Buddhism in Practice

Reviewed by Jeff Shirkey

The Journal of Religion
Vol.77 No.2
April 1997
pp.340-341

COPYRIGHT @ University of Chicago


            This anthology on Buddhism forms one part of a series of new
            sourcebooks on world religions from Princeton University Press. The 
            series as a whole aims to rethink and reorganize the presentation of 
            materials that are commonly found in similar anthologies. The result 
            of such rethinking is a pronounced shift away from the presentation 
            of source materials in which religious doctrines, beliefs, 
            philosophies, and the practices of a few elite members of a 
            religious community are emphasized, to a more varied, and perhaps 
            more representative presentation of materials such as ritual 
            manuals, hagiographic literature, folktales, apocryphal texts, or 
            pilgrimage literature. In keeping with the general aims of this 
            series, Buddhism in Practice provides a welcome and much needed 
            contribution to our understanding of a whole range of hitherto 
            overlooked or neglected sources that have been created and utilized 
            by people who identified and continue to identify themselves, at 
            least in part, as Buddhists. 
            The volume consists of forty-eight newly translated Buddhist texts, 
            or portions thereof, many of which have been translated into English 
            for the first time. In addition, each translation is preceded by a 
            helpful introduction that provides the reader with substantial 
            historical, social, political, or textual background. Thirty-four 
            scholars have contributed to this collection, and so, in a way 
            useful to both general reader and specialist alike, one can gather 
            through a close reading of this volume a sense of the diversity, 
            richness, and variety not only of the texts being translated but of 
            current approaches to the study of Buddhism itself. A detailed 
            analysis of even a handful of the essays in this collection is far 
            beyond the scope of this review, but it is possible to comment on 
            the structure, layout, and some of the general themes that run 
            throughout this varied collection. 
            One way in which this book tries to challenge our understanding of 
            Buddhist textual sources is to rearrange or even invert some of the 
            usual categories we employ when speaking and writing about Buddhism. 
            To take just one example drawn from the very organization of the 
            book itself, rather than divide its contents according to the 
            typical divisions of Buddhist "school" or "vehicle," geographical 
            region, or chronological order, the book tries to show how such 
            categories can be misleading and even inaccurate. It does this 
            successfully since nearly all of the texts translated here challenge 
            many widely held assumptions about the differences ascribed to the 
            vehicles of Buddhism. There are translations here of Theravada 
            devotional and ritual texts (chaps. 2 and 16), Mahayana popular 
            literature (chap. 11), selections from sources that recount 
            Malasarvastivada funeral practices and ritual/legal debates (chap. 
            38), and Chinese sutras on bathing images of the Buddha (chap. 3) - 
            all subjects that until recently had been under-emphasized, ignored, 
            or denied. But the book does not seek to defy all attempts at 
            classification of Buddhist materials. Instead, it settles on a 
            tripartite division of its contents according to three categories 
            that do indeed seem to have been central to Buddhists at all times 
            and at all places: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Samgha. The 
            resulting impression, however, is that even this categorization is 
            to be viewed as a heuristic device, and the reader is enjoined to 
            seek out continuities and differences from chapter to chapter. 
            In that spirit I found one section in the layout of this book to be 
            especially informative. Buddhists have imagined that, at some point 
            in the distant future, their own religion would disappear, the 
            dharma would be irrecoverable (at least until the beginning of 
            another cosmic cycle), and Buddhist monastic life would fall into 
            ruin. Chapters 20-23 show that Buddhists have dealt with this issue 
            of the decline of the dharma in significantly different ways. Jan 
            Nattier's article treats one of the major Buddhist myths of the 
            decline of the dharma that survives in no fewer than thirteen 
            different recensions and in several languages - a sign of its 
            significance and influence across time and geographic and linguistic 
            boundaries. Following this piece is Kyoko Tokuno's study of an 
            indigenous Chinese scripture that while acknowledging that Buddhism 
            is in a state of decline, tries to counteract its effects by 
            advocating a resurgence of strict moral and ethical behavior 
            including, among other things, an expressed emphasis on donative 
            practices. Next is Jamie Hubbard's study of a Chinese text that was 
            deemed heretical because of its unique and controversial response to 
            this issue. Finally, John Newman's article on a late Indian text 
            called the Kalacakra-tantra treats Buddhist eschatology at the 
            political/institutional and individual/psychological levels. Read 
            together, these four articles provide differing perspectives on the 
            subject of the decline of Buddhism. The texts address fundamental 
            questions about this decline and provide different responses: Is 
            decline an inevitable fact that proceeds from the logic of the 
            Buddha's own teaching about the conditioned nature of all phenomenal 
            things? Is the appropriate response to alter one's spiritual 
            practices to accommodate religious life in an era far removed from 
            the time of the Buddha? Is the end of the Buddhist religion to be 
            understood quite literally as a political struggle here on earth 
            between rival kings? Or, finally, are these images and stories of 
            the end of the dharma to be understood metaphorically, as a matter 
            to be confronted at the level of personal, psychological realization 
            of the Buddha's teaching? 
            As this book also examines the production, use, distribution, 
            function, and importance of a host of Buddhist texts, so it might be 
            appropriate to conclude with remarks regarding this book's 
            usefulness as a text designed for classroom and scholarly use by 
            students of Buddhism. Donald Lopez's introduction gives a highly 
            readable overview of the basics of the Buddha's life, teaching, and 
            subsequent development of the religion that will serve beginning 
            students admirably. But graduate students and established scholars, 
            too, can find articles here that are both thought provoking and a 
            stimulus to further research. None of the articles here are burdened 
            by an abundance of footnotes that would discourage some readers, and 
            the absence of technical terms and jargon is also a bonus. Overall, 
            this volume provides students and scholars alike with informed, 
            fresh perspectives on important issues and questions, not only in 
            Buddhist studies but in the academic study of religion. 
            JEFF SHIRKEY, Chicago, Illinois.