Burning for the Buddha
Douban
Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism
James A. Benn
Sinossi
Burning for the Buddha is the first book-length study of the theory and practice of "abandoning the body"(self-immolation) in Chinese Buddhism. It examines the hagiographical accounts of all those who made offerings of their own bodies and places them in historical, social, cultural, and doctrinal context. Rather than privilege the doctrinal and exegetical interpretations of the tradition, which assume the central importance of the mind and its cultivation, James Benn focuses on the ways in which the heroic ideals of the bodhisattva present in scriptural materials such as the Lotus Sutra played out in the realm of religious practice on the ground.
contenuti
Intro
Contents
Introduction
“Mounting the Smoke with Glittering Colors”
The Lotus Sûtra, Auto-Cremation, and the Indestructible Tongue
Samgha and the State
Is Self-Immolation a “Good Practice”?
Local Heroes in a Fragmenting Empire
One Thousand Years of Self- Immolation
Conclusion
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Notes
Bibliography
Index
