Geumgang Samadhi Sutra theory


Book Description

In this sutra, the Buddha explains the truth of the One Vehicle in response to questions from various Bodhisattvas and monks. It consists of 1 volume. Sanskrit name is VajrasamandDhi Suhtra, and the Tibetan name is Rdo rje.ḥand youṅ ṅIt isḥdsin gyi chos kyi is the best. The Vajrasamadhi-sutra is the reconstructed Sanskrit title of a Buddhist sutra ascribed to Shakyamuni Buddha but produced in Korea under the name Kumgang sammae kyong (Chinese: 金剛三昧經; pinyin: Jīngāng sānmèi jīng; Japanese: Kongō sanmaikyō), or the Adamantine Absorption Sutra. Although it was originally believed to have been a Chinese translation from a Sanskrit text, scholars have recently found that it was produced in Korea in about 685 CE and that it may be connected with the emergence of Seon in Korea._Wikipedia History According to Buswell, the Vajrasamadhi-sutra is thought to be an apocryphal scripture written by a Korean monk around 685 CE.[2][3][4] Hagiograpic accounts claim a supernatural origin for the text: when a Silla king sent an envoy to China in order to find medicine for his sick queen, the party was taken to bottom of the sea by a dragon king who entrusted the text to them, saying the text should be arranged by the unknown monk Taean and commented on by Wonhyo. In reality the text was likely connected with the emergence of Seon in Korea, and if this is the case it would be only the second known Korean text in this tradition. Wonhyo wrote a commentary on the text shortly after its production called the Kumgang sammaegyong non in which he speculates that it may have been the inspiration for the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, which was in fact written over a hundred years earlier. The text includes quotations of Bodhidharma, who lived in the 6th century CE, and references to the East Mountain Teachings of Daoxin and Hongren, both of whom lived in the 7th century. The aim of the text appears to be the synthesis of newly introduced Chan Buddhism with already established Huayan Buddhism._Wikipedia




The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea


Book Description

This book is a translation and study of the Vajrasamadhi-Sutra and an examination of its broad implications for the development of East Asian Buddhism. The Vajrasamadhi-Sutra was traditionally assumed to have been translated from Sanskrit, but some modern scholars, principally in Japan, have proposed that it is instead an indigenous Chinese composition. In contrast to both of these views, Robert Buswell maintains it was written in Korea around A.D. 685 by a Korean adept affiliated with the East Mountain school of the nascent Chinese Ch'an tradition. He thus considers it to be the oldest work of Korean Ch'an (or Son, which in Japan became known as the Zen school), and the second-oldest work of the sinitic Ch'an tradition as a whole. Buswell makes his case for the scripture's dating, authorship, and provenance by placing the sutra in the context of Buddhist doctrinal writings and early Ch'an literature in China and Korea. This approach leads him to an extensive analysis of the origins of Ch'an ideology in both countries and of the principal trends in the sinicization of Buddhism. Buddhism has typically been studied in terms of independent national traditions, but Buswell maintains that the history of religion in China, Korea, and Japan should be treated as a whole. Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.




The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment


Book Description

The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment, used in monastic education for more than a millennium, is a concise guide to the key paradigms of the practice systems of the East Asian meditational schools (Ch'an, Sǒn, and Zen). Contained in its twelve chapters are definitive explanations of the meaning of innate and actualized enlightenment, sudden and gradual enlightenment, the true nature of ignorance and suffering, along with numerous examples of methods of contemplation that accord with and reflect the basic Ch'an views on enlightenment and practice. Although the Sutra was popular throughout the East Asian region, it attained its highest canonical status within the Korean Chogye school, where it is still a key text in the core curriculum of modern-day monks and nuns. The Sutra is translated here in full, along with the eloquent and revelatory commentary of the Chǒson monk Kihwa (1376–1433).




