This first major study in English on Japanese Buddhism by one of Japan's most distinguished scholars in the field of Religious Studies is to be widely welcomed.The main focus of the work is on the tradition of the monk (o-bo-san) as the main agent of Buddhism; together with the historical processes by which monks have developed Japanese Buddhism as it appears in the present day.
#3898916 in Books Anglo-Saxon Books 1994-12-31Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .30 x 5.70 x 8.00l; .25 #File Name: 189828104152 pages
Review
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Nice; short book on Anglo-Saxon pagan religionBy Christopher R. TraversThis is an interesting book but one gets the impression that the author could have written a much longer one with more information. This needs to be read as lecture memoranda rather than as a treatise on the subject.To date; there have been few good books tracing the origins of English pagan beliefs; laying out traditional remnants; etc. While there are substantial difficulties to writing such a work (few sources; difficulties in those sources; questions of interactions with the Norse; etc) such a work; if done well; would be guaranteed a place with the works of Gwyn Jones; EOG Turville-Petre; Jan de Vries; and Dag Srombeck on the shelf regarding Germanic studies. This book; alas; is not such a book.However; what it does do is outline a variety of sources for such work and a general survey of possible directions for future research and some preliminary conclusions. For those of us who are interested in this topic; it is one more important work which will build towards such a project. So while it is not the book we should be looking for on this topic; it is a welcome step in the right direction.I would highly recommend this work to anyone who is interested in Germanic studies.16 of 17 people found the following review helpful. Small but Meaty Book on Early English BeliefsBy Karen M. CarlsonThis short (36 pages plus notes and supplementary material) book is actually a transcript of a talk by Kathleen Herbert. A lot is packed into these pages. There are snippets from source material (with translations as needed; e.g; from Old English) as well as Herbert's observations and conclusions about the religious beliefs and practices of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. Herbert touches on the gods; the runes; the calendar (seasons and festivals of the year); and more. Statements about what people thought during a period in which written evidence is relatively sparse are of course always somewhat tentative; but Herbert makes good cases for her conclusions.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Interesting small bookBy Jane T. SibleySmall book with interesting info; she needs to expand more and document more. Nice addition to my Anglo-Saxon library; though.
