Oxford Encyclopedia of Buddhism

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Buddhism is a first-of-its-kind reference project: a systematic effort to identify and analyze the ways in which Buddhist studies has developed, the new sub-fields of inquiry, and the evolving relationships between disciplines that broaden our knowledge of the religion. The Encyclopedia draws from a wide range of scholarly perspectives, and its 138 chapters cover several major thematic areas, including historical and historiographical studies, historical figures, buddhas and deities, regional studies, global and diasporic Buddhism, art and architecture, contemporary social and academic issues, rituals, philosophical and doctrinal studies, textual and philological studies, and the most influential educational institutions.

List of contents

• Abhidharmaköabh¿sya (Treasury of Metaphysics with Self-Commentary)


• Abhisamay¿lamk¿ra (Ornament for Clear Realization)


• American Buddhism during World War II Imprisonment


• Amoghavajra


• Art, Architecture and National Memory-Making


• Avalokite¿vara: The Bodhisattva of Compassion


• Bodhisattvabh¿mi (The Bodhisattva Stages)


• The Body of the Buddha


• The Bön Tradition of Dzogchen


• Buddhaghosa


• Buddhism and Bioethics


• Buddhism and Biography


• Buddhism and Globalization


• Buddhism and Healing in China


• Buddhism and Media


• Buddhism and Medicine in India


• Buddhism and Medicine in Japan


• Buddhism and Medicine in Premodern Japan


• Buddhism and Print Culture in China


• Buddhism and Shinto


• Buddhism and the Environment


• Buddhism in Colonial Contexts


• Buddhism in Film


• Buddhisms in Diaspora: The Canadian Context of Chinese Buddhism


• Buddhist Art and Architecture in Tibet


• Buddhist Chaplaincy


• Buddhist Cosmology


• Buddhist Geography and Regionalism


• Buddhist Meditation and Contemplation


• Buddhist Philosophy as Philosophy


• Buddhist Wall Paintings


• Buddhist Wizards (Vidhyadh¿ra/Weizz¿/Weikza): Contemporary Burma/Myanmar


• Buddhist Wizards (Vidhyadh¿ra/Weizz¿/Weikza): Origins and History


• Candrak¿rti's Middle Way Philosophy


• Canon and Commentary in the Earliest Buddhist Manuscripts


• Chan Literature


• Chöd: A Tibetan Buddhist Practice


• D.T. Suzuki: A Biography


• D.T. Suzuki: Ideas and Influences


• Debate in the Tibetan Tradition


• Debate Traditions in Premodern Japan


• Domestic Dharma in Japan


• Dunhuang Art


• Dunhuang Texts


• Dzogchen


• Early History of the Drukpa Kagyü School


• Early Modern European Encounters with Buddhism


• The Economics of Buddhism


• Engaged Buddhism


• Epigraphy and the Study of Buddhism: South Asia's Northern Corridor


• Esoteric Buddhism in Southeast Asia


• Ethics and Buddhism


• Filial Piety in Chinese Buddhism


• Fo Guang Shan


• Four Noble Truths


• From Manuscript to Print in South and Southeast Asia


• Gelukpa


• Global Buddhism


• Global Theravada Buddhism: Asian Foundations


• Global Theravada: Transmission Beyond Asia


• Globalizing Tantric Buddhism


• Guardian/Protector Deities in Tibetan Buddhism


• History of Buddhisms in China: the Nanbeicho Period (Late 4th Century to the Sui Dynasty)


• Homa: Tantric Fire Ritual


• Hsing Yun


• Huineng


• Humanistic Buddhism (Rensheng Fojiao ¿¿¿¿ / Renjian Fojiao ¿¿¿¿)


• Imaging the Buddha in South Asia


• The Imamura Families and the Making of American Buddhism


• Intention


• Japanese Buddhisms in Diaspora


• J¿taka


• Jebtsundamba Khutugtus of Mongolia


• The Kadampa: A Formative Movement of Tibetan Buddhism


• K¿lacakra-Mandala: Symbolism and Construction


• Longchenpa


• Madhyamaka


• Mah¿mudr¿ in India and Tibet


• Mañju¿r¿


• Maritime Buddhism


• Marpa Lotsawa Chökyi Lodrö


• Mipam


• Monastic Education in Contemporary Asia


• Mongolian Buddhism in the Democratic Period


• Mongolian Buddhism in the Early 20th Century


• Mongolian Buddhism in the Yuan Period


• Muslim-Buddhist Relations and Buddhism in Muslim Sources until the Mongol Period


• N¿g¿rjuna


• Naikan: A Meditation Method and Psychotherapy


• Narratives of Buddhist Relics and Images


• Nechung: A Tibetan Buddhist Oracle


• Nichiren


• Patronage of Buddhist Monasteries in Eastern India (600-1300 CE)


