Defining Buddhism(s)

Explores the multiple ways in which Buddhisms have been defined and constructed by Buddhists and scholars. This book includes essays that consider a range of inquiries and concerns, and methods and approaches that contribute to understanding and learning from constructions of Buddhisms, the challenges and dilemmas, and more.

Karen Derris, Natalie Gummer

Introduction: Defining Buddhisms PART I: Defining Buddhist Histories Introduction 1. Archaeology and Protestant Presuppositions in the Study of Indian Buddhism, Gregory Schopen 2. Suttas as History: Four Approaches to the Sermon on the Noble Quest (Ariyapariyesanasutta), Jonathan S. Walters 3. Historical Understanding: The Ch'an Buddhist Transmission Narratives and Modern Historiography, Dale S. Wright 4. Roads Taken and Not Taken in the Study of Therav-da Buddhism, Charles Hallisey PART II: Defining Buddhist Ideologies Introduction 5. The Suppression of the Three Stages Sect: Apocrypha as a Political Issue, Mark Edward Lewis 6. Budda no fukuin: The Deployment of Paul Carus's Gospel of Buddha in Meiji Japan,Judith Snodgrass 7. Re-membering the Dismembered Body of Tibet: Contemporary Tibetan Visionary Movements in the People's Republic of China, David Germano PART III: Defining Buddhist Identities Introduction 8. The Image of an Orphan: Cambodian Narrative Sites for Buddhist Ethical Reflection, Anne Hansen 9. Seeking --kyamuni: Travel and the Reconstruction of Japanese Buddhism, Richard M. Jaffe 10. One Plus One Makes Three: Buddhist Gender, Monasticism, and the Law of the Non-Excluded Middle, Janet Gyatso