and offers an innovative high-quality piece of work that presents a new perspective on the influence of Buddhism on Chinese culture....

    Published February 23rd 2011 by Routledge

  10. Buddhist Nuns in Taiwan and Sri Lanka

    A Critique of the Feminist Perspective

    By Wei-Yi Cheng

    Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism

    Taking a comparative approach, this fieldwork-based study explores the lives and thoughts of Buddhist nuns in present-day Taiwan and Sri Lanka. The author examines the postcolonial background and its influence on the modern situation, as well as surveying the main historical, economic, and social...

    Published February 9th 2011 by Routledge