The Buddhist Heritage by Tadeusz SkorupskiReview by: Collett CoxJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 112, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1992), pp. 666-668Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/604490 .

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666 Journal of the American Oriental Society 112.4 (1992)

Accordingly, the thirteen chapters comprising Peter Harvey's An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices reflect his own response to these confining de- mands as he attempts to accommodate the diverse aspects and

expanse of Buddhism. The first four chapters are an exposition of the main events and doctrines of early Buddhism, largely as presented in the Pali canon. Harvey clearly judges this mate- rial as, for the most part, representing the teaching of the Bud- dha himself, and therefore, of primary importance. Thus, numerous technical terms are cited here in Pali, and unlike most of the rest of the work, which is footnoteless in textbook style, there are frequent scriptural references embedded in the text. The fifth and sixth chapters deal with Mahayana: chapter five reviews Mahayana "philosophy," particularly Madhya- maka and Yogacdra; and chapter six treats Mahayana "holy

beings," including the doctrine of the Buddha and Bodhisattva practice as well as "heavenly" Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The seventh chapter treats the later history and expansion of Buddhism, in Tibet, in Central, East, and Southeast Asia,

though unfortunately much more briefly and with still fewer textual references than the preceding section on early Indian Buddhism.

Differing from many expository introductions, Harvey ex- tensively covers Buddhist practice in chapters eight through

eleven. In contrast to the more historical narration of the pre- ceding chapters, these chapters adopt a decidedly present tense, even where citing classical sources. Perhaps in order to

underscore the actuality of practice in contemporary Buddhism or to assert certain shared features of practice assumed to char- acterize Buddhist religious life in all times and all cultures,

chapters eight, nine, and ten on devotion, ethics, and the

sangha, are arranged in common topical subsections, rather

than separately by historical period or tradition. The eleventh

chapter on meditation, though again focusing on an assumed common feature of practice, adopts an organization by tra-

dition, such as Southern, Zen, etc. Harvey concludes his

introductory text with a twelfth chapter on Buddhism in con-

temporary Asia and a thirteenth chapter on Buddhism beyond Asia, touching on both scholarship (briefly) and religious groups. The volume is also furnished with a guide to the pro- nunciation of Pali and Sanskrit, with some maps, figures,

plates and tables, and with a topically arranged bibliography and both a concept and a name index.

Quite naturally, scholars when first perusing an introductory text might especially check the treatment given their own

areas of interest. Encouragingly, the Sarvastivadins are found

to be covered in about a page. However, reservations arise

when reading that a council, precipitated by doctrinal dis-

agreements, was held under Kaniska in A.D. 100, a council that

eventually produced the Mahavibhasa-from a strict historical

point of view, certainly a problematic legend. Similarly, one

cannot assert unequivocally that Vasubandhu wrote the Abhi-

dharmakogabhdcya from a Sautrantika perspective. But these are the kinds of problems and quibbles lurking in profusion under the surface in any introductory text, which is artificially smooth by virtue of the inevitable pedagogical perspective of harmonious generalization. On this and all other matters of historical and textual detail, it is important to note that Harvey's intent and tone are certainly not critical-historical, but animated by a genuine enthusiasm and pietistic respect for his subject matter. Whether lecturers will find in this or any volume the ideal introductory course text is a matter of prefer- ence and circumstantial needs; its commendable virtues, how- ever, merit its being so considered.

COLLETT COX

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

The Buddhist Heritage. Edited by TADEUSZ SKORUPSKI. Bud-

dhica Britannica, Series Continua I. Tring, Herts.: THE

INSTITUTE OF BUDDHIST STUDIES, 1989. Pp. xi + 276.

This book is a collection of papers that, for the most part,

were originally delivered as part of a symposium of the same

name held in 1985 at the School of Oriental and African

Studies of the University of London. According to the editor's

"Preface," this volume is the first volume in a projected series

entitled Buddhica Britannica intended to embrace studies on

various aspects of Buddhist traditions throughout Asia. Ap-

propriate then for the inauguration of this series, the subject of

this first volume is the "Buddhist Heritage" in India and in the

larger Asian and Western worlds, here amply celebrated by a

highly diverse assemblage of articles considering both scrip-

tural and wider-ranging cultural expressions. The initial contribution, David L. Snellgrove's "Multiple

Features of the Buddhist Heritage," also serves as a kind of in-

troduction, first discussing some of the significant characteris-

tics shared by various branches of the Buddhist tradition

throughout Asia, and then examining some changes in Bud-

dhist practice and, in particular, the influence of tantric devel-

opments. In addition to setting forth certain generalizations, Snellgrove wishes to correct others, particularly those con-

cerning Theravada versus Mahayana, where typically the

former is seen as less ritualistic and the latter as devaluing monastic life.

