Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang ― Rites and Teachings for This Life and Beyond

Texts on the practices of esoteric Buddhism discovered in the 'library' cave at Dunhuang are the basis for this collection of six essays, with side-by-side English translations included. Among the topics is an essay by Katherine Tsiang (art history, U. of Chicago) on early printed Chinese Buddhist texts (10th- and 11th century) in several collections and their possible use as amulets, with translations of each. Cathy Cantwell and Robert Mayer (both at Oxford U.) offer a lengthy analysis and full transcript, translation, and comparison of a Phurpa consecration rite. Van Schaik (senior researcher, the International Dunhuang Project, at the British Library) discusses Samaya vows in Mahayana monasticism. Each essay concludes with bibliographies of primary and secondary texts, the introduction concludes with a selected bibliography of esoteric Buddhism, and the volume concludes with an index of Dunhuang manuscripts and paintings. The volume is illustrated throughout with b&w images. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Matthew T. Kapstein is director of Tibetan Religious Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris) and Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago. His recent books include The Tibetans (Oxford 2006) and an edited volume, Buddhism Between Tibet and China (Boston 2009).Sam van Schaik is a Senior Researcher for the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library. Recent publications include the book Approaching the Great Perfection (Wisdom 2004) and Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang (Brill 2006). His current project, sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust, concerns the palaography of manuscripts from Dunhuang.