True Words, Silence, and the Adamantine Dance: On Japanese Mikkyō and the Formation of the Shingon Discourse
This paper deals with Japanese esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyō), in particular the Shingon tradition, as it relates to the emergence of new and peculiar epistemological concerns. Through a discussion of the kenmitsu system outlined by Kuroda Toshio, the paper first situates Mikkyo within the religious and...
| Published in: | Japanese journal of religious studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Nanzan Institute
[1994]
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| In: |
Japanese journal of religious studies
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| Further subjects: | B
Discourse
B Buddhism B Religious Studies B Funerary rituals B Religious rituals B Japanese culture B Semiotic signs B Orthodoxy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This paper deals with Japanese esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyō), in particular the Shingon tradition, as it relates to the emergence of new and peculiar epistemological concerns. Through a discussion of the kenmitsu system outlined by Kuroda Toshio, the paper first situates Mikkyo within the religious and institutional framework of medieval Japan, underlining its liminal and heterological nature as both an institutionalized discourse and a reservoir of oppositional possibilities. The paper then analyzes the formation of Shingon orthodoxy as an attempt to systematize the Tantric field in Japan through a re-organization of preexisting religious doctrines and practices. Special attention is given to the actual articulation of the kenmitsu episteme and its orders of significance. Finally, the paper outlines some fundamental epistemological tenets of Mikkyō discourse. Though it focuses on Shingon discourse and orthodoxy, this paper confronts basic epistemic assumptions and discursive practices common to the multifarious forms of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies
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