1st Edition

Global Shin Buddhism and Ritual Practice Histories, Transformations and Localisations

208 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

208 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book explores the globalisation of Shin Buddhism (also known as Jōdo Shinshū – the name by which it is referred to in this book) through an examination of ritual practice and its transformations in four main areas: Japan, the United States and Hawai’i, South America, and Europe. Interrogating conservative and mono-ethnic images of Shin Buddhism, linked to the preservation of Japanese... Read more

Chapter 1        Introduction

Chapter 2        Jōdo Shinshū responses to modernity in Japan: Ritual and its transformations

Chapter 3        Routes of change: The expansion of Jōdo Shinshū outside Japan

Chapter 4        Creating the ritual body

Chapter 5        Ritual space

Chapter 6        Mindfulness and meditation 

Chapter 7        Mindfulness of the Buddha, saying the Name

Chapter 8        Soundscapes of the Pure Land? Music, identity, and adapting to the times in globalising Jōdo Shinshū

Chapter 9        Online transformations during the Covid era

Chapter 10      Conclusion: Globalisation and ritual

Biography

Louella Matsunaga was Senior Lecturer in the anthropology of Japan at Oxford Brookes University from 2011 until her retirement in 2024. She currently has a research attachment to Oxford Brookes University and is a senior research associate at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of Oxford. She received her PhD in anthropology in 1995 from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Her research focuses on ritual and the globalisation of Jōdo Shinshū, in particular ritual and embodiment. She was ordained as a Jōdo Shinshū priest in 2019.

Enrique Galvan-Alvarez is Full Professor at the all-online Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (Spain). He received his PhD in modern languages in 2011 from the Universidad de Alcalá (Spain) and his research has an interdisciplinary focus with an interest in post-colonial contexts, Buddhism and narrative constructions of identity. He was ordained as a Jōdo Shinshū priest in 2019 and has been actively involved since in Spanish-speaking and English-speaking Buddhist communities.

Mitsuya Dake is Full Professor in Shin Buddhist Studies at Ryukoku University (Japan). He completed his PhD coursework in 1989 at Ryukoku University. His areas of research include: Shinran's Thought, Engaged Buddhism, and Inter-faith Dialogue. Currently, he is the president of the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies. He serves on the editorial board of several journals, including Contemporary Voices of Dalit (Sage). He was ordained as a Jōdo Shinshū priest in 1984.