Anarchy in the pure land : reinventing the cult of Maitreya in modern Chinese Buddhism
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Bibliographic Information
Anarchy in the pure land : reinventing the cult of Maitreya in modern Chinese Buddhism
Oxford University Press, c2017
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Note
Bibliography: p. [299]-321
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Anarchy in the Pure Land investigates the cult of Maitreya, the future Buddha, promoted by the Chinese Buddhist reform movement spearheaded by Taixu. The cult presents an apparent anomaly: It shows precisely the kind of concern for ritual, supernatural beings, and the afterlife that the reformers supposedly rejected in the name of "modernity." This book shows that, rather than a concession to tradition, the reimagining of ideas and practices associated with
Maitreya was an important site for formulating a Buddhist vision of modernity.
Justin Ritzinger argues that the cult of Maitreya represents an attempt to articulate a new constellation of values, integrating novel understandings of the good-clustered around modern visions of utopia-with the central Buddhist goal of Buddhahood. Part One traces the roots of this constellation to Taixu's youthful career as an anarchist. Part Two examines its articulation in the Maitreya School's theology and its social development from its inception to World War II. Part Three looks at its
subsequent decline and contemporary legacy within and beyond orthodox Buddhism.
Table of Contents
Introduction: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maitreya?
Part I: Taixu's Buddhist Radicalism
Chapter One: Portrait of the Master as a Young Anarchist
Chapter Two: Disorienting Frameworks
Part II: The Cult of Maitreya
Chapter Three: A New Cult for New Buddhists
Chapter Four: Bodhisattva of Progress
Part III: Worlds Closing and Opening
Chapter Five: Future Interrupted
Chapter Six: Reawakening Maitreya-Legacies Orthodox and Heterodox
Conclusion: Remembrances of Futures Past
by "Nielsen BookData"