Buddhahood Embodied by John J Makransky

Buddhahood Embodied by John J Makransky

The author shows how these perspectives provide alternative ways to resolve a logical tension at the heart of Mahayana thought, inscribed in the doctrine that buddhahood paradoxically transcends and engages our world simultaneously. Revealing this tension as the basis of the Abhisamayalamkara controversy, Makransky shows its connection to many other Indo-Tibetan controversies revolving around the same tension: disagreements over buddhahood's knowledge, embodiment, and accessibility to beings (in Buddha nature and through the path). Tracing the source of tension to early Mahayana practice intuitions about enlightenment, the author argues that different perspectives in these controversies express different ways of prioritizing those practice intuitions.

"This is first-rate Buddhist scholarship, ranging over many centuries, dozens of texts, and two cultures, while never losing its focus on the crucial philological and doctrinal issues that animate itIt is intellectual history of a high order, the product of careful detective work, in which subtle leads and nuanced arguments are tracked and traced with linguistic skill and methodological sophistication in a convincing attempt to expose larger patterns of development. It significantly advances our understanding of a crucial, yet surprisingly under-studied area of Mahayana Buddhism—the doctrine of buddhahood—in the process clearing away a great deal of cant and cliche that long has been uncritically accepted and perpetuated. It also illuminates the history, relation and (sometimes) authorship of a number of central Mahayana texts, including the Prajnaparamita sutras and the great treatises of the Yogacara tradition. Finally, it is written with remarkable clarity and force—for all its subtlety and complexity, the reader virtually always knows where the discussion has been, where it stands, and where it is headed." — Roger Jackson, Carleton College

John J. Makransky is Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies and Comparative Theology at Boston College.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780791434321
ISBN 10	079143432X
Title	Buddhahood Embodied
Author	John J Makransky
Series	Suny Series In Buddhist Studies
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	State University of New York Press
Year published	1997-07-31
Number of pages	494
Prizes	null null null null null null null null null null
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.