In "Aspects of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and

Southeast Asia," Heinz Bechert sketches some of the pivotal events and factors in the development of Buddhist religious life in Theravddin cultures. These include the institutional

changes brought about by the progressive interaction of the

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Reviews of Books 667

original sangha with state authority, the interplay of "great" and "little" traditions, and the impact of the colonial period. In conclusion, Bechert refers to the problem of the emer- gence of Buddhist sects, which he sees as one of the most important and least understood factors in the development of Buddhism. To clarify this issue, Bechert appeals to a distinc- tion between sects and schools, i.e., respectively disciplinary and doctrinal differences, which he has discussed at length in other works.

K. R. Norman, in "The Pali Language and Scriptures," sys- tematically and with ample documentation from primary and secondary sources surveys the most important issues in the history of the Pali canon including among others: the coun- cils, the bhanaka system, oral and written phases, linguistic developments, relationships with other traditions, later phases of the indigenous traditions, and Western scholarship. This paper develops topics covered in the author's Pali Literature (1983), to which it provides an important continuation and complement.

Building on the lifelong research of Christiaan Hooykaas, Anthony Christie, in "Buddhism in Southeast Asia: an Anec- dotal Survey," discusses the relationship between Saiva and Buddhist ritualists in modern Bali. To his treatment, Christie contributes additional Southeast Asian material, consideration of the issue of vegetarianism and of the practice of construct- ing sand cetiyas.

In a long essay, "The Unique Features of Newar Bud- dhism," John K. Locke describes and explores the background and history of the salient characteristics of Newar Buddhism. Locke locates these unique features not simply in Newar Bud- dhism's being tantric or being "mixed up with Hinduism," but in its being "embedded in a dominant Hindu society confined within a very small geographical area." The expression of these unique features in the "lifestyle of the sangha and the vi- haras in which they live" is examined in terms of ritual, archi- tecture, social history, and historical antecedents.

E. Zurcher, in "The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Cul- ture in an Historical Perspective," concisely delineates the main strands of the history of Buddhism in China: the silk road and the geography of transmission, the main periods, the social stratification, state relations, and cultural vicissitudes in different periods.

In "Buddhist Monuments in China: Some Recent Finds of Sarira Deposits," Roderick Whitfield catalogues some of the numerous finds of sarira deposits recorded in Chinese archae- ological journals from 1957 to 1988, arranged conveniently here by dynasty.

The Fang-shan Chinese stone carvings of the Buddhist canon form the topic of Lewis R. Lancaster's "The Rock Cut Canon in China: Findings at Fang-shan." Lancaster examines the history, archaeological details, and significance of the stone carvings begun in the seventh century by a monk named

Ching-wan of the Chih-ch'uan monastery and continued in Fang-shan district during the next seven centuries to include ultimately a major portion of the Buddhist canon on 14,260 stone slabs. Containing in some cases versions of texts even earlier than those found at Tun-huang, and largely represent- ing a version of the canon contemporaneous with the oldest sources for our current editions, the Fang-shan canon, Lan- caster believes, is an invaluable source that must be used in any future critical studies of the Chinese canon.

Youngsook Pak, in "Excavations of Buddhist Temple Sites in Korea since 1960," surveys, with plates, excavation reports on five important temple complexes built in Korea between the fifth and tenth centuries. In addition, along with diagrams of groundplans, he discusses the layout of the monasteries un- covered at these sites with a view towards placing them in the history of sacred architecture in East Asia during this period.

In "Word and Wordlessness: The Spirit of Korean Bud- dhism," Hee-Sung Keel first presents a short overview of the basic social groups and major personalities of Korean Bud- dhism. Next, the author examines the key relationship in Korean Buddhism between Kyo (older established doctrinal schools) and Son (Ch'an or Zen), as exemplified in the writ- ings of Hyuj6ng, a central figure of the Yi dynasty, on the re- lationship between verbal doctrine and ineffable truth.

In "Contemporary Lay Buddhist Movements in Japan: A Comparison Between ReiyfUkai and S6ka Gakkai," Kubo Tsugunari offers a conspectus, enriched by the knowledge and unique insights of an insider, on this pair of lay Buddhist reli- gious groups. Both ReiyfUkai and Soka Gakkai, under the im- petus of a common heritage of Buddhist thought and, in particular, the Lotus Sitra, have originated, expanded, and eventually flourished in modern era Japan. Kubo first sets out the personalities and history of each movement, succinctly sit- uating each in its larger social context, then describes practice and belief, and, in conclusion, summarizes their most impor- tant similarities and divergencies.

A. Piatigorsky first presents some general observations about the nature of religious syncretism, connected here to the specific interaction between Buddhism and shamanism, in "Buddhism in Tuva: Preliminary Observations on Religious Syncretism." Following this treatment of Buddhism and sha- manism, the author adds a short chronology of Buddhism in Tuva and concludes with personal ethnographic observations of the religious situation in Ivolga.

