Light Symbolism and Its Iconographic Relevance to Buddhist

Light Symbolism and Its Iconographic Relevance to Buddhist PDF Author: Alan B. Day
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Light Symbolism and Its Iconographic Relevance to Buddhist

Light Symbolism and Its Iconographic Relevance to Buddhist PDF Author: Alan B. Day
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Light Symbolism and Its Iconographic Relevance to Buddhist Art and Culture

Light Symbolism and Its Iconographic Relevance to Buddhist Art and Culture PDF Author: Alan B. Day
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Behold the Buddha

Behold the Buddha PDF Author: James C. Dobbins
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824879996
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Images of the Buddha are everywhere—not just in temples but also in museums and homes and online—but what these images mean largely depends on the background and circumstance of those viewing them. In Behold the Buddha, James Dobbins invites readers to imagine how premodern Japanese Buddhists understood and experienced icons in temple settings long before the advent of museums and the internet. Although widely portrayed in the last century as visual emblems of great religious truths or as exquisite works of Asian art, Buddhist images were traditionally treated as the very embodiment of the Buddha, his palpable presence among people. Hence, Buddhists approached them as living entities in their own right—that is, as awakened icons with whom they could interact religiously. Dobbins begins by reflecting on art museums, where many non-Buddhists first encounter images of the Buddha, before outlining the complex Western response to them in previous centuries. He next elucidates images as visual representations of the story of the Buddha’s life followed by an overview of the physical attributes and symbolic gestures found in Buddhist iconography. A variety of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and other divinities commonly depicted in Japanese Buddhism is introduced, and their “living” quality discussed in the context of traditional temples and Buddhist rituals. Finally, other religious objects in Japanese Buddhism—relics, scriptures, inscriptions, portraits of masters, and sacred sites—are explained using the Buddhist icon as a model. Dobbins concludes by contemplating art museums further as potential sites for discerning the religious character of Buddhist images. Those interested in Buddhism generally who would like to learn more about its rich iconography—whether encountered in temples or museums—will find much in this concise, well-illustrated volume to help them “behold the Buddha.”

The Origin of the Buddha Image

The Origin of the Buddha Image PDF Author: Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789391985110
Category : Buddhas
Languages : en
Pages :

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"Light" as a Symbol for Christians and Buddhists

Author: Ian Gillman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 13

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Emanated Buddhas in the Aureole of Buddhist Images from India, Central Asia, and China

Emanated Buddhas in the Aureole of Buddhist Images from India, Central Asia, and China PDF Author: Tianshu Zhu
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781604979480
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
This study examines the small figures, mostly Buddhas, depicted in the aureole of Buddha images. This motif has appeared in various places in Central Asia and East Asia throughout the centuries. By contextualizing these images in local history and local Buddhism, this book sheds light on issues in Buddhist history and cultural transmission.

The Invention of Religion in Japan

The Invention of Religion in Japan PDF Author: Jason Ānanda Josephson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226412342
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept of what we call “religion.” There was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything close to its meaning. But when American warships appeared off the coast of Japan in 1853 and forced the Japanese government to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of religion, the country had to contend with this Western idea. In this book, Jason Ananda Josephson reveals how Japanese officials invented religion in Japan and traces the sweeping intellectual, legal, and cultural changes that followed. More than a tale of oppression or hegemony, Josephson’s account demonstrates that the process of articulating religion offered the Japanese state a valuable opportunity. In addition to carving out space for belief in Christianity and certain forms of Buddhism, Japanese officials excluded Shinto from the category. Instead, they enshrined it as a national ideology while relegating the popular practices of indigenous shamans and female mediums to the category of “superstitions”—and thus beyond the sphere of tolerance. Josephson argues that the invention of religion in Japan was a politically charged, boundary-drawing exercise that not only extensively reclassified the inherited materials of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto to lasting effect, but also reshaped, in subtle but significant ways, our own formulation of the concept of religion today. This ambitious and wide-ranging book contributes an important perspective to broader debates on the nature of religion, the secular, science, and superstition.

