1st Edition
Buddhist Hagiography in Early Japan Images of Compassion in the Gyoki Tradition
By Jonathan Morris Augustine
Copyright 2005
184 Pages
by
Routledge
184 Pages
by
Routledge
184 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Hagiographies or idealized biographies which recount the lives of saints, bodhisattvas and other charismatic figures have been the meeting place for myth and experience. In medieval Europe, the 'lives of saints' were read during liturgical celebrations and the texts themselves were treated as sacred objects. In Japan, it was believed that those who read the biographies of lofty monks would acquire... Read more
Introduction: Uncovering the Lives of Gyoki 1. The Received Biography of Gyoki 2. The Historicity of Gyoki's Accounts 3. Gyoki and the Soniryo: Violations of Early Monastic Regulations in Japan 4. Gyoki and the Politics of the Nara Court 5. Gyoki's Charitable Projects 6. The Development of Gyoki Biographies 7. Conclusion
Biography
Jonathan Morris Augustine is an Associate Professor of International Communication at the Kyoto Institute of Technology in Japan. Since 1973 he has spent most of his life in Asia with the exception of a decade at Princeton University where he obtained his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.
'Augus-tine’s attention to detail and his use of intricate evidence to support his arguments make Buddhist Hagiography in Early Japan an intriguing venture into how to read and appreciate Buddhist hagiography ' - Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 2008
