Timothy C. Baker
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638123
- eISBN:
- 9780748651788
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638123.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter takes a look at Magnus, Brown's central work. It sheds some light on the way Brown imagines sacrifice as the centre of communal life. It studies Brown's rebalancing of the tension ...
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This chapter takes a look at Magnus, Brown's central work. It sheds some light on the way Brown imagines sacrifice as the centre of communal life. It studies Brown's rebalancing of the tension between spiritual and historical signification and his use of the framework of Magnus's life to study the relationship between individuals and the community. It examines the three primary narratives of the life and death of Magnus, along with the dangers of hagiography that Brown faced during his first major attempt at writing the Magnus narrative. It notes that the novel is a blend of modern and medieval styles, and looks at the nature of sacrifice and the ways Brown treats the moment of death.Less
This chapter takes a look at Magnus, Brown's central work. It sheds some light on the way Brown imagines sacrifice as the centre of communal life. It studies Brown's rebalancing of the tension between spiritual and historical signification and his use of the framework of Magnus's life to study the relationship between individuals and the community. It examines the three primary narratives of the life and death of Magnus, along with the dangers of hagiography that Brown faced during his first major attempt at writing the Magnus narrative. It notes that the novel is a blend of modern and medieval styles, and looks at the nature of sacrifice and the ways Brown treats the moment of death.
Jacqueline I. Stone
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780824856434
- eISBN:
- 9780824872984
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824856434.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Buddhists across Asia have often sought to die, as the Buddha himself is said to have done, with a clear and focused mind. This study explores the reception and development in early medieval Japan ...
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Buddhists across Asia have often sought to die, as the Buddha himself is said to have done, with a clear and focused mind. This study explores the reception and development in early medieval Japan (roughly, tenth through fourteenth centuries) of the ideal of “dying with right mindfulness” (rinjū shōnen) and the discourses and practices in which it was embedded. By concentrating one’s thoughts on the Buddha at the moment of death, it was said, even the most evil person could escape the round of deluded rebirth and achieve birth in the Pure Land; conversely, even the slightest mental distraction at that juncture could send the most devout practitioner tumbling down into the evil realms. The ideal of mindful death thus generated both hope and anxiety and created a demand for ritual specialists who could help the dying to negotiate this crucial juncture. Examination of hagiographies, ritual manuals, doctrinal writings, didactic tales, diaries, and historical records uncovers the multiple, sometimes contradictory logics by which medieval Japanese approached death. Deathbed practices also illuminate broader issues in medieval Japanese religion that crossed social levels and sectarian lines, including intellectual developments, devotional practices, pollution concerns, ritual performance, and divisions of labor among religious professionals.Less
Buddhists across Asia have often sought to die, as the Buddha himself is said to have done, with a clear and focused mind. This study explores the reception and development in early medieval Japan (roughly, tenth through fourteenth centuries) of the ideal of “dying with right mindfulness” (rinjū shōnen) and the discourses and practices in which it was embedded. By concentrating one’s thoughts on the Buddha at the moment of death, it was said, even the most evil person could escape the round of deluded rebirth and achieve birth in the Pure Land; conversely, even the slightest mental distraction at that juncture could send the most devout practitioner tumbling down into the evil realms. The ideal of mindful death thus generated both hope and anxiety and created a demand for ritual specialists who could help the dying to negotiate this crucial juncture. Examination of hagiographies, ritual manuals, doctrinal writings, didactic tales, diaries, and historical records uncovers the multiple, sometimes contradictory logics by which medieval Japanese approached death. Deathbed practices also illuminate broader issues in medieval Japanese religion that crossed social levels and sectarian lines, including intellectual developments, devotional practices, pollution concerns, ritual performance, and divisions of labor among religious professionals.
