Buddhism in Practice

·期刊原文

Buddhism in Practice

Reviewed by Jeff Shirkey

The Journal of Religion , Vol.77 No.2 , April 1997 , pp.340-341

COPYRIGHT @ University of Chicago

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This anthology on Buddhism forms one part of a series of new
sourcebooks on world religions from Princeton University Press. The
series as a whole aims to rethink and reorganize the presentation of
materials that are commonly found in similar anthologies. The result
of such rethinking is a pronounced shift away from the presentation
of source materials in which religious doctrines, beliefs,
philosophies, and the practices of a few elite members of a
religious community are emphasized, to a more varied, and perhaps
more representative presentation of materials such as ritual
manuals, hagiographic literature, folktales, apocryphal texts, or
pilgrimage literature. In keeping with the general aims of this
series, Buddhism in Practice provides a welcome and much needed
contribution to our understanding of a whole range of hitherto
overlooked or neglected sources that have been created and utilized
by people who identified and continue to identify themselves, at
least in part, as Buddhists.

The volume consists of forty-eight newly translated Buddhist texts,
or portions thereof, many of which have been translated into English
for the first time. In addition, each translation is preceded by a
helpful introduction that provides the reader with substantial
historical, social, political, or textual background. Thirty-four
scholars have contributed to this collection, and so, in a way
useful to both general reader and specialist alike, one can gather
through a close reading of this volume a sense of the diversity,
richness, and variety not only of the texts being translated but of
current approaches to the study of Buddhism itself. A detailed
analysis of even a handful of the essays in this collection is far
beyond the scope of this review, but it is possible to comment on
the structure, layout, and some of the general themes that run
throughout this varied collection.

One way in which this book tries to challenge our understanding of
Buddhist textual sources is to rearrange or even invert some of the
usual categories we employ when speaking and writing about Buddhism.
To take just one example drawn from the very organization of the
book itself, rather than divide its contents according to the
typical divisions of Buddhist "school" or "vehicle," geographical
region, or chronological order, the book tries to show how such
categories can be misleading and even inaccurate. It does this
successfully since nearly all of the texts translated here challenge
many widely held assumptions about the differences ascribed to the
vehicles of Buddhism. There are translations here of Theravada
devotional and ritual texts (chaps. 2 and 16), Mahayana popular
literature (chap. 11), selections from sources that recount
Malasarvastivada funeral practices and ritual/legal debates (chap.
38), and Chinese sutras on bathing images of the Buddha (chap. 3) -
all subjects that until recently had been under-emphasized, ignored,
or denied. But the book does not seek to defy all attempts at
classification of Buddhist materials. Instead, it settles on a
tripartite division of its contents according to three categories
that do indeed seem to have been central to Buddhists at all times
and at all places: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Samgha. The
resulting impression, however, is that even this categorization is
to be viewed as a heuristic device, and the reader is enjoined to
seek out continuities and differences from chapter to chapter.
In that spirit I found one section in the layout of this book to be
especially informative. Buddhists have imagined that, at some point
in the distant future, their own religion would disappear, the
dharma would be irrecoverable (at least until the beginning of
another cosmic cycle), and Buddhist monastic life would fall into
ruin. Chapters 20-23 show that Buddhists have dealt with this issue
of the decline of the dharma in significantly different ways. Jan
Nattier's article treats one of the major Buddhist myths of the
decline of the dharma that survives in no fewer than thirteen
different recensions and in several languages - a sign of its
significance and influence across time and geographic and linguistic
boundaries. Following this piece is Kyoko Tokuno's study of an
indigenous Chinese scripture that while acknowledging that Buddhism
is in a state of decline, tries to counteract its effects by
advocating a resurgence of strict moral and ethical behavior
including, among other things, an expressed emphasis on donative
practices. Next is Jamie Hubbard's study of a Chinese text that was
deemed heretical because of its unique and controversial response to
this issue. Finally, John Newman's article on a late Indian text
called the Kalacakra-tantra treats Buddhist eschatology at the
political/institutional and individual/psychological levels. Read
together, these four articles provide differing perspectives on the
subject of the decline of Buddhism. The texts address fundamental
questions about this decline and provide different responses: Is
decline an inevitable fact that proceeds from the logic of the
Buddha's own teaching about the conditioned nature of all phenomenal
things? Is the appropriate response to alter one's spiritual
practices to accommodate religious life in an era far removed from
the time of the Buddha? Is the end of the Buddhist religion to be
understood quite literally as a political struggle here on earth
between rival kings? Or, finally, are these images and stories of
the end of the dharma to be understood metaphorically, as a matter
to be confronted at the level of personal, psychological realization
of the Buddha's teaching?

As this book also examines the production, use, distribution,
function, and importance of a host of Buddhist texts, so it might be
appropriate to conclude with remarks regarding this book's
usefulness as a text designed for classroom and scholarly use by
students of Buddhism. Donald Lopez's introduction gives a highly
readable overview of the basics of the Buddha's life, teaching, and
subsequent development of the religion that will serve beginning
students admirably. But graduate students and established scholars,
too, can find articles here that are both thought provoking and a
stimulus to further research. None of the articles here are burdened
by an abundance of footnotes that would discourage some readers, and
the absence of technical terms and jargon is also a bonus. Overall,
this volume provides students and scholars alike with informed,
fresh perspectives on important issues and questions, not only in
Buddhist studies but in the academic study of religion.
JEFF SHIRKEY, Chicago, Illinois.