From Stone to Flesh: A Short History of the Buddha (Buddhism and Modernity)

---

A Short History of the Buddha

The One Mind, identified with emptiness, Buddha-nature, and the final destiny of all who attain enlightenment, was understood by the Jesuits to represent an essentially amoral inner teaching of Buddhism, contrasted with the vulgar teaching that exerted moral control through its promises and threats of rebirth in heaven or hell. What is cru- cial here is that the Jesuit discovery of the One Mind as first principle required that they assimilate it, together with other Buddhist ideas, to the scholastic philosophy in which they themselves had been educated.

The Arlecchino effect reasserted itself in full force, and throughout the seventeenth century European speculations became increas- ingly extravagant. One of the most eccentric geniuses of the time, Athanasius Kircher —80 , even extended this reasoning to the Americas, so that Christianity faced not numerous paganisms, but in fact and in essence just one throughout the entire world — The Cult of Empti- ness is a model of scholarly detective work.

From Stone to Flesh

True to a device that he has effectively deployed in earlier work, Lopez organizes each of his key chapters around a theme encapsulated in a single term: Although Lopez cites and discusses an impressive number of the relevant early modern texts, From Stone to Flesh should by no means be taken as comprehensive in its coverage. The early seventeenth-century Portuguese Jesuits in Tibet, for instance, are altogether missing. It offers a rich selec- tion, but it does so, well, selectively.

In effect, Lopez omits elements of the larger background that put the story he tells into a somewhat different light. Beginning with the chaos of late medieval and early 4 Philip C. Cambridge University Press, , chap. University of Chicago Press, —93 , is nowhere referenced.

From Stone to Flesh: A Short History of the Buddha

Thus, when at the very end of the work Lopez reintroduces the thirteenth-century Venetian traveler Marco Polo, he sug- gests that it is somehow odd that Marco knew already that Singhalese and Chinese rec- ognized the same object of faith: But this appears excep- tional only if, as occurs here, the story is largely removed from the history of Bud- dhism in Asia. For throughout much of the first millennium CE and the first centuries of the second, a rich network of religious, political, and commercial relations linked Buddhists from many parts of Asia, who at the time clearly recognized that they were in some sense co-religionists despite differences of local custom and practice.

The comedic misunderstandings of Buddhist commonalities as seen by European travelers and missionaries were in part reflections of this fragmentation, but Marco Polo arrived early enough to catch the last glimmers of the pan-Asian Buddhist networks that extended by stages from Fer- ghana to Japan. Moreover, in the conceptual worlds of these Asian Buddhists, it is not at all clear that the distinctions upon which Lopez rests his case—those among idol, myth, and man— had the force he wishes to impart to them.

The fact that tradi- tional Buddhists accepted the marvelous by no means warrants the inference that they ignored the homely and common. And it was in virtue of the humanity present in the Buddhist sources themselves that Burnouf could find the human Buddha he did. But, without diminishing Burnouf, I am inclined to see him less as a brilliant lone star than as a par- ticularly bright member of the mid-nineteenth-century constellation of scholars who collectively gave birth to the modern academic study of Buddhism.

At the same time, we must recognize that Europeans, even after Burnouf, were by no means immune to the magic and mystery that Lopez regards Burnouf as having dis- pelled, and I am not speaking just of those on the occult fringe, or of the emerging cir- cle of Western Buddhist enthusiasts. Both of the books reviewed here are almost free from error, though a few minor cor- rections may nevertheless be proposed.

What is Kobo Super Points?

A number of works cited in the book are not entered into the bibliography: Asiatic Soci- ety of Bengal, ; repr. And chapter 16 begins incomprehensibly: We have come to admire Buddhism for being profound but accessible, as much a lifestyle as a religion. The credit for creating Buddhism goes to the Buddha, a figure widely respected across the Western world for his philosophical insight, his teachings of nonviolence, and his practice of meditation. But who was this Buddha, and how did he become the Buddha we know and love today?

Account Options

Leading historian of Buddhism Donald S. He reveals that the positive view of the Buddha in Europe and America is rather recent, originating a little more than a hundred and fifty years ago. For centuries, the Buddha was condemned by Western writers as the most dangerous idol of the Orient. He was a demon, the murderer of his mother, a purveyor of idolatry.

Lopez provides an engaging history of depictions of the Buddha from classical accounts and medieval stories to the testimonies of European travelers, diplomats, soldiers, and missionaries. He shows that centuries of hostility toward the Buddha changed dramatically in the nineteenth century, when the teachings of the Buddha, having disappeared from India by the fourteenth century, were read by European scholars newly proficient in Asian languages.

At the same time, the traditional view of the Buddha persisted in Asia, where he was revered as much for his supernatural powers as for his philosophical insights. From Stone to Flesh follows the twists and turns of these Eastern and Western notions of the Buddha, leading finally to his triumph as the founder of a world religion. The Climate of Monastic Prayer. The Book of Secrets: Mystics and Zen Masters. The Kingdom of Agarttha. Marquis Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre. Secret Lives of the Dalai Lama. History of Religious Ideas, Volume 2. Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions.

Hinduism and Buddhism - Volume I. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton. An Historical Sketch Complete. The Book of Mystical Chapters. The Masters and Their Retreats. For Lovers of God Everywhere. The Religions of Japan: The Indigenous Religion Of Japan. Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages. India What can it teach us. Graham rated it it was amazing Apr 26, Bookreader rated it it was amazing Jan 16, Min rated it it was ok Nov 16, Josh rated it really liked it Mar 23, Shana rated it liked it May 14, Casper Luckerhof rated it it was amazing Jun 11, Jim Kuhlman rated it really liked it Aug 26, Allen Phillips-Bell rated it it was amazing Mar 30, Warner rated it really liked it Jan 05, John Miskec rated it it was amazing Sep 19, Joel Kaplan rated it liked it Nov 04, Patricia marked it as to-read Feb 23, Kate marked it as to-read Feb 25, Jackie marked it as to-read Mar 11, Claire marked it as to-read Mar 16, Andi added it Mar 27, Kevin marked it as to-read Apr 08, David marked it as to-read Apr 13, Pilar Rivett marked it as to-read Apr 13, Ouellette marked it as to-read Apr 18, Christen marked it as to-read Apr 28, Mary added it May 04, Annette Abbott marked it as to-read May 21, Amar Baines marked it as to-read Jun 05, Eivind marked it as to-read Jul 02, Craig Spraggon marked it as to-read Jul 10, Nisha marked it as to-read Aug 01, Neal Laatsch marked it as to-read Aug 03, Ann marked it as to-read Aug 05, Joanna Conrad marked it as to-read Aug 08, Jon Ciliberto is currently reading it Aug 12, Rachel Snyder marked it as to-read Sep 16, Daniel Scharpenburg added it Oct 08, Stefus marked it as to-read Oct 30, Terry Kuny marked it as to-read Nov 07, Tomi added it Dec 20, Monica marked it as to-read Feb 02, Gavilan College Library added it Feb 24, Adam Piontek added it Mar 11, Jason marked it as to-read Jun 02, Gordon Bermant is currently reading it Jun 30, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.

Donald Sewell Lopez, Jr.

• Practical Metal Plate Work - With Numerous Engravings and Diagrams
• Genocide in Rwanda. The Role of the Media in Confusing Public Opinion and Encouraging the Killings.
• Chinese Proverbs and Popular Sayings: With Observations on Culture and Language
• Square Persimmon and Other Stories
• Dunkle Schwestern (German Edition)
• A Letter of Wholesome Counsel
• Life in Mexico