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Author Benn, James A., 1964-

Title Burning for the Buddha : self-immolation in Chinese Buddhism / James A. Benn
Published Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, ©2007

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 360 pages)
Series Kuroda Institute studies in East Asian Buddhism ; no. 19
Studies in East Asian Buddhism ; no. 19.
Contents Introduction -- "Mounting the smoke with glittering colors": self-immolation in early medieval China -- The Lotus Sūtra, auto-cremation, and the indestructible tongue -- Saṃgha and the state: the power(s) of self-immolation -- Is self-immolation a "good practice"? Yongming Yanshou on relinquishing the body -- Local heroes in a fragmenting empire: self-immolation in the late Tang and five dynasties -- One thousand years of self-immolation -- Conclusion
Summary "Burning for the Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism is the first book-length study of the theory and practice of "abandoning the body" (self-immolation) in Chinese Buddhism. Although largely ignored by conventional scholarship, the acts of self-immolators (which included not only burning the body but also being devoured by wild animals, drowning oneself, and self-mummification, among others) form an enduring part of the religious tradition and provide a new perspective on the multifarious dimensions of Buddhist practice in China from the early medieval period to the present time. This book examines the hagiographical accounts of all those who made offerings of their own bodies and places them in historical, social, cultural, and doctrinal context."--Jacket
Notes "A Kuroda Institute book."
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-345) and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
In English
Print version record
digitized 2011 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
Subject Self-immolation -- Religious aspects -- Buddhism.
Self-immolation.
Buddhism -- China -- Customs and practices
RELIGION -- Buddhism -- Rituals & Practice.
RELIGION -- Buddhism -- General.
Self-immolation -- Religious aspects -- Buddhism
Buddhism -- Customs and practices
Self-immolation
Buddhismus
Selbstverbrennung
Selbstbeschädigung
Askese
Mahayana
Buddhism -- Kina.
China
China
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781435665958
1435665953
9780824861735
0824861736