Richard M Jaffe – författare

Though fascinated with the land of their tradition's birth, virtually no Japanese Buddhists visited the Indian subcontinent before the nineteenth century. In the richly illustrated Seeking Sakyamuni, Richard M. Jaffe reveals the experiences of the first Japanese Buddhists who traveled to South Asia in search of Buddhist knowledge beginning in 1873. Analyzing the impact of these voyages on Japanese conceptions of Buddhism, he argues that South Asia developed into a pivotal nexus for the development of twentieth-century Japanese Buddhism. Jaffe shows that Japan's growing economic ties to the subcontinent following World War I fostered even more Japanese pilgrimage and study at Buddhism's foundational sites. Tracking the Japanese travelers who returned home, as well as South Asians who visited Japan, Jaffe describes how the resulting flows of knowledge, personal connections, linguistic expertise, and material artifacts of South and Southeast Asian Buddhism instantiated the growing popular consciousness of Buddhism as a pan-Asian tradition--in the heart of Japan.

Though fascinated with the land of their tradition's birth, virtually no Japanese Buddhists visited the Indian subcontinent before the nineteenth century. In the richly illustrated Seeking Sakyamuni, Richard M. Jaffe reveals the experiences of the first Japanese Buddhists who traveled to South Asia in search of Buddhist knowledge beginning in 1873. Analyzing the impact of these voyages on Japanese conceptions of Buddhism, he argues that South Asia developed into a pivotal nexus for the development of twentieth-century Japanese Buddhism. Jaffe shows that Japan's growing economic ties to the subcontinent following World War I fostered even more Japanese pilgrimage and study at Buddhism's foundational sites. Tracking the Japanese travelers who returned home, as well as South Asians who visited Japan, Jaffe describes how the resulting flows of knowledge, personal connections, linguistic expertise, and material artifacts of South and Southeast Asian Buddhism instantiated the growing popular consciousness of Buddhism as a pan-Asian tradition--in the heart of Japan.

D. T. Suzuki’s 1950s lectures at Columbia University were foundational for the postwar Zen boom. Speaking softly in a bookcase-lined room, Suzuki, then in his eighties, introduced East Asian Buddhism to a rapt audience of the general public, scholars, and students. He offered a distinctive interpretation of Zen, weaving together his understanding of classical Buddhist texts, especially the Flower Garland Sutra, with Christian mysticism, psychology, and twentieth-century European and American philosophy. The freewheeling lectures captivated listeners drawn from the New York intelligentsia and art world—including Carolyn Brown, John Cage, Arthur Danto, Sari Dienes, Erich Fromm, Phillip Guston, Ibram Lassaw, and Dorothy Norman—and catalyzed public interest in Buddhism.Spreading Indra’s Net presents Suzuki’s 1952–1953 lectures in full, giving a vivid look at how one of the most important global Buddhist figures of the twentieth century interpreted Zen for an American audience. Drawing on archival research in Japan and the United States, editor Richard M. Jaffe provides an extensive introduction that traces Suzuki’s path to Columbia, analyzes the content of the lectures, and surveys their reception. Among the most accessible works of a major figure and a record of a crucial moment in New York history, this book displays Suzuki’s gifts as a teacher, scholar, writer, and thinker.