Buddha in the Crown - Avalokitesvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka

Zusatztext Holt beautifully articulates the assimilation and transformation of Avalokitesvara in Sri Lanka by weaving together evidence drawn from historical and religious treatises, stone inscriptions, oral traditions, and icons. Klappentext Historical! anthropological! and philosophical in approach! Buddha in the Crown is a case study in religious and cultural change. It examines the various ways in which Avalokitesvara! the most well known and proliferated bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism throughout south! southeast! and east Asia! was assimilated into the transforming religious culture of Sri Lanka! one of the most pluralistic in Asia. Exploring the expressions of the bodhisattva's cult in Sanskrit and Sinhala literature! in iconography! epigraphy! ritual! symbol! and myth! the author develops a provocative thesis regarding the dynamics of religious change. Interdisciplinary in scope! addressing a wide variety of issues relating to Buddhist thought and practice! and providing new and original information on the rich cultural history of Sri Lanka! this book will interest students of Buddhism and South Asia. Zusammenfassung This book offers a case study in religious and cultural change. Sri Lanka is the home of one of Asia's most pluralistic religious cultures; four major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity - have found a permanent home within its boundaries. This makes it an ideal laboratory for the study of how religious traditions mix.John Holt here examines the career of a single deity, who began as the Indian Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, was assimilated to the indigenous Sinhala god Natha, and ultimately became identified with the bodhisattva Maitreya - the next Buddha of the future, expected by virtually all Buddhist traditions of Asia.

Product details

• Authors: John Clifford Holt, John Clifford (Associate Professor of Religi Holt, Holt John Clifford
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.01.1991
• EAN: 9780195064186
• ISBN: 978-0-19-506418-6
• No. of pages: 286
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > General, dictionaries; Sri Lanka, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, RELIGION / Buddhism / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Buddhism, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Religion: general, Social and cultural anthropology, Asian History, Religious groups: social & cultural aspects, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Social groups: religious groups and communities, HISTORY / Asia / South / General