The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols

The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols PDF Author:
Publisher: Serindia Publications, Inc.
ISBN: 9781932476033
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Based on the author's previous publication The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, this handbook contains an array of symbols and motifs, accompanied by succinct explanations. It provides treatment of the essential Tibetan religious figures, themes and motifs, both secular and religious.

Symbol of Divine Light

Symbol of Divine Light PDF Author: Nicholas Stone
Publisher: World Wisdom Books
ISBN: 9781936597574
Category : Lamps
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Symbol of Divine Light presents an overview of the history and significance of the lamp in Islamic culture and other traditions. In addition to describing the numerous variants from different historical periods, it also includes an exploration of the famous Koranic Verse of Light and the symbolism of its constituent elements. Containing more than 200 stunning color and b/w illustrations, this is the definitive study of the history and meaning of the mosque lamp.

Buddhist Art and Thought

Buddhist Art and Thought PDF Author: Śaśibālā
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Buddhist Art and Thought encompasses a number of themes related to the study of cultural interflow among Asian countries, sharing philosophy, literature, arts and architecture, systems of polity and ways of living and thinking. It is a journey through the history of dissemination of Buddhism by monk-scholars to Central, East, Fareast and Southeast Asia. It brings forth the manifestations of divine forms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, other deities of the Buddhist pantheon, colossal images, luminous mandalas and meditation. It throws light on the spread of the Buddhist Sanskrit literature, Indian scripts, inscriptions and Sanskrit manuscripts, and Buddhist ceremonies and rituals, beyond the boundaries of India. Contribution of the Indologists as pilgrims in the world of vision and intellection is another area touched upon by the scholar through her research.Contents: Preface, 1. Buddhist Art : From the Northwest to the Far East; 2. Amitabha: The Buddha of Immesurable Light in Japanese Art; 3. Yoga: The Basis of the Taima Mandala; 4. Bodhisattvas of Debate and Defence; 5. Buddhist Colossi in Japan; 6. Mandala and Meditation in Japanese Esoteric Art; 7. India and East Asia : A Cultural Symbiosis; 8. Bodhisattvas in Buddhist Art and Thought; 9. From Ajanta to HoryuÊji; 10. A Sanskrit Manuscript of the Gupta Period at the HoryuÊji Monastery In Japan; 11. Zen Bearings on Japanese Arts; 12. Four Divine Guardians in Japanese Art; 13. India and Japan: Academic Relations in Early 20th Century; 14. Structure of Gobu-shingan and the Graphic Vajradhatu-Mandala in the Light of the Sarva-tathagata-tattva-saÆgraha; 15. Iconography of Vaisravana in Japanese Art Compared with Sanskrit Literary Sources; 16. Cultural Interflow Between India and Central Asia; 17. Monasteries of Khotan in Tibetan Literary Sources; 18. Apotheosis of an Indonesian King of the Singasari Dynasty; 19. Fire Altar for Asvamedha Ceremony in Indonesia; 20. The Earliest Sanskrit Documents from Indonesia; 21. Sanskrit Texts in Chinese and Tibetan Translations; 22. Sanskrit in Japan; 23. Sanskrit in Southeast Asia; 24. Search for Shambhala and Kalacakra by Yuri and Nicholas Roerichs; 25. Hevajra in Buddhist Literature, Imperial Ceremonies and Art; 26. Banner of Peace; 27. Role of Suvarnaprabhasa-sutra in the Polity of East Asia; Index.PROF. SHASHIBALA is a research scientist specialises in art and culture of Asian countries. She is a researcher at the International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi for the last thirty years, and has also worked as an adjunct faculty at the National Museum Institute, New Delhi for the last fifteen years. She has to her credit eight research projects and sixty articles presented at various conferences or seminars held in India and abroad besides books published in English and Dutch languages.