James. Benn,  Burning for the Buddha: Self‐Immolation in Chinese Buddhism. Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism 19. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. xii+360 pp. $48.00 (cloth).

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-270
Author(s):  
Marcus Bingenheimer
Keyword(s):  
East Asian ◽  
Chinese Buddhism ◽  
Self Immolation ◽  
The Buddha

Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Jorgensen ◽  
Dan Lusthaus ◽  
John Makeham ◽  
Mark Strange
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Chinese Buddhism ◽  
Pure Land ◽  
Shared Resource ◽  
Conceptual Structures ◽  
Mahāyāna Buddhism ◽  
Annotated Translation ◽  
Mahayana Buddhist

Drawing on the historical and intellectual contexts of the Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith’s composition and paying sustained attention to its interpretation in early commentaries, this new annotated translation of the classic makes its ideas available to English readers like never before. The introduction orients the reader with the main topics taken up in the Treatise and also provides a scholarly resource for students, teachers, and researchers. The Treatise succinctly addresses many of the doctrines of greatest importance to Buddhists in China between the fifth and seventh centuries, in an attempt to reconcile seemingly contradictory ideas in Buddhist texts introduced from India. One reason for the popularity of the Treatise is its compelling vision of how to realize why we are deluded and then follow a path to actualize our inherent buddhahood. “Awakening Mahāyāna Faith” refers to having the initial faith or trust that the Mahāyāna Buddhist path will work and is worth pursuing. It also provides a concise restatement of the complexities of the ten-stage path of bodhisattva (enlightened being) practice in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Treatise quickly became a foundational text for East Asian Buddhism when it appeared in sixth-century China. It profoundly shaped the doctrines and practices of the major schools of Chinese Buddhism: Chan, Tiantai, Huayan, and to a lesser extent Pure Land. Conceptual structures derived from the Treatise became a shared resource for East Asian philosophers and religious theorists over centuries.

scholarly journals Self-Immolation in Early Indian Buddhism

2020 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 2050006
Author(s):  
HAN-SANG KIM
Keyword(s):  
Strong Sense ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Extreme Form ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Loving Kindness ◽  
Indian Buddhism ◽  
Self Immolation ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Voluntary Termination

Self-immolation refers to ascetic Buddhist practices that include the voluntary termination of one’s life or the offering of parts of one’s body usually by setting oneself ablaze. In both the Northern (Mahāyāna) and Southern (Theravāda) Buddhist traditions, self-immolation has been considered a heroic bodhisattva act to end one’s life with a spiritual motivation and strong sense of determination. In modern times, self-immolation is often used as an extreme form of protest or an act of martyrdom. In early Indian Buddhism, self-immolation was not justifiable for the following reasons: First, self-immolation cuts short one’s opportunity to attain liberation before having made proper use of one’s life to its fullest potential. Second, self-immolation is a form of self-modification or severe asceticism because it causes extreme physical pain and may lead to death. Third, self-immolation is an act motivated by a craving for non-existence (vibhava-taṇhā) and is rooted in the “personality-view” (sakkāya-diṭṭhi) or “ego-view” (atta-diṭṭhi). Lastly, self-immolation goes against the concept of “self-love” (attā-piya) or “self-affection” (atta-kāma), which is considered a necessary prerequisite for expressing “loving-kindness” (mettā) toward other beings. Thus, I can safely say that self-immolation is not in keeping with the original teachings of the Buddha and that self-immolation cannot in any way be recognized as heroic or noble.

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