Christianity and Buddhism

Examines the history of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism and how orientalist assumptions have caused the West to ignore this important tradition. "Amstutz clearly demonstrates how the sources of Western and Eastern misunderstanding of Pure Land Buddhism have been engendered, both consciously and unconsciously, by orientalist assumptions current in scholarly understanding of the history and practice of Pure Land Buddhism. Before academic studies in Pure Land Buddhism can advance much further, all of us in the field must confront the issues of orientalist assumptions and biases lurking in our scholarship. The author has pointed these out within their historical contexts in a powerful way, and perhaps this is the most important contribution this book has to offer. I know that after reading Amstutz's critique, I will be more careful and alert in my own work in Pure Land Buddhism in particular and Buddhist studies in general". -- Paul O. Ingram, Pacific Lutheran University Pure Land Buddhism was the largest traditional religion in Japan. It had an enormous impact on Japanese culture and was among the first forms of Buddhism encountered by Western culture. Not only has it been neglected in modern descriptions of Japan, but it also has been relatively ignored by Buddhist studies. The author shows that Pure Land Buddhism, despite a Mahayana Buddhist philosophical basis, has paralleled the social and political qualities associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition. It has variously been threatening to mainstream Westerners, uninteresting to Westerners seeking the exotic, and disagreeable to cultural brokers on all sides who want to depict Japanese culture as radically opposed to the West. Thefaulty appreciation of Pure Land Buddhism is one of the leading world examples of a counterproductive orientalism that restricts rather than improves cross-cultural communication.

As the Dead Sea scrolls have changed our understanding of Judaism and early Christianity, so a set of twenty-nine scrolls recently acquired by the British Library promise to provide a window into a crucial phase of the history of Buddhism in India. The fragmentary birch bark scrolls, which were found inside one of a set of inscribed clay pots, are written in the Gandhari Prakrit language and in Kharosthi script. Dating from around the beginning of the Christian era, the scrolls are probably the oldest Buddhist manuscripts ever discovered. The manuscripts and pots come from a region known in ancient times as Gandhara, corresponding to modern northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. At the peak of its influence, Gandhara was home to a series of wealthy and powerful dynasties and became one of the world's most important centers of Buddhism and the gateway through which Buddhism was transmitted from India to China and other parts of Asia. Gandhara was also a principal point of contact between India and the Western world. Despite abundant archeological evidence of Gandhara's thriving culture, until now there has been virtually no documentary evidence of its literary and religious canon. This volume introduces a groundbreaking project to decipher and interpret the Gandharan texts. It provides a detailed description of the manuscripts and a survey of their contents, along with a preliminary evaluation of their significance. Also included are representative samples of texts and translations. This discovery sheds new light on the regional character of early Indian Buddhist traditions, the process of the formation of standardized written canons, and the transmission of Buddhism intocentral and east Asia. Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhara will appeal to a broad audience with interests in Buddhism, comparative religion, and Asian languages.

Greco-Buddhism - Greco-Buddhism, sometimes spelled Græco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between the culture of Classical Greece and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 800 years in Central Asia in the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE. Greco-Buddhism influenced the artistic (and, possibly, conceptual) development of Buddhism, and in particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it was adopted by Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century ...

Kitamura Tokoku - Kitamura Tokoku (北村透谷：1868-1894) was a Japanese poet, essayist and one of the founders of Bungakukai turn-of-the-century modern Japanese romantic literary movement. A native of Odawara, he was influenced by his wife's Christianity, he wrote essays extolling the “life-espousing views” of the West, over the “life-denying view” of Buddhism and traditional Japanese thought.

Religion in Russia - The most widespread religion in Russia is Orthodox Christianity dominated by Russian Orthodox Church. Other religions in the Russian Federation include other Christian denominations such as various Protestant faiths, Roman Catholicism, as well as Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism.

christianityandbuddhism

Buddhism Christianity Jew Reformed Religion Religion - Buddhism Christianity Jew Reformed Religion Religion Shakespeare and the Jews Going against the grain of the dominant scholarship on the period, which generally ignores the impact of Jewish questions in early modern England, James Shapiro shows how Elizabethans imagined Jews to be utterly different from themselves - in religion, race, nationality, buddhism christianity jew reformed religion religion and even sexuality. From strange cases of Christians masquerading as Jews to bizarre proposals to settle foreign Jews in Ireland, Shakespeare buddhism christianity jew reformed ...

Buddhism Christianity Jew Reformed Religion Religion - Buddhism Christianity Jew Reformed Religion Religion The Many Faces of Faith: A Guide to World Religions and Christian Traditions by Richard R. Losch, Religious faith takes many forms. Throughout the centuries buddhism christianity jew reformed religion religion and around the globe, human responses to the divine have given rise to a large number of important religions. "The Many Faces of Faith is intended to introduce general readers to the diversity of religion that exists today. In this fascinating buddhism christianity jew ...

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