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Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term Buddhology was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the nature of the Buddha, and doctrines of a Buddha", but the terms Buddhology and Buddhist studies are generally synonymous in the contemporary context. [1] [2] According to William M. Johnston, in some specific contexts, Buddhology may be viewed as a subset of Buddhist studies, with a focus on Buddhist hermeneutics, exegesis, ontology and Buddha's attributes. [3] Scholars of Buddhist studies focus on the history, culture, archaeology, arts, philology, anthropology, sociology, theology, philosophy, practices, interreligious comparative studies and other subjects related to Buddhism. [3] [4] [5]
In contrast to the study of Judaism or Christianity, the field of Buddhist studies has been dominated by "outsiders" to Buddhist cultures and traditions, hence it is not a direct subfield of Indology or Asian studies. However, Chinese, Japanese and Korean universities have also made major contributions, as have Asian immigrants to Western countries, and Western converts to Buddhism.
In Asia, University of Tokyo and Rissho University have long been major centers for Buddhist research, and Nalanda University launched a master program at 2016.[ citation needed ]
Most major universities in Japan have departments of Eastern philosophy, including Buddhist studies or Indian philosophy.
University of Tokyo (Dpt. of Indian Philosophy and Buddhist Studies) and Kyoto University (Dpt. of Buddhist Studies) are public universities which have specialized Buddhist studies departments.
Toyo University (non-sect, but associated with the Honganji) a private university founded by Inoue Enryo, is also renowned for its Buddhist studies.
Buddhist studies is also studied in universities run by various religious denominations.
The first graduate program in Buddhist studies in North America started in 1961 at the University of Wisconsin–Madision. [6] According to Prebish, Buddhist studies in the United States prior to 1975 was dominated by the University of Wisconsin, Harvard University and the University of Chicago. [7] Prebish cites two surveys by Hart[ full citation needed ] in which the following university programs were found to have produced the most scholars with U.S. university posts: Chicago, Wisconsin, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Virginia, Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, Temple, Northwestern, Michigan, Washington, and Tokyo. [8]
Other regionally-accredited U.S. institutions with programs in Buddhism include the University of the West, Institute of Buddhist Studies, Naropa University, Dharma Realm Buddhist University and the California Institute of Integral Studies (a number of dharma centers offer semi-academic, unaccredited study).
Prominent European programs include Oxford University and Cambridge University, School of Oriental and African Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Hamburg, University of Munich, University of Heidelberg, University of Bonn, University of Vienna, Ghent University, and the Sorbonne.
Charles Prebish, a scholar-practitioner and Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University, states that the Buddhist studies and academics in North American universities include those who are practicing Buddhists, the latter he terms as “scholar-practitioners.”. [7]
Journals specializing in Buddhist Studies (in alphabetical order):
In addition, many scholars publish in journals devoted to area studies (such as Japan, China, etc.), general Religious Studies, or disciplines such as history, anthropology, or language studies. Some examples would be:
Major university presses that have published in the field include those of Oxford, Columbia, Cambridge, Indiana, Princeton, SUNY, and the Universities of California, Chicago, Hawaii, and Virginia. Non-university presses include E.J. Brill, Equinox, Palgrave, Routledge, Silkworm Books, and Motilal Banarsidass. A number of scholars have published through "dharma presses" such as BPS Pariyatti, Parallax Press, Shambhala, Snow Lion, and Wisdom Publications.
Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism.
Nichiren Buddhism, also known as Hokkeshū, is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period schools. Its teachings derive from some 300–400 extant letters and treatises either authored by or attributed to Nichiren.
East Asian Yogācāra refers to the traditions in East Asia which developed out of the Indian Buddhist Yogācāra systems. In East Asia, this school of Buddhist idealism was known by the names of "Consciousness-Only school" and "Dharma Characteristics school" traditional Chinese: 法相宗; ; pinyin: Fǎxiàng-zōng; Japanese pronunciation: Hossō-shū; Korean: 법상종).
Jōdo Shinshū, also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran.
