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scrutinized the link between cuisine and religion in China.This conference volume’s essays touch upon a rich varietyof subjects. Cook indicates that early Chinese believed thatfood offerings transformed the dead into ancestors. In a sim-ilar vein, Puett argues that Confucians established sacrificesto transform the indifferent spirit world into a humanizedcosmos that benefits people. Campany demonstrates that, tomake themselves superior to agrarians and their blood-seeking gods, longevity-seekers tied immortality to theavoidance of grains and meat. Kieschnick explains how acombination of certain Mahayana sutras, the forgoing ofmeat while in mourning, and pressure from lay people, wasresponsible for the vegetarianism of Chinese Buddhism.Benn shows how Chan Buddhism’s spread helped teabecome China’s most popular beverage. Goossaert relatesthat the beef taboo became a means by which Chineseattempted to resolve the conflict between the ideal of vege-tarianism and the social need to consume pork at banquets.This superb tome will be of interest to anyone who is inter-ested in the relationship between religion and food.

Keith N. KnappThe Citadel

BuddhismREMAKING BUDDHISM FOR MEDIEVAL NEPAL:THE FIFTEENTH-CENTURY REFORMATION OFNEWAR BUDDHISM. By Will Tuladhar-Douglas. Rout-ledge Critical Studies in Buddhism. New York: Routledge,2006. Pp. xiv + 238. Cloth, $120.00, ISBN 978-0-415-35919-1.

Through the example of the Gu ak5ra avy9ha, theexpanded version of an Indian Mahayana scripture that wasproduced in medieval Nepal, Tuladhar-Douglas shows howNewars reworked old texts to cope with their changing sit-uation. The motivations of its authors are reconstructed bydefining points of divergence (and commonality) betweenIndian and Nepalese Buddhism, and charting the evolutionof ancient practices, such as the chariot festival of the deityKaru 5maya, the renunciants’ observance, and protocols forworshipping groups of sacred texts. Tuladhar-Douglas’ the-sis rests on sound philology, is informed by a keen first-handknowledge of Himalayan Buddhism, and is in many ways amodel treatment of its subject. The convincing display of atradition being deliberately reformulated (which happenedoften—there were of course many prior ‘reformations’) oughtto end the common misconception that Newar Buddhistswere too unsophisticated to exert control over their heritage.In this sense Remaking Buddhism represents a significantcontribution to Buddhist studies and to the history of reli-gions in general.

Iain SinclairHamburg University

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THE DALAI LAMAS ON TANTRA. By Glenn H. Mullin.Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2006. Pp. 352. Cloth,$24.95, ISBN 978-1-55939-269-3.

One should begin by noting that this volume is not acomprehensive study or translation of the writings of theDalai Lamas on the subject of the tantras; such a work wouldtake many volumes. Rather, it is a compendium of transla-tions of short works by seven of the fourteen Dalai Lamas.The texts translated include brief overviews and commen-taries, poetry and prayer, as well as several short texts onyogic practices. They cover the many, but not all, of Tantrictraditions practiced by the Geluk school, namely theCakrasamvara, Kalacakra, and Vajrabhairava traditions. Thework is designed for non-specialists. Mullin provides a help-ful introductory essay that explains many of the technicalTantric Buddhist terms that occur in the translations. Thetranslations themselves are clear and easy to read. They arenot academic translations, and thus lack abundant annota-tions and other scholarly apparatus. This work should thusbe of interest to those people interested in writing on thetantras by authoritative representatives of the Geluk school.It will be particular useful for non-specialists and studentsof Tibetan Buddhism.

David B. GraySanta Clara University

MORAL THEORY IN NTIDEVA’S IK SAMUC-CAYA: CULTIVATING THE FRUITS OF VIRTUE. ByBarbra R. Clayton. New York: Routledge, 2006. Pp. 192.Cloth, $150.00, ISBN 978-0-415-34696-2.

In this work Clayton has produced a major study on themoral theory of a major Indian Mah5y5na Buddhist thinker,R5ntideva. It focuses on the Rik asamuccaya, rather than thefar better known Bodhicary5vat5ra. As a result, her workprovides a very helpful addition to the growing body of workon Buddhist ethics and moral theory, as the majority of thiswork has focused on the P5li textual corpus as understoodby the Therav5da tradition. She shows, for example, howseveral older formulations of Buddhist morality, such as itsbifurcation into a “kamma-nibb5na” polarity, are not appli-cable in the thought of Mah5y5na scholars such asR5ntideva. She also argues that the recent tendency towardcharacterizing Buddhist ethics in terms of Western classifi-cations is ultimately a fruitless enterprise, since complexthinkers such as R5ntideva have made use of several modesof moral theorization. Rather than simply rejecting the com-parative enterprise, she engages it in a sophisticated fash-ion. Through an analysis of R5ntideva’s thought, she showsthat R5ntideva matches most closely virtue ethics, albeitwith a strong tendency toward utilitarianism. Clayton hasthus made a significant contribution to the study ofMah5y5na Buddhist moral theory as well as comparativeethics.

David B. GraySanta Clara University

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BUDDHISTS, BRAHMINS, AND BELIEF: EPISTE-MOLOGY IN SOUTH ASIAN PHILOSOPHY OF RELI-GION. By Dan Arnold. New York: Columbia UniversityPress, 2005. Pp. viii + 318. Cloth, $50.00, ISBN 0-231-13280-8.

This is an illuminating and lucidly written study of thefoundationalist epistemology of the Buddhist thinkerDign5ga (ca. 480-540 CE), and the critiques offered by theBrahmanical M7m5 s5 philosopher Kum5rila Bha a (ca.620-680 CE) and the M5dhyamika Buddhist philosopherCandrak7rti (fl. ca. 600 CE). Arnold offers a philologicallyrigorous and philosophically interesting study of theaccounts and arguments given by these thinkers, and suc-ceeds in bringing to life in contemporary philosophicalterms the contours of these ancient debates. After a brief andfocused introduction, the book is divided into three parts,one on each of the thinkers studied. In the conclusion,Arnold provides a way of understanding such debates interms of a distinction between justification and truth: wemight affirm that the beliefs articulated by competing philo-sophical systems are justified (i.e., “rationally held”), whilenot agreeing that they are necessarily true. Arnold developshis conclusion in terms of some general lessons for scholarsof religious studies, effectively showing how the philosoph-ical debates examined in his study relate to broader con-cerns. Hence this book is recommended for anyoneinterested in the study of religious thought.

Mario D’AmatoRollins College

MIPHAM’S DIALECTICS AND THE DEBATES ONEMPTINESS: TO BE, NOT TO BE OR NEITHER. ByKarma Phuntsho. RoutledgeCurzon Critical Studies in Bud-dhism. New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. Pp. xv + 304;plates. Paper over boards, $150.00, ISBN 0-415-35252-5.

This book offers an excellent overview of the interpre-tation of emptiness offered by Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatsho(1846-12), the Tibetan polymath and Nyingma philosopher,who was an advocate of the ecumenical ris med movementof Tibetan Buddhism. The first two chapters explain the sig-nificance and history of debates on emptiness, emphasizingthe importance of such debates for Indian texts and Tibetanexegetes. Emptiness is considered to be the single antidoteto all mental defilements, hence elucidating just what emp-tiness means is central to the project of Mah5y5na Bud-dhism according to these traditions. The third and fourthchapters are philosophically rich and sophisticated, present-ing the complexities of Mipham’s account of emptiness espe-cially vis-à-vis the Gelukpa account. The final chapterdiscusses whether emptiness is knowable and effableaccording to Mipham, that is, whether this fundamental doc-trine of Mah5y5na Buddhism is able to be cognized andexpressed in language, or whether such cognitions and des-ignations are only propaedeutics to be left behind in theattainment of buddhahood (Mipham opts for the latteraccount). Certain to be of interest to advanced students of

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Buddhism, this book is a valuable contribution to the grow-ing scholarship on Tibetan thought focusing on perspectivesalternative to the dominant Gelukpa views.

Mario D’AmatoRollins College

BEYOND ENLIGHTENMENT: BUDDHISM, RELI-GION, MODERNITY. Richard S. Cohen. New York:Routledge, 2006. Pp. 240. Paper-over-Boards, $120.00,ISBN 978-0-415-37294-7.

Cohen has composed a fascinating hybrid work, a cri-tique of the field of Buddhist studies grafted onto the core ofhis research on the Ajanta cave complex. It critiques theconcept of “enlightenment,” and has two targets in its sight,namely Western constructions of “Buddhism” and “enlight-enment,” as well as Buddhist political claims to authority onthe basis of an allegedly transcendent and apolitical“enlightenment.” The work begins with a clear introductionto the concept of hegemony and its relevance to the study ofreligion, and deconstructs the categories of “enlightenment,”“Buddhism,” and “religion.” The work then moves on to thehistory of the interpretation of the Ajanta caves, demonstrat-ing how past studies sought to impose order on the messyphysicality of the caves themselves. He explores the multipleinterpretations of Ajanta’s images, and exposes the presup-positions that underlie them. His work provides a subtleexpansion of Gregory Schopen’s critique of the “Protestantpresuppositions” of Buddhist studies. Cohen concludes witha rejection of all hegemonic ideologies, including thoseadvanced by Buddhists. He provocatively suggests that cat-egory of the unenlightenable icchantika provides a routebeyond the politics of enlightenment, and toward the politicsof “multiplicity, hybridity, and indeterminacy.”

David B. GraySanta Clara University

THE MADMAN’S MIDDLE WAY: REFLECTIONS ONREALITY OF THE TIBETAN MONK GENDUNCHOPEL. By Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Chicago: Chicago Univer-sity Press, 2006. Pp. xiv + 258. Cloth, $20.00, ISBN 978-0-226-49317-6.

Lopez has authored the latest contribution to a growingscholarly corpus on Gendun Chopel, perhaps the most con-troversial Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century.Chopel’s Adornment for Nagarjuna’s Thought is a work on—and trenchant critique of—the Tibetan Gelukpa School’streatment of Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy.Lopez provides the first English translation of the Adorn-ment. He begins with an overview of the life of this maverickintellectual, which effectively prepares us for Chopel’s acer-bic, unorthodox and often recondite promotion of a kind of“populist Madyamaka.” Lopez’s subsequent commentary tothe Adornment is outstanding. Its eloquent and accessibleexplanations of topics ranging from the structure of a Bud-dhist syllogism to Chopel’s poetic style are invaluable toboth the casual and scholarly reader. The final chapters

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examine the long-standing debate over the authorship of theAdornment; the heated critical response to his work by theGelukpa establishment; and the ways in which the Adorn-ment speaks to Tibet’s encounter with modernity. These dis-cussions are less compelling than the preceding chapters. Inparticular, Lopez’s justification for characterizing the Adorn-

ment as “modern” is a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, TheMadman’s Middle Way is a must-have for anyone interestedin text-criticism, or the history and philosophy of TibetanBuddhism.

Laura HarringtonSmith College