The New History of Korean Civilization


Book Description

Throughout its 4,000-year history, Korea has created a vibrant and unique culture. Unfortunately, many believe it developed solely due to Chinas influence, thus leaving no room for an independent history and culture. This is simply wrong. The New History of Korean Civilization explores the existence of a distinctive Korean culture established by the Korean people and separate from its Chinese and Japanese counterparts. Author Chai-Shin Yu, distinguished professor of Korean studies, surveys the history of cultural life in Korea and provides a detailed account of this countrys remarkable heritage. From the prehistoric age through the rise of the Choson Dynasty and up to the creation of the Republic of Korea, this concise history traces the development of history, politics, philosophy, religion, literature, and art. Chai-Shin Yu shows how Korean culture also played a vital role in the formation of Japanese culture. Written for the purpose of introducing the roots of Korean culture to Westerners and second-generation Koreans living in the West, The New History of Korean Civilization is a bold addition to the historiography of Korea.




American Buddhism


Book Description

This is the first scholarly treatment of the emergence of American Buddhist Studies as a significant research field. Until now, few investigators have turned their attention to the interpretive challenge posed by the presence of all the traditional lineages of Asian Buddhism in a consciously multicultural society. Nor have scholars considered the place of their own contributions as writers, teachers, and practising Buddhists in this unfolding saga. In thirteen chapters and a critical introduction to the field, the book treats issues such as Asian American Buddhist identity, the new Buddhism, Buddhism and American culture, and the scholar's place in American Buddhist Studies. The volume offers complete lists of dissertations and theses on American Buddhism and North American dissertations and theses on topics related to Buddhism since 1892.




Cultivating Original Enlightenment


Book Description

Wŏnhyo (617–686) is the dominant figure in the history of Korean Buddhism and one of the most influential thinkers in the Korean philosophical tradition. Koreans know Wŏnhyo in his various roles as Buddhist mystic, miracle worker, social iconoclast, religious proselytist, and cultural hero. Above all else, Wŏnhyo was an innovative thinker and prolific writer, whose works cover the gamut of Indian and Sinitic Buddhist materials: Some one hundred treatises and commentaries are attributed to him, twenty-three of which are extant today. Wŏnhyo’s importance is not limited to the peninsula, however. His writings were widely read in China and Japan, and his influence on the overall development of East Asian Mahâyâna thought is significant, particularly in relation to the Huayan, Chan, and Pure Land schools. In Cultivating Original Enlightenment, the first volume in The International Association of Wŏnhyo Studies’ Collected Works of Wŏnhyo series, Robert E. Buswell Jr. translates Wŏnhyo’s longest and culminating work, the Exposition of the Vajrasamâdhi-Sûtra (Kŭmgang Sammaegyŏng Non). Wŏnhyo here brings to bear all the tools acquired throughout a lifetime of scholarship and meditation to the explication of a scripture that has a startling connection to the Korean Buddhist tradition. In his treatise, Wŏnhyo examines the crucial question of how enlightenment can be turned from a tantalizing prospect into a palpable reality that manifests itself in all activities. Introduction by Robert E. Buswell Jr.




concepts


Book Description

This book foregrounds that English monolingualism reduces both our linguistic and conceptual resources, presenting concepts from the cultures of 4 continents and 26 languages. Concepts seem to work best when created in the interspace between theory and praxis, and between philosophy, art, and science. Deleuze himself had generated many concepts in this encounter between philosophy and non-philosophy, including his ideas of affects and percepts, of becoming, the stutter, the rhizome, movement-image and time-image, the rhizome. What happens, if instead of "other disciplines," we take other cultures, other languages, other philosophies? Does not the focus on English as a hegemonic language of academic discourse deny us a plethora of possibilities, of possible Denkfiguren, of possible concepts? Each contributor explores ideas that are key to thinking in their language – about sound and silence, voice and image, living and thinking, the self and the world - while simultaneously addressing the issue of translation. Each chapter demonstrates that translation itself is a way of invention, rather than just a rendering of concepts from one system in terms of another. This collection acts as a travelogue. The journey does not follow a particular trajectory-some countries are not on the map; some are visited twice. So, there is no claim to completeness involved here-it is rather an invitation to answer to the call.




Korea Journal


Book Description




Korean Culture


Book Description