Esoteric Zen
Zen and the Tantric Teachings in Premodern Japan
Published on 29. June 2023
Book
Hardback
356 pages
978-90-04-53630-2 (ISBN)
Description
When a Zen teacher tells you to point at your mind, which part of your body do you point at?
According to the Japanese master Chikotsu Daie (1229-1312), you should point at the fistful of meat that is your heart. Esoteric Zen demonstrates that far from an outlier, Daie's understanding reflects the medieval Buddhist mainstream, in which tantric teachings and Zen were closely entwined movements that often developed within the same circles of thinkers and texts.
Drawing on newly discovered manuscript materials, it shows how medieval practitioners constructed a unique form of Zen by drawing on tantric doctrinal discourses.
According to the Japanese master Chikotsu Daie (1229-1312), you should point at the fistful of meat that is your heart. Esoteric Zen demonstrates that far from an outlier, Daie's understanding reflects the medieval Buddhist mainstream, in which tantric teachings and Zen were closely entwined movements that often developed within the same circles of thinkers and texts.
Drawing on newly discovered manuscript materials, it shows how medieval practitioners constructed a unique form of Zen by drawing on tantric doctrinal discourses.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 251 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
676 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-53630-2 (9789004536302)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Stephan Kigensan Licha, Ph.D. (2012), SOAS, is faculty member in the Department of Japanese Studies, University of Heidelberg. He publishes widely on Japanese Buddhism, most recently "The Small Vehicle: The Construction of Hinayana and Japan's Modern Buddhism", Monumenta nipponica (2022).