Chen (2018), Indian Buddhist Logic in Tang China

Chen, Shuai. 2018. ‘Rethinking Indian Buddhist Logic in Tang China: An Analysis and Translation of the Sādhana Section of Kuiji’s Commentary on the Nyāyapraveśa‘. PhD diss., Universität Heidelberg. 405 pp. [DOI: 10.11588/heidok.00024097] [PDF]

From the abstract: […] a study on the Yinming ru zhengli lun shu 因明入正理論疏 by Kuiji 窺基 (632–682). […] Continue reading “Chen (2018), Indian Buddhist Logic in Tang China”

Furger (2017), The Gilded Buddha

Alex R. Furger. 2017. The gilded Buddha: The traditional art of the Newar metal casters in Nepal, with a contribution by Ratna Jyoti Shakya. Basel/Frankfurt a. M.: LIBRUM Publishers & Editors. ISBN: 978-3-906897-06-6. DOI:10.19218/3906897066. [official] [PDF 🔓]

Note: This extraordinary book covers almost every conceivable aspect of metalworked image production in the Newar Buddhist community.

Furger 2017:147 Figs. 258 [Bhairava at the entrance to the BhairavnathTemple in Bhaktapur], 259 [Man Jyoti Shakya (1917–1991) in 1973], 260 [Two pages from a sketchbook (ṭhyāsaphu) for metal craftsmen.]

Continue reading “Furger (2017), The Gilded Buddha”

Wollein (2017), The Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine

Andrea Wollein. 2017. ‘An ethnographic study of the Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine in Bhaktapur (Nepal): the relationship between people and place’. University of Vienna: M.A. thesis (Masterstudium Kultur u. Gesellschaft des neuzeitlichen Südasiens). 189 pp., 87 figures. URN: nbn:at:at-ubw:1-20536.38953.228466-1 [official notice] [author: facebook]

Mul Dipankara
Wollein (2017:165) fig.74: The tilted face of the Mūl Dīpaṅkara. Photo by the author (August 2016).

Abstract: This thesis presents locality specific research in the form of an ethnography that draws both from fieldwork and published scholarly literature. The inter-disciplinary research is contextualized within the wider field of South Asian Studies and pertains to Himalayan, Buddhist and Newar Studies as well as to Tibetology. It is specifically concerned with the socioreligious dimension of Newar Buddhist monasteries (Skrt. vihāra, New. bāhā and bahī), the Buddhist deity Dīpaṅkara and the configuration of the relationship between the two of them as found in the setting of the Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine in Bhaktapur. Continue reading “Wollein (2017), The Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine”

Walravens & Zorin (2017), The Āli-kāli

Hartmut Walravens, Alexander Zorin. ‘The Āli-kāli Trilingual Syllabary Brought by D. G. Messerschmidt from Siberia and Edited by G. S. Bayer in 1728’. Journal of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies Vol. XXI, 2017 (国際仏教学大学院大学研究紀要 第 21 号 平成 29 年), 183–241. [official repo] [PDF]

Ālikālivijahāra a.k.a. Dbyangs gsal bzhugs a.k.a. Lingva Tangutica prima Elementa (Walravens & Zorin 2017:235)

Gutschow (2016), Bhaktapur–Nepal

Niels Gutschow. 2016. Bhaktapur–Nepal: Stadt und Ritual – Urban Space and Ritual. Berlin: DOM publishers. 331 × 255 mm. 2 vols. 540 pp. ISBN 978-3-86922-522-7 [English & German text; unseen]

Official site: http://dom-publishers.com/products/bhaktapur-nepal

Gutschow 2016

From the Abstract: Among the many festivals of the year, ten occasions are selected. Of these, the celebration of the New Year – Bisketjātrā – in April, the Farewell to the Dead – Gāījātrā – in August and the Victory of the goddess Durgā – Dasāīn – in October are of significant meaning for the well-being of the community. Moreover, the ritual of the Navadurgā Deities leaves an imprint on the spatial and temporal integrity of the urban realm over a period of nine months. Continue reading “Gutschow (2016), Bhaktapur–Nepal”

Kubota, Tibetan Buddhism: Germany & Switzerland (2012)

久保田, 滋子 「チベット仏教の現代的展開に関する一考察 : ドイツとスイスを事例とし」 『哲學』 128 (2012. 3)

Kubota, Shigeko. ‘Thoughts on the modern aspects of Tibetan buddhism: the cases of Germany and Switzerland’. Tetsugaku No. 128, 2012, pp.403–445. [In Japanese; abstract / PDF]

From the Abstract

At present, numerous Tibetan Buddhist groups exist in Europe and North America, but the Buddhism of these groups differ from the “customary Buddhism” that is an integral part of daily life for the Tibetans themselves. From the point of view of a Tibetan, the Buddhism of those groups are not a part of Tibetan culture but rather of Western culture, and are a form of Western religion like Christianity. […]

Kragh ed., The Buddhist Yogācārabhūmi Treatise (2013)

Ulrich Timme Kragh (ed.) The Foundation for Yoga Practitioners: The Buddhist Yogācārabhūmi Treatise and Its Adaptation in India, East Asia, and Tibet. Harvard Oriental Series 75. “Available 07/22/2013”. ISBN 9780674725430.

From the Summary

“The present edited volume, conceived by Geumgang University in South Korea, brings together the scholarship of thirty-four leading Buddhist specialists on the Yogācārabhūmi from across the globe. The essays elaborate the background and environment in which the Yogācārabhūmi was composed and redacted, provide a detailed summary of the work, raise fundamental and critical issues about the text, and reveal its reception history in India, China, and Tibet. The volume also provides a thorough survey of contemporary Western and Asian scholarship on the Yogācārabhūmi in particular and the Yogācāra tradition more broadly.”

(Contains, among others [updated, 2013-05-01]:

H. Sakuma 佐久間秀範, ‘Remarks on the Lineage of Indian Masters of the Yogācāra School: Maitreya, Asaṅga, and Vasubandhu’, pp.330–366.
M. Delhey, ‘The Yogācārabhūmi Corpus: Sources, Editions, Translations, and Reference Works’, pp.498–561.)