• Perfections (Six and Ten) of Bodhisattvas in Buddhist Literature


• The Philosophical Works and Influence of Dign¿ga and Dharmak¿rti


• Pilgrimage in Buddhist Tibet


• Pilgrimage in China


• Practices of Protection in the Pali World


• Prajñ¿p¿ramit¿ and Khmer Esoteric Buddhism in the 10th to 13th centuries


• Psychological Interpreters of Buddhism


• Pure Land Buddhism in Tibetan Contexts


• Queering Buddhist Traditions


• The Reincarnation System in Central Asian Buddhism


• Rennyo


• Ry¿gen


• The Sangha as an Institution


• ¿¿ntideva's Introduction to the Practices of Awakening (Bodhicary¿vat¿ra)


• Sarv¿stiv¿da Abhidharma


• Secular Buddhism


• Sheng Yen


• Shingon


• The Six Nara Schools


• S¿ka Gakkai


• Southeast Asian Refugees in North America


• Sri Lanka's Sinhala Buddhist Guardian Deities: Satara Varan Devi


• The Study of Visual Culture in South and Southeast Asian Buddhism


• Taixu


• Tantra and the Tantric Traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism


• Tantric Buddhism in Japan: Kukai and Saicho


• Tantric Buddhism in Japan: Shingon, Tendai, and the Esotericization of Japanese Buddhisms


• Tantric Revival in China


• Therav¿da Buddhism


• Thích Nh¿t Hanh in the Context of the Modern Development of Vietnamese Buddhism


• Three Turnings of the Wheel of Doctrine (Dharma-Cakra)


• Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thödol)


• Tibetan Buddhism and the Gesar Epic


• Tibetan Buddhist Power Objects


• Tibetan Medicine and its Buddhist Contexts


• Tibetan Visionary Buddhism


• Transmission of Buddhist Media and Texts


• Tri Songdétsen


• Tsangpa Gyare (1161-1211), Founder of the Drukpa Kagyü School


• Tzu Chi


• The Vajrak¿la Tantras


• Vinaya Rules for Monks and Nuns


• Visualization/Contemplation Sutras (Guan Jing)


• Western Buddhism and Race


• Xuyun


• Zhentong (Other-Emptiness)

About the author

Richard K. Payne is the Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Bibliographies: Buddhism. He also established the Pure Land Buddhist Studies Series, University of Hawai'i Press; the Contemporary Issues in Buddhist Studies Series, Institute of Buddhist Studies; and is Senior Editor for Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies.

Georgios T. Halkias is the Director of the Centre of Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong. He has conducted research in inter-disciplinary projects with the University of Hong Kong, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, School of Oriental and African Studies, and the Warburg Institute. He is an Area Editor for Entangled Religions: Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer, and has most recently authored Luminous Bliss: a Religious History of Pure Land Literature in Tibet (University of Hawai'i Press).

Summary

The earliest examples of Buddhist studies originating in the Western world tended to frame Buddhism as a religion similar to Abrahamic monotheisms. This involved, among other things, an emphasis on philological, doctrinal, and textual studies, as well as an assumption that the Buddha compares directly to the messianic figures central to other traditions. Starting in the late twentieth century, Buddhist studies scholars have been creatively moving outside of this rubric, and indeed outside of the familiar boundaries of the academy. This movement has allowed them to examine subjects, perspectives, and methodologies not previously engaged by the mainstream of Buddhist studies. Such a wider approach fosters greater awareness of external versus internal critiques of the religion, inclusion of new disciplines and previously marginalized voices, and an appreciation of the decentralized nature of Buddhism and the varied personal experiences of lived practice. As a result, Buddhist studies has attracted a growing audience within the humanities and has been at the forefront of the discourse on cultural exchange, globalization, colonialism and postcolonialism, and the ongoing changes in the religious landscape.

Reflecting these innovations, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Buddhism is a first-of-its-kind reference project: a systematic effort to identify and analyze the ways in which Buddhist studies continues to develop, the new sub-fields of inquiry, and the evolving relationships between the related disciplines. Consisting of 138 in-depth articles, the Encyclopedia covers several major thematic areas, including historical and historiographical studies, historical figures, buddhas and deities, regional studies, global and diasporic Buddhism, art and architecture, contemporary social and academic issues, rituals, philosophical and doctrinal studies, textual and philological studies, and the most influential educational institutions. Moreover, the Encyclopedia frames Buddhist studies as a field rather than as a discipline, meaning that it covers a rich variety of intellectual projects. This approach balances independent specialized studies with interconnected and interdisciplinary studies, inviting research that is both sharper and more nuanced. It is this perspective, gazing toward the future of the field, that marks the volume as an essential work of contemporary scholarship and an organically evolving encyclopedia for study and research.

Additional text

The articles are all substantial works of scholarship written by top scholars in the field; each provides useful surveys of existing scholarship, ample notes, and "Further Reading," making this resource an excellent starting place for the many research topics it covers.

Product details

• Authors: Richard (Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Payne
• Assisted by: Georgios Halkias (Editor), Richard Payne (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 23.12.2024
• EAN: 9780190256890
• ISBN: 978-0-19-025689-0
• No. of pages: 1400
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > General, dictionaries; RELIGION / Buddhism / General, Buddhism