Tantric Buddhist Practice in India: Vilāsavajra's Commentary on the Majuśrī-Nāmasaṃgīti

ISBN-13: 9781138650930 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 432 str.

Anthony Tribe;¬Abar;¬Abar

Opis

Using a commentary on the influential text, the Manju r -n masa g ti, The Chanting of the Names of Manju r, this book deals with Buddhist tantric meditation practice and its doctrinal context in early-medieval India. The commentary was written by the 8th-9th century Indian tantric scholar Vil savajra, and the book contains a translation of the first five chapters. The translation is extensively annotated, and accompanied by introductions as well as a critical edition of the Sanskrit text based on eight Sanskrit manuscripts and two blockprint editions of the commentary s Tibetan translation.

The commentary interprets its root text within an elaborate framework of tantric visualisation and meditation that is based on an expanded form of the Buddhist Yoga Tantra mandala, the Vajradh tu-ma ala. At its heart is the figure of Manju r, no longer the familiar bodhisattva of wisdom, but now the embodiment of the awakened non-dual gnosis that underlies all Buddhas as well their activity in the cosmos.

The book contributes to our understanding of the history of Indian tantric Buddhism in a period of significant change and innovation. With its extensively annotated translation and lengthy introductions the book is designed to appeal not only to professional scholars and research students but also to contemporary Buddhists."

O autorze

Anthony Tribe is an independent scholar with a research specialization in the history and development of tantric Buddhism in India. He is the co-author of Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition (2012), also published by Routledge.