In "The Buddhist Notion of an 'Immanent Absolute' (tathdgatagarbha) as a Problem in Hermeneutics," D. Seyfort Ruegg traces the attempts of the later Buddhist tradition to reconcile the notion of a spiritual germ, matrix or Buddha- nature (gotra, tathdgatagarbha) with the fundamental teach- ing of non-self or (anatman). One prominent mode of recon- ciliation was hermeneutical: drawing upon ideas shared with Indian poetics, Buddhist interpreters elaborated a hierarchy of

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668 Journal of the American Oriental Society 112.4 (1992)

statements, in which unacceptable overt declarations could be rendered acceptable by declaring them to be intentional sur- face presentations of deeper meanings accessible only through the requisite exegesis. For a more detailed treatment of this problem and its solutions, both hermeneutical and doctrinal, we are referred by the author to the first chapter of his

Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1989).

In "Contemporary European Scholarship on Buddhism," a fitting final contribution to this wide-ranging volume, Russell Webb surveys the most prominent European researchers on Buddhism by area of specialization, with background informa- tion and bibliographical record of their publications and ac- tivities.

All scholars of Buddhism will undoubtedly find something of interest to be read with profit in this diverse collection of

papers. The editor and the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Tring, are to be thanked for bringing about the publication of this, and we hope future volumes of the Buddhica Britannica series.

COLLETT COX

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through

Hearing in the Bardo. Translated with commentary by

FRANCESCA FREMANTLE and CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. Boston: SHAM-

BHALA, 1987. Pp. xx + 120, 3 illustrations. $9.95 (paper).

This is the first English translation of the popular Bardo

Thotrol of Tibetan Buddhism since the pioneer work of W. Y.

Evans-Wentz and Kazi Dawa-Samdup in 1927. The Evans-

Wentz edition will always be valued for its extensive outline

of the steps of the Bardo Thotrol, and perhaps even more for

its commentaries by C. G. Jung, Anagarika Govinda, and John

Woodroffe. However, the present version is welcome for its

smooth and clear flow of language, and its noted absence of

distracting sectional interruptions and cumbersome terminol-

ogy. The Evans-Wentz translation with its King James biblical

language gives the text an unnecessary impression of Western

scripturalization. As Fremantle's introduction points out, there is consider-

able disagreement between the Trungpa and Evans-Wentz ver-

sions, due both to the use of more reliable Tibetan texts, and a

greater fidelity to the complexities of the Tibetan Buddhist

iconography. Introductory descriptions of basic Buddhist and tantric con-

cepts, and the summation of Trungpa's insights, help consider-

ably the reading of the text. For example, the meaning of yidam as "expression of one's own basic nature" internally and psychologically, rather than the traditional "chosen or protective deity"; and the skandhas themselves as "psycholog- ical components" rather than just "heaps of phenomena."

Such small but important insights reflect the views that Trungpa developed over his years as head of the Colorado and Vermont Naropa foundations, until his passing in 1987.

Clearly, his interpretation of the Bardo Thotrol is that this teaching is for recognizing one's own falsely-centered projec- tions of what reality is, and the dissolution of the sense of self in the light of reality.

The rich visualizations and classification of deities in this translation and commentary seem far more comprehensible than in the unwieldy and overwhelming wordiness of the Evans-Wentz categories. The simple analyses of these sym- bolisms in correlation to psychological states of the mind is very well done.

In short, this translation and commentary by Trungpa and Fremantle shows the Bardo Thotrol as a guide for living as well as dying. The here-and-now significance of the teaching is perhaps this version's most distinguishing feature. The text is meant to have immediate practicality, not just in the sense of preparing oneself for the event of dying, or of a ritual per- formed for dying persons; but rather, its value is in seeing every moment of life as a birth-and-death moment.

Excellent footnotes for further study.

RICHARD SHERBURNE, S.J.

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

The Pradyumna-Prabhavati Legend in Nepal: A Study of the

Hindu Myth of the Draining of the Nepal Valley. By

H. BRINKHAUS. Alt-und Neu-Indische Studien 32. Stuttgart:

FRANZ STEINER VERLAG, 1987. Pp. vii + 398. DM 56.

Jagatprakagamallas Miladevasasidevavyakhyananataka. Trans-

lated by H. BRINKHAUS. Alt-und Neu-Indische Studien 36.

Stuttgart: FRANZ STEINER VERLAG, 1987. Pp. vii + 206. DM 34.

The geological fact that about thirty thousand years ago the

Kathmandu valley was a Pleistocene lake has precipitated a

vast literature in especially Sanskrit, Nevari and middle Indo-

Aryan languages which deal with the divine or semi-divine

origins of this lake and how it came to be transformed into the

fertile valley it now is. It is again in danger of being

flooded-in many places this has already happened-this time

by concrete and cement.

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