Buddhism in Japan was first established in the 6th century CE, derived from Chinese Buddhism. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185-1333). During the Edo (Tokugawa)-period (1603–1868), Buddhism was controlled by the feudal Shogunate. The Meiji-period (1868–1931) saw a strong response against Buddhism, with persecution and a forced separation between Buddhism and Shinto.
Nichiren Shū is a combination of several schools ranging from four of the original Nichiren Buddhist schools that date back to Nichiren's original disciples, and part of the fifth:
The schools of Buddhism are the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism that have existed from ancient times up to the present. The classification and nature of various doctrinal, philosophical or cultural facets of the schools of Buddhism is vague and has been interpreted in many different ways, often due to the sheer number of different sects, subsects, movements, etc. that have made up or currently make up the whole of Buddhist traditions. The sectarian and conceptual divisions of Buddhist thought are part of the modern framework of Buddhist studies, as well as comparative religion in Asia.
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is an independent, nonsectarian Buddhist quarterly that publishes Buddhist teachings, practices, and critique. Based in New York City, the magazine has been recognized for its willingness to challenge established ideas within Buddhist communities and beyond.
Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a Buddhist Sangha community in nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done one or more times a day and can vary amongst the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana sects.
Gohonzon (御本尊) is a generic term for a venerated religious object in Japanese Buddhism. It may take the form of a scroll or statuary. The term gohonzon typically refers to the mainstream use of venerated objects within Nichiren Buddhism, referring to the calligraphic paper mandala inscribed by the 13th Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren to which devotional chanting is directed.
In East Asian Buddhism, Shakyamuni Buddha of the Essential Teachings of the Lotus Sutra is considered the eternal Buddha. In the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha reveals that he actually attained Buddhahood in the inconceivably remote past. The Eternal Buddha is contrasted to Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment for the first time in India, which was taught in the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings.
Hongan-ji, also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism. 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple buildings associated with the sect. Nishi Honganji (西本願寺) and Higashi Honganji (東本願寺) are two major temples in Kyoto.
Nipponzan-Myōhōji-Daisanga (日本山妙法寺大僧伽), often referred to as just Nipponzan Myohoji or the Japan Buddha Sangha, is a Japanese new religious movement and activist group founded in 1917 by Nichidatsu Fujii, emerging from Nichiren Buddhism. "Nipponzan Myōhōji is a small Nichiren Buddhist order of about 1500 persons, including both monastics and lay persons." The community reveres the Lotus Sutra as the highest expression of the Buddhist message.
Honzon, sometimes referred to as a Gohonzon, is the enshrined main image or principal deity in Japanese Buddhism. The buddha, bodhisattva, or mandala image is located in either a temple or a household butsudan.
Risshō Kōsei Kai (立正佼成会); until June 1960, 大日本立正交成会 is a Japanese new religious movement founded in 1938 by Nikkyō Niwano and Myōkō Naganuma. Risshō Kōsei Kai is organized as a lay Buddhist movement, which branched off from the older Reiyūkai, and is primarily focused around the Lotus Sutra and veneration of ancestors.
Kiyozawa Manshi was a Japanese Shin Buddhist reformer and priest of samurai background who studied at Tokyo University in Western philosophy under the American philosopher Ernest Fenollosa. He belonged to the Ōtani-ha branch of Shin Buddhism.
Nanjō Bun'yū (南条文雄) was a Buddhist priest and one of the most important modern Japanese scholars of Buddhism. Nanjō was born to the abbot of Seiunji Temple (誓運寺), part of the Shinshu Ōtani sect (真宗大谷派) of the Higashi Honganji (東本願寺) branch of Jodo Shinshu.
Ōtani-ha is a Japanese Buddhist movement. It belongs to Jōdo Shinshū, also known as Shin Buddhism. The movement has approximately 5.5 million members.
The Kokuchūkai is a lay-oriented Nichiren Buddhist group. It was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as Rengekai and renamed Risshō Ankokukai (立正安国会) in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914.
Kōsen-rufu (広宣流布), a phrase found in the Japanese translation of the Buddhist scripture Lotus Sutra, is informally defined to as "world peace through individual happiness." It refers to the future widespread dissemination of the Lotus Sutra.