Popular Buddhist texts from Nepal : narratives and rituals of Newar Buddhism /
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| Author / Creator: | Lewis, Todd, 1952- |
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| Imprint: | Albany : State University of New York Press, ©2000. |
| Description: | 1 online resource (xviii, 236 pages) : illustrations. |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | SUNY series in Buddhist studies SUNY series in Buddhist studies. |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | E-Resource Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11116807 |
| Summary: | This book demonstrates how popular ritual texts and story narratives have shaped the religious life and culture of the only surviving South Asian Mahaµyaµna Buddhist society, the Newars of Kathmandu. It begins with an account of the Newar Buddhist community s history and its place within the religious environment of Nepal and proceeds to build around five popular translations, several of which were known across Asia: the Srngabheri Avadana, the Simhalasarthabahu Avadana, the Tara, the Mahakala Vratas, and the Pancaraksa. Lewis documents how the respective texts have been domesticated in Nepal s art and architecture, healing traditions, and rituals. He shows how they provide paradigmatic case studies that transcend the Nepalese context, illustrating universal practices or issues in all Buddhist communities, such as gender relations and stupa veneration, the role of merchants, ethnicity, violence, devotions to celestial bodhisattvas by kings and women, and the role of mantra recitations and healing rituals in the lives of Buddhists. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xviii, 236 pages) : illustrations. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-230) and index. |
| ISBN: | 058542778X 9780585427782 0791446115 9780791446119 0791446123 9780791446126 |