A01=John R. Mcrae
asian studies
Author_John R. Mcrae
bodhidharma
buddhist doctrine
buddhist social organizations
buddhists
Category=QRF
Category=QRFB23
chan lineages
china
chinese chan buddhism
chinese philosophy
comparative religion
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
genealogy
huineng
koans
modern buddhism
nonfiction
religion and spirituality
religious criticism
religious historians
religious history
religious scholars
religious studies
sixth patriarch
spiritual encounters
spiritual tradition
transformation
zen
zen teaching
Product details
- ISBN 9780520237988
- Weight: 318g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 19 Jan 2004
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The tradition of Chan Buddhism - more popularly known as Zen - has been romanticized throughout its history. In this book, John R. McRae shows how modern critical techniques, supported by recent manuscript discoveries, make possible a more skeptical, accurate, and - ultimately - productive assessment of Chan lineages, teaching, fundraising practices, and social organization. Synthesizing twenty years of scholarship, "Seeing Through Zen" offers new, accessible analytic models for the interpretation of Chan spiritual practices and religious history. Writing in a lucid and engaging style, McRae traces the emergence of this Chinese spiritual tradition and its early figureheads, Bodhidharma and the 'sixth patriarch' Huineng, through the development of Zen dialogue and koans. In addition to constructing a central narrative for the doctrinal and social evolution of the school, "Seeing Through Zen" examines the religious dynamics behind Chan's use of iconoclastic stories and myths of patriarchal succession. McRae argues that Chinese Chan is fundamentally genealogical, both in its self-understanding as a school of Buddhism and in the very design of its practices of spiritual cultivation.
Furthermore, by forgoing the standard idealization of Zen spontaneity, we can gain new insight into the religious vitality of the school as it came to dominate the Chinese religious scene, providing a model for all of East Asia - and the modern world. Ultimately, this book aims to change how we think about Chinese Chan by providing new ways of looking at the tradition.
John R. McRae is Associate Professor of East Asian Buddhism in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University.
