The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory

The Tibetan Assimilation Of Buddhism Explores The Manner In Which Buddhism Penetrated Tibetan Religious Thought And Became A Core Component Of Tibetan Identity. Author Matthew Kapstein Examines Tibet's Eighth-century Conversion To Buddhism, The Tensions That Arose From Competing Lines Of Transmission And Interpretation, And The Continuing Revelation Of Buddhist Teaching In The Myths And Doctrines Of The Ancient Nyingmapa School. These Themes - Conversion, Contestation, And Memory - Form A Unifying Framework For The Diverse Case Studies Described In This Book. Drawing On A Wide Range Of Original Tibetan Sources Such As Historical Narratives, Imperial Edicts, Philosophical Treatises, Polemical Writings, And Works On Yoga And Meditation, Kapstein Introduces The Varied Textures To Thought And Expression Within The Tibetan Buddhist Tradition. Throughout This Study, The Investigation Of Specific Topics Is Informed Methodologically And Theoretically By Contemporary Work In Religion, History, And Philosophy. By Drawing On Modern Systems Of Thought, Kapstein Is Able To Illuminate The Subject In A Manner That Speaks To Our Own Cultural World. Offering A Wide-ranging View Of The History And Development Of Tibetan Buddhism, This Book Is Required Reading For Scholars And Students Of Buddhism And Asian Religions, Historians Of Religion, And Anyone Seeking Deeper Knowledge Of The Buddhist Tradition.--book Jacket. A Brief Chronology Of Tibetan Buddhism -- 1. Introduction: Death, Literacy, And Tibet's Buddhist Elite -- Pt. I. Conversion And Narrative -- 2. The Chinese Mother Of Tibet's Dharma-king: The Testament Of Ba And The Beginnings Of Tibetan Buddhist Historiography -- 3. The Mark Of Vermilion: Rebirth And Resurrection In An Early Medieval Table -- 4. Plague, Power, And Reason: The Royal Conversion To Buddhism Reconsidered -- Pt. Ii. Sources Of Contestation -- 5. From Korea To Tibet: Action At A Distance In The Early Medieval World System -- 6. What Is Tibetan Scholasticism? Three Ways Of Thought -- 7. The Purificatory Gem And Its Cleansing: A Late Polemical Discussion Of Apocryphal Texts -- Pt. Iii. Myth, Memory, Revelation -- 8. The Imaginal Persistence Of The Empire -- 9. Samantabhadra And Rudra: Myths Of Innate Enlightenment And Radical Evil -- 10. The Amnesic Monarch And The Five Mnemic Men: Memory In The Great Perfection Tradition -- App. The Prayer Of Great Power -- Tibetan References -- Sanskrit References -- Chinese References -- Western Language References. Matthew T. Kapstein. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [275]-